MASON THE MOUSE TAKES

ITALY: A MOTION PICTURE

By: Kendall Krause, Vivie Pritts, Emma Briley, and Greer Kerns

The movie opens with the attempted assassination of Napoleon III. This event spurs Mason the Mouse to take a trip to Italy, hungry for more information.

The tension in Italy leads to war. However, the alliance of France and Sardinia win, and Sardinia acquires more land. The Italians are overjoyed at this news- surely this is the beginning of their unification! Mason thinks about going home, but decides that he will not because no treaty has been signed.

The Treaty of Zurich is signed by the rulers of Austria, Sardinia, and France. Mason decides that rather than returning home, he will move to Italy. A lot is going on! On his first night as an Italian citizen, Mason stumbles upon a nationalist meeting. He thinks little of it, unsuspecting of the events that will soon occur.

*DUN DUN DUN*

Mason awakens to quite a ruckus outside, and he is angry about his sleep being interrupted. He runs down to the streets, hoping to reprimand the hooligans responsible. But when he arrives, he is told by a bystander that Sardinia has annexed even more areas and that there are four separate Italian states left! Unification has never been closer!

The Italians failed in trying to win the Papal States and worried that they may never gain control. Later, the Roman people revolted against the French King, Napoleon III but failed. Next, war broke out between France and Prussia and Napoleon III ordered to withdraw his troops from Rome.

Victor Emmanuel II peacefully offered to enter Rome but the Pope rejected to hand over his land. Later, the Italian army advanced towards Rome against the Pope’s wishes. Rome then become Italian and a part