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The Carbonari
The Carbonari were a secret society divided into small covert cells scattered across Italy. Although agendas varied, evidence suggests that despite regional variations, most of the membership agreed upon the creation of a liberal, unified Italy.[5] The Carbonari were anti-clerical in both their philosophy and programme. The Papal constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo and the encyclical Qui pluribus were directed against them. -
Exiles and European and masculine ideals
Many of the key intellectual and political leaders operated from exile; most Risorgimento patriots lived and published their work abroad after successive failed revolutions.Exile became a central theme of the foundational legacy of the Risorgimento as the narrative of the Italian nation fighting for independence. These negative stereotypes emerged from Enlightenment notions of a national character that stressed the influence of the environment and history on a people's moral predisposition. -
French Revolution
The Italian campaigns introduced modern ideas and efficient legal authorityThe French Republic spread republican principles promoted citizenship over the rule of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and other dynasties. Beauharnais tried to get Austrian approval for his succession to the new Kingdom of Italy, and on 30 March 1815 Murat issued the Rimini Proclamation, which called on Italians to revolt against their Austrian occupiers. -
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Reaction and Dreams
An important figure of this period was Francesco Melzi d'Eril, serving as vicepresident of the Napoleonic Italian Republic 1802–1805 and consistent supporter of the Italian unification ideals that would lead to the Italian Risorgimento shortly after his death.Vittorio Alfieri, Francesco Lomonaco and Niccolò Tommaseo are generally considered three great literary precursors of Italian nationalism,the most famous of protonationalist works was Alessandro Manzoni's I promessi sposi -
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Revolutions of 1848–1849 and First Italian Independence War
On 5 January 1848, the revolutionary disturbances began with a civil disobedience strike in Lombardy, as citizens stopped smoking and playing the lottery, which denied Austria the associated tax revenue. Shortly after this, revolts began on the island of Sicily and in Naples. In Sicily the revolt resulted in the proclamation of the Kingdom of Sicily with Ruggero Settimo as Chairman of the independent state until 1849 when the Bourbon army took back full control of the island on 15May1849byforce. -
Towards the kingdom of Italy: The "Pisacane" fiasco
In 1857, Carlo Pisacane, an aristocrat from Naples who had embraced Mazzini's ideas, decided to provoke a rising in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. His small force landed on the island of Ponza. It overpowered guards and liberated hundreds of prisoners. In sharp contrast to his hypothetical expectations, there was no local uprising and the invaders were quickly overpowered. Pisacane was killed by angry locals who suspected he was leading a gypsy band trying to steal their food -
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Italian Unification
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Cavour and the prospects for unification
Morale was of course badly weakened, but the dream of Risorgimento did not die. Instead, the Italian patriots learned some lessons that made them much more effective at the next opportunity in 1860. Military weakness was glaring, as the small Italian states were completely outmatched by France and Austria. -
The mille expedition
Thus, by early 1860, only five states remained in Italy—the Austrians in Venetia, the Papal States (now minus the Legations), the new expanded Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and San Marino.Francis II of the Two Sicilies, the son and successor of Ferdinand II , had a well-organized army of 150,000 men. -
Risorgimento
In literature, lots of works were dedicated to Risorgimento since the beginning. Risorgimento won the support of many leading Italian opera composers.Their librettos often saw a delicate balance between European romantic narratives and dramatic themes evoking nationalistic sentiments.The Leopard is a film from 1963, based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and directed by Luchino Visconti. It features Burt Lancaster as the eponymous character, the Prince of Salina. -
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Defeat of the Kingdom of Naples
Though Garibaldi had easily taken the capital, the Neapolitan army had not joined the rebellion en masse, holding firm along the Volturno River. On 18 February 1861, Victor Emmanuel assembled the deputies of the first Italian Parliament in Turin. On 17 March 1861, the Parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel King of Italy, and on 27 March 1861 Rome was declared Capital of Italy, even though it was not actually in the new Kingdom. -
Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi
Many leading Carbonari revolutionaries wanted a republic,two of the most prominent being Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Mazzini's activity in revolutionary movements caused him to be imprisoned soon after he joined.While in prison, he concluded that Italy could and therefore should be unified and formulated his program for establishing a free, independent, and republican nation with Rome as its capital. -
The problems of unification 1
Unification was achieved entirely in terms of Piedmont's interests. Martin Clark says, "It was Piedmontization all around."[57] Cavour died unexpectedly in June 1861, at age 50, and the many promises he made to regional authorities to induce them to join the new kingdom of Italy were largely ignored.The new Kingdom of Italy was structured by renaming the old Kingdom of Sardinia and annexing all the new provinces into its structures. first King was Victor Emmanuel II he kept his old title. -
The problems of unification 2
National and regional officials were all appointed by Piedmont. A few regional leaders in fact did succeed to high positions in the new national government, but the top bureaucratic and military officials were mostly Piedmontese. The national capital was briefly moved to Florence, and finally to Rome, so in that regard Piedmont lost out. Piedmontese tax rates and regulations, diplomats and officials were imposed on all of Italy. -
Capture of Rome
In July 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. In early August, the French Emperor Napoleon III recalled his garrison from Rome, thus no longer providing protection to the Papal State.Widespread public demonstrations illustrated the demand that the Italian government take Rome. -
After world war II
After WWII the irredentism movement faded away in Italian politics. Only a few thousand Italians remain in Istria and Dalmatia as a consequence of the Italian defeat in WWII and the slaughter of thousands of Italians as reprisals for fascist atrocities. 350,000 refugees were ethnic Italians (76% of which born in the territories surrendered), the others being ethnic Slovenians, ethnic Croatians, and ethnic Istro-Romanians, choosing to maintain Italian citizenship
