In the period between 1815 and 1848 Italy was divided in several ways. Firstly, the country was divided into 11 states each having their own rulers with different forms of government. This led to a great deal of instability and little similarity between states. This was a weakness because it meant that there was little agreement and therefore little chance of unification. Each ruler was only interested in his own state and had no interest in political affairs concerning other states. This resulted in various isolated states and in turn little hope for unity between rulers. Most of the states including the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and The Papal States had strict censorship and opposed all suggestions of reform. This was another weakness as without reform there was little chance of improvement and negotiation. With extremely strict control in most states it meant that it was extremely difficult to gather popular support for nationalism throughout Italy and unite it together. Therefore, it was not so much the lack of popular support, but instead the lack of unity of purpose and simultaneous action which led to the downfall of the nationalist movement.
Another interesting factor being a weakness of Italian nationalism was the actions of the Congress of Vienna after the French revolution of 1789. Metternich (Austrian Chancellor) managed to persuade the European powers to redraw the borders of Europe and in turn stop the spread of nationalist sentiment. This was achieved in Italy by restoring the prenapoleonic ruling families. Heavy taxing on commerce across the borders and lack of communication led to the confinement of nationalism. Therefore, even if there were popular support for nationalism, it would have been extremely difficult to bring about action without a means of communication.
Italy’s geographical position also played a vital role in resisting the spread of nationalism and halting communication between states. The Alps in the north meant that communication was difficult and often impossible. There was little knowledge of what was happening on the other side of the Alps. The Italian people themselves were a barrier to nationalism as the vast array of states each with their own sub cultures and dialects held small interest in wanting to unite. There were petty grievances between states and inhabitants preferred to refer to themselves as Neapolitan rather than Italian. This lack of national loyalty was another reason for slow progress. Communication was also affected by the problem that there was no common language. French was spoken in Piedmont, Latin in the Papal States and German by the Austrian rulers. Merchants would trade in French and therefore there was no common language whereby the boundaries of trade could expand and in turn communications improve. There were also huge differences in the regional dialects making them more like totally different languages. Therefore, it can be argued that popular support required being able to communicate and combine their views in order to be successful. With popular support on its own, there was little hope of progress towards a united Italy. However, it can be argued that with a great deal of popular support the other barriers could be overcome. This is because a greater number of people could lead to more communication overall.
The Roman Catholic Church had regained its power after 1815. Therefore, superstition and fear of the church was widespread. The Church preached a message of conservatism and acceptance and this was accepted. This meant that even those who supported change were forced to abide by the preaching of the Church. Although this resulted in a lack of popular support it was due to the strict hold of the Church on any form of resistance. The Catholic domination of the Italian region, especially in the Papal States, also stifled the spread of new ideas and led the population to dismiss Nationalist and Liberalist sentiments in the name of faith. People were often reluctant to go against what the Church was preaching.
Austria’s influence within Italy was probably one of the greatest problems faced by nationalists. Austria had links with most states in Italy and they forced foreign correspondence of each state to go through Austria. This allowed Austria to control each step made by Italy as a whole. Metternich had a well-organised police force as well as a spy network which ensured that there was widespread surveillance. This meant that any support for a united Italy was quickly crushed by the state via the order of Austrian ministers. With many different groups demanding different changes, and having opposed policies it was almost impossible for sense of unity. Most of the secret societies including the Carbonari were more concerned about demanding a constitution rather than working towards a united Italy. This was probably because of the huge numbers of obstacles which confronted them. Co-ordination between the secret societies was poor as they were scattered around the country. There was also little attempt to compromise over small differences and work for the good of the nation.
The backward economy in Italy meant that inter border trade was expensive and this resulted in little unity between neighbouring states. The control of the economy was in the hands of the Austrian empire. Metternich deliberately wanted to suppress the economy as he felt that this would lead to a nationalist movement. Therefore the intervention of Austria in the day-to-day running of the country meant that a close watch was kept on any attempt of revolution.
In conclusion, it can be seen that there were a range of factors which brought about a lack in popular support for a united Italy. It can also be seen that the main reason for a weakness in the nationalist movement was a divided Italy without a combined force to bring about change. To a certain extent lack of popular support hindered the progress of nationalism, however the cause of this was rooted to geographical, economic, social, linguistic and political factors. Popular support alone could not have been a remedy for all other barriers. Although a lack of popular support was one of the main weaknesses, it also included the fact that there was little unified support over similar aims.
