Italian unification (Italian: il Risorgimento [risordʒiˈmento], meaning The Resurgence) was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century. Despite a lack of consensus on the exact dates for the beginning and end of this period, many scholars agree that the process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and the end of Napoleonic rule, and ended in 1871 with the Franco-Prussian War. The last città irredente however, did not join the Kingdom of Italy until after World War I.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Italy gradually developed into a system of city-states. This system lasted through the Renaissance but began to deteriorate with the rise of modern nation-states in the early modern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then became the site of proxy fights between the major powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire (later Austria as well as Prussia) and France. In the 1300s, Italian writers had expressed their opposition to foreign domination. For example, Petrarch's Italia Mia stated that the "ancient valor in Italian hearts is not yet dead." Four verses from Italia Mia were quoted in Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, which looked for a political leader who would unite Italy.