During the eighteenth century, intellectual changes began to dismantle traditional values and institutions in Europe. Liberal ideas arose from the French Revolution which became the root to the nationalist feeling among the Italians. In 1861, the Italian states, a previously small confederation of semi-autonomous states located on the Apenning Peninsula, were unified as the Kingdom of Italy. This process occured due to a series of events and the actions of various figures, but three men in particular made unification possible: Giuseppe Mazzini, Count Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Mazzini initiated the idea of an independent and unified Italian nation through his movement of Young Italy. Garibaldi brought popular support to the cause