Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861) was Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont from 4 November 1852 to 19 July 1859 (succeeding Massimo D'Azeglio and preceding Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora) and from 21 January 1860 to 23 March 1861 (succeeding La Marmora), as well as Prime Minister of Italy from 23 March to 6 June 1861, preceding Bettino Ricasoli. Count Cavour was best known as one of the greatest European statesmen of the nineteenth century, as his efforts led to the unification of Italy.
Biography[]
Camillo Benso was born in Turin, Savoy, First French Empire on 10 August 1810 to a family of Piedmontese nobility, and he became a liberal while he was still in his teens. He initially planned to serve in the military, but he began to distrust the royal authorities due to his liberal views. He decided to resign from his commission in the army, and he travelled in France and the United Kingdom, coming to admire their constitutional governments and progressive developments. After the revolution of 1848, he was elected to the Piedmontese parliament, proving his ability and leading to him being appointed Minister of Commerce and Agriculture in 1850 and Finance Minister in 1851. In 1852, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy appointed him Prime Minister, and Cavour carried out a program of liberal reform in this post. He believed that a liberal Piedmont would discredit the tyranny of the reactionary Italian princes and the Austrian Empire, and he sought to win the support of Italian nationalists and progressive elements in both the UK and France. He reformed the Piedmontese currency and state finances, balancing the state budget, and he oversaw the establishment of banks, the construction of railroads, the building of factories, the importation of machinery, and the development of the port of Genoa, making Piedmont into a prosperous and progressive state.
Cavour sent a Piedmontese force to support France and Britain during the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 in the hopes of courting the two great powers, and Cavour met with French emperor Napoleon III at Plombieres in July 1858. Napoleon III promised to send troops to assist Piedmont in liberating Italy, the land of his childhood, and Cavour agreed to cede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for conquering Lombardy and Veneto. In April 1859, he promoted Austria into declaring war on Piedmont, and France assisted the Piedmontese during the war. Cavour was angered when Napoleon III made a separate peace with Austria that resulted in Austria keeping Venice, and he resigned as premier. In 1860, he returned to the premiership, and he became the first Prime Minister of Italy. Cavour died less than three months after Italy's formation at the age of 51.