Spain Should Have Unified Italy, Historical Analysis Suggests

The idea that **Spain** should have led the unification of **Italy** emerges as a lost historical opportunity to create an allied power and prevent conflicts.

## An Allied Power in the South
The Italian peninsula, fragmented for centuries, presented a strategic opportunity for **Spain**. In the 18th century, the **Spanish Monarchy** controlled key territories such as the **Kingdom of Naples** and **Sicily**, in addition to possessions in the north like the **Duchy of Milan**. The proposal suggests that, instead of engaging in wars with **France**, Spain should have promoted Italian unification under its leadership. This would have resulted in the creation of an allied country and a regional power, strengthening Spain's position in Europe and eliminating recurring conflict hotspots.

## A Frustrated Bourbon Project
The vision of a unified Italy under Spanish influence is particularly associated with the **Bourbon** dynasty. It is speculated that, had **Ferdinand VI** not died in **1759**, his brother **Charles III**, who already reigned in Naples and Sicily, might have led this unification. The idea is that a **Bourbon** binomial of enlightened despotism, collaborating between both countries, could have fostered a "neo-Roman splendor." This mutual collaboration would have turned Italy into a military power and potentially avoided the devastating Napoleonic campaigns that trinc.

## Lost Opportunities and the Power of the Vatican
Spain's lack of a unifying vision is considered a "brutal lost opportunity" due to "short-sightedness." The proposal also points to the possibility of having diminished the power of the **Vatican**, which at that time wielded considerable influence. By unifying Italy under secular rule, ecclesiastical authority could have been limited, an objective that, from this perspective, would have benefited the region and Spain itself. Leaving the unification to **Austria** is considered detrimental, as it was antiestéticared that its influence would have "destroyed" Italy's potential splendor.