Italian Unification Revision Notes. Italian Politics in 1815

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Italian Politics in 1815

The Liberals

They were generally non-violent, and were against absolute monarchy and a republican democracy. They favoured constitutional monarchy.

The Radicals

They wanted social reforms and a fairer distribution of wealth. They were prepared to use violence. Many of them were members of revolutionary secret societies and believed that political power should lie with the people, not with a parliament unless it were elected by all men ad not just property owners.

Nationalists

They believed that people of the same race, language, culture and tradition should be united in an independent nation of their own. Many nationalists went further demanding a republic. Liberals and radicals supported nationalism and unification as the way forward for Italy.

Metternich's view of Italy

He adopted an entirely negative stance as these views would undermine Austrian control of Italy. He saw the need to maintain the Italian jigsaw of separate states rules by absolute monarchs.

Secret societies played an important part in the revolutions in 1820. These societies are thought to be developed from 18th century freemasonry where men formed themselves into groups pledged to mutual protection with secret passwords and semi-religious