Hello folks.
In the 19th century unification movements there was a nice load of irredentism among their members which called for the creation of nation-states composed of the territories where nationals were living.
Sometimes opinions diverged and some people wanted to join with others to form a greater nation, while some wanted to stay apart and keep their existing rights.
I think Switzerland is an interesting case to speak of, as we know, this country is composed by people with different ethnic background: german, french and italian. Nut, If I recall correctly, Switzerland was kept untouched by the wars/nationalist movements ravaging her neighbours. However, I remember reading that in WWI there were clashed between the swiss who supported the side of thei ethnic background (french vs germans).
I want to know how big was the support among the swiss for unification with their cultural kin during the unification wars.
Also, how come that neither Sardinia/Italy nor Prussia/Germany tried to grab their respective language areas of Switzerland? Nobody could stop them from doing it, since France and Austria were badly beaten. I can guess France wouldn't mind much, since they could get their share through direct anexation or puppeting of the remaning french swiss cantons.
While thinking of this I can imagine Garibaldi infiltrating into Bellinzona area trying to spark an inside rebellion and then calling for Sardinia aid (like he done in Two Sicilies)
In the 19th century unification movements there was a nice load of irredentism among their members which called for the creation of nation-states composed of the territories where nationals were living.
Sometimes opinions diverged and some people wanted to join with others to form a greater nation, while some wanted to stay apart and keep their existing rights.
I think Switzerland is an interesting case to speak of, as we know, this country is composed by people with different ethnic background: german, french and italian. Nut, If I recall correctly, Switzerland was kept untouched by the wars/nationalist movements ravaging her neighbours. However, I remember reading that in WWI there were clashed between the swiss who supported the side of thei ethnic background (french vs germans).
I want to know how big was the support among the swiss for unification with their cultural kin during the unification wars.
Also, how come that neither Sardinia/Italy nor Prussia/Germany tried to grab their respective language areas of Switzerland? Nobody could stop them from doing it, since France and Austria were badly beaten. I can guess France wouldn't mind much, since they could get their share through direct anexation or puppeting of the remaning french swiss cantons.
While thinking of this I can imagine Garibaldi infiltrating into Bellinzona area trying to spark an inside rebellion and then calling for Sardinia aid (like he done in Two Sicilies)