Austria had great domination of Italy. Austrian control had replaced French control in 1815. This was in view of the fact that after Napoleon, many of the old states of Italy were restored and Austria was given a great deal of control over many states within Italy. The Austrian Chancellor Metternich was against all change in Italy and wanted Austria to keep her influence there. He referred to Italy as ‘a geographical expression’ and also said ‘Italian affairs do not exist’. Other countries in Europe generally supported Metternich. Metternich was completely opposed to the ideas of nationalism, radicalism and liberalism, which were all movements towards the unification of Italy. Metternich did not want any nationalist activities occurring in the Austrian territories of Italy. There were uprisings in Piedmont and Naples from 1820-1, and also in 1831 in Parma, Modena and Romagna. These were stopped by Prince Metternich. Many Italians hated the Austrian influence upon them.
The geography of Italy hindered unity, the Apennie Mountains divided the west form the east.
There was no uniform currency of weights and measures and hence it was hard for trade to take place.
Local loyalties were still very important and the idea of cantado was extremely strong. This meant that a city and the area around was self sufficient.
All traces of Napoleon’s rule were removed, though at the time of Napoleon there had been some unity within Italy.
There were movements for change in Italy, such as secret societies. These played a huge part when revolution first broke out in Sicily, then in Naples and Piedmont. Secret societies attracted a variety of members. However they were not very strong.
The secret societies were viewed with grave suspicion as anti-Catholic and a danger to the established social order. There were no masses in the secret societies and so peasants and workers were almost unknown within them. The societies were unwilling to act together and therefore there was a lack or organisation. Though the societies were rather weak as an establishment, its members were very enthusiastic and helped and protected other members.
The secret societies were not much of a threat due to the fact that they tended to be poorly organised and lacked unity. They were not very strong or co-ordinated, meaning that they could be dealt with one at a time by the Austrians.
One of the best known secret societies was the Carbonari. This was also one of the most important of secret societies. This was very active in Southern Italy, especially Naples where there were 60,000 members. However the government of Naples became worried and ordered the suppression of the society. But fortunately for the Carbonari, this failed and its membership kept on increasing.
The Carbonari started revolutions in the Kingdom of the two Sicilies and in the Kingdom of Sardinia.
A member of the Carbonari, called Giuseppe Mazzini formed an establishment known as Young Italy in 1831. This was to spread the ideas of republicanism and nationalism to the people of Italy. This organisation was dedicated to the aim of the unification of Italy.
There were various political groups in Italy during this time period. There were liberals, radicals and nationalists.
