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How did Machiavelli's hopes for Italian unification shape his political ideas?

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The Code of Hammurabi diorite stela, with carved figures at the top showing Hammurabi seated with cuneiform inscriptions below. — Political philosophy Diorite stela inscribed with the Code of Hammurabi, 18th century bce.

Niccolò Machiavelli’s political philosophy was profoundly shaped by his desire to see Italy unified and liberated from foreign domination by French, German, and Spanish armies. Witnessing these "twin disasters"—the decline of free government in Italian city-states and the overrunning of the peninsula by foreign powers—Machiavelli concluded that Italy’s weakness stemmed from its political fragmentation and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which he believed fostered disunity and an "effeminate" glorification of suffering over civic strength.123

In The Prince, these hopes drove him to propose an emergency solution: the emergence of a new, virtuous leader capable of unifying the people, raising a national militia, and driving out "the barbarians". He argued that such a leader must prioritize the "effectual truth" of politics over traditional morality, utilizing "virtù"—a mastery of war and political strategy—to command fortune and secure the state. Ultimately, Machiavelli’s commitment to this goal was so intense that he famously declared he loved his fatherland more than his own soul, consciously forsaking traditional Christian ethics in favor of the morality of civic virtue to ensure Italy’s survival and liberty.1243