Italy · 200th birthday of Camillo Benso di Cavour

Camillo Benso came from a Piedmontese aristocratic family. After a brief career as an officer, he devoted himself to agriculture, economic policy and political developments in Western Europe. In 1847, together with like-minded individuals, he founded the newspaper “Il Risorgimento”. The name also referred to the movement that sought a political reorganisation and ultimately the unification of the Italian states.

Cavour pursued a moderate liberal course. Unlike republican nationalists such as Giuseppe Mazzini, he did not advocate a revolution, but a constitutional monarchy under the leadership of the House of Savoy. As a minister and later as head of government of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, he promoted the expansion of railways, trade and industry. He also sought to limit the influence of the Catholic Church on the state without fundamentally questioning religion.

His foreign policy aimed to place the Italian question on the European agenda. Sardinia-Piedmont therefore took part in the Crimean War and subsequently participated in the peace negotiations in Paris. Cavour won France under Napoleon III as an ally against the Austrian Empire (Kaisertum Österreich), which controlled large parts of northern Italy. The war of 1859 resulted in Lombardy falling to Sardinia-Piedmont. Further areas of central Italy joined after referendums.

The relationship with Giuseppe Garibaldi was marked by both cooperation and conflict. Garibaldi’s campaign led to the collapse of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1860. Cavour wanted to prevent this from developing into a republican movement or a war against the Papal States and France. Large parts of the conquered territories were therefore incorporated into the Savoy monarchy.

After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, Cavour became its first prime minister. He died a few months later. The coin issue took place during the immediate preparations for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Italian state and thus also commemorated the political architect of Italy’s monarchical and diplomatic unification.