Conditions of Italy before unification :
(i) Political fragmentation.
(ii) Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the multi-national Habsburg Empire.
(iii) During the middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into seven states.
(iv) Out of seven, only one Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian Princely House.
(v) The North was under Austrian Habsburgs.
(vi) The centre was ruled by the Pope.
(vii) Southern regions were under Bourbon kings of Spain.
(viii) The Italian language had not acquired one common form. It still had many regional and local variations.
