Why was Italy not unified from 1848-9

Firstly, there was disagreement over the role of Austrians in Italy which ultimately led to Austrians remaining in control of the region. Austrian control of Italy ensured that Italy could not fully unify. Liberals and nationalists agreed that the Austrians did not need to be driven out of Italy whilst Piedmont disagreed. Charles Albert even attempted to invade Lombardy and defeat the Austrians but he delayed too long. This gave the Austrians time to get reinforcements, while Charles Albert lost support from the people of Lombardy. As a result, Charles Albert was defeated and northern Italy remained largely in Austrian hands. Not only was there disagreement over the Austrian position, the disagreement ultimately meant they retained power in Italy. Italy was thus neither culturally united nor geographically unified - with continued Austrian military presence in Italy. Secondly, there was a strong cultural divide in Italy at the time - different regions spoke different dialects for instance. Moreover, there was a lack of clarity over what the unified Italy would be. Some still looked to the pope for guidance whilst others preferred a more republic nation. Due to the nature of unification, there was no unified movement and as such, there was confusion over what Italy represented to 'Italians' culturally. The fact that even in 1870, unification was referred to as Piedmontisation highlights a lack of a united Italian culture.