While the Church influence over the peasants is the main reason for the slow progress in the national unity in Italy, Mazzini’s ideas failed to reach out to the peasants and had very little appeal which therefore contributed to the slow progress. Mazzini’s wanted national unify in Italy with one central government and locally elected authorities. However, it is the way he portrayed his ideas which limited his appeal to certain social classes as he failed to involve ordinary people such as the peasants. Although Mazzini recognised the peasants as an important factor and that the revolutions needed to come from ‘below’, he didn’t put this idea into practice and actually involve the peasants. He failed to appreciate the revolutionary potential of the peasants because he knew relatively little about them. This slowed the progress of national unity because as Mazzini could not connect with the peasants and get them to join the revolution. Thus it made it easier for the Church to keep control of the peasants and prevent any ideas of unification from spreading. Another reason for Mazzini’s limited appeal was that his ideas were too intellectual for most people to grasps which meant that his people could not support him as they could not understand his beliefs. Not every could read and those who could, may not have understood the complex language Mazzini used in his magazines and newspapers promoting national unity. Therefore, one way Mazzini’s ideas slowed the progress of national unity is that he failed to find a way to communicate his ideas effectively to everyone. Mazzini ideas gained limited appeal due to radicalism of his thoughts. The liberals, deemed him as ‘dangerous’ for his radical ideas and revolutionary thinking. They did not agree with the revolutionary nature of Mazzini’s nationalism which slowed the progress of unification as Mazzini did not have enough support to spread his ideas all around Italy. Rich people disliked him as he wanted to redistribute the wealth in Europe and found it unfair. Therefore, Mazzini’s ideas appealed to limited social classes and so alienated important supporters which is one of the reasons for the slow progress in uniting Italy as he failed to acknowledge the significance of having a revolution that included all the different types of people in Italy- his ideas were not popular among the vast majority of Italians.
Another factor that needs to be examined when looking at the reasons for the slow progress in national unity in Italy was lack of mass support in the 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions as it only consisted of small uprising with limited support which shows that national unity in Italy was not important for many Italians. The 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions were actually small uprisings by a tiny number of people who wanted change in their state- whether this was democracy or a constitution. Therefore, the fact that there was a lack of support in these ‘revolutions’ shows that Italians were not actually interesting in having revolutions in their own states let alone fighting for national unity in Italy and so this is why there was slow progress in Italian unification. The revolutionary movements were mainly middle class, except in Sicily where peasants were involved. Therefore popular interest and support were not encouraged by the revolutionary leaders, who feared that allowing the mass of poorly educated people to join the revolutions would lead eventually to rule by the mob. So ordinary people welcomed back their former rulers as they were isolated from the revolution plans of the middle-class. This slowed the progress of the national unity in Italy as the revolutions had limited appeal and the peasants were content to be ruled in separate states and was not introduced to the idea of unification. The majority of the aims for the revolutionaries were for democracy or a constitution in their state. They were not looking for the whole peninsula to become independent. For that reason, lack of mass support in the 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions slowed the progress of national unity in Italy because ordinary people were not included in the revolutions and so meant that the uprisings could never lead to a whole country revolution.
The fact that 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions were only small uprisings highlights another reason for slow progress of national unity in Italy due to regionalism in Italy and the lack of nationalism in Italians. In 1831, Metternich described Italy as a ‘geographical expression’ as there was a lack of unity and co-operating between the different nations within Italy. Regional mentality of Italians can be seen in the locality of the 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions. The lack of communication and support from revolutionaries in different regions made the revolutions fail as they were not big enough to create a massive impact or to create unity. The 1820 revolution in Sicily was caused as Sicily wanted to gain their independence from Naples and demanded for a constitution of their own. This shows that it was a little regional uprising with no effect or change on Italy and thus slowed the progress of unity in Italy because Sicily were fighting to disconnect themselves from other nations in Italy rather than unite with other nations. Nationalism was a foreign concept and so national unity that Mazzini wanted to embrace wasn’t received well due to the regional thinking of many Italians. Regionalism also brought cultural differences as each nation had their own rules, culture and way of living. Therefore, cultural differences slowed the progress of national unity in Italy as states did not want to lose the identity and cultural to become united. There was local discontent, especially with the existing rulers for a new Italian state as they would lose a lot of power. As a result, another reason for the slow progress of national unity in Italy was regionalism as Italians failed to acknowledge the whole of Italy in their revolutions as their aims were regionally rather than national- Unification was not on their agenda. Cultural divisions in Italy meant that Italians thought logically and did not actually acknowledge themselves as ‘Italians’ but as Piedmontese or Sicilian for example.
Lastly, another reason for the slow progress of national unity in Italy was Austria power as Austria knew they has to stop Italy from uniting because it would increase Italy power which they could use to get rid of Austria’s influence in Italy. Due the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, Metternich and Austria had a considerable impact over Italian affaires. The treaty reflected what Metternich and Austria desires of Italy and so they kept Italy weak and divided so there would be no opposition to their rule. Metternich knew that if the states of Italy united, Austrian power and influence will drastically decrease in Italy and so Italy would not be under his control any more. Any sense of Italians claiming power from the monarchs Metternich had restored had to be repressed. Therefore, Austria helped to repress the revolutionaries as way of protection; this slowed the progress of national unity in Italy as Italy was not able to achieve any unity due to the force of Austria. Metternich wanted to ‘Extinguish the spirit of Italian unity and ideas about constitutions’. He saw revolutionary nationalism and revolutionary liberalism as threat as he feared that it may increase Italy’s strength hence Austria’s input in the 1820⁄21 and 1830 revolutions. In 1831, Metternich was still a life-line for rulers who needed help against the revolutions. In the Papal Stare, ‘The Government of the Italian Provinces’ was formed so the Church had to request help from Metternich and his troops to get rid of it. Austria had control over the ruling monarchs in Italy but national unity in Italy will put an end to this. Austria’s force therefore slowed the progress of national unity in Italy by eradicating revolutionaries and working with the restored monarchs to stop the idea of unification spreading.
Overall, to some degree, the limited appeal of Mazzini’s idea was a main reason for the slow progress for the national unity in Italy as his ideas were too radical which meant it only appealed to limited social class and the revolutionary nature of Mazzini’s nationalism limited his appeal. However, other aspects such as the role of the Church and the Pope were a bigger influence to the slow progress of Italian unification as the Church highly influenced ordinary people and so be preventing the idea of Italian unification from reaching the peasants reduced support to the unification thus slowing down its progress. The church had mass support which is what Mazzini lacked. The lack of nationalism was a big reason for the slow progress because by 1848, Italians were still thinking regionally and unification was not on the agenda. People would not have paid much attention to Mazzini’s ideas for national unity.
by
healthyb (student)
