The Unification of Italy and International Law

The Chapter explores the legal aspects raised by the unification of Italy through the analysis of the relevant practice and a recovery of diverging interpretations provided by scholars. The argument of the Italian unification as a breach of international law in force at the time fails to consider its international legitimacy as a process of national self-determination, made possible by the insurrections of 1848 and by the consolidation of new legal principles. After the period 1815-1818, the principle of dynastic legitimacy, coupled with the permissibility of armed interventions, gave the way to new international parameters such as the principles of non-intervention and nationality, together with the right to assist peoples struggling for their freedom. The events related to the affirmation of the Italian nation in the nineteenth century have contributed to qualify the oppression and foreign domination as a denial of international law, of peace and of fundamental human rights.