The revolutionaries in Italy had longstanding grievances, some were nationalists and some were liberals. Despite all having different ideas and aims they all resoundingly agreed that Italy needed change. The hopes of the various revolutionary groups had been raised by the election of Pope Pius and Charles Albert the King of Piedmont Sardinia. However, their hopes and resulting revolutions were crushed due to many concerning factors.
A crushing factor of the failure of the revolutions was the trouncing of the Piedmontese army at both the battles of Novara and Custoza. These defeats were resounding as the Piedmontese army had no chance against the might of the super power that was the Austrian army. The Piedmontese army met the forces of Marshal Radetsky at Custoza on the 25th July 1948 but had no support from the other states in Italy. The army were outnumbered and the rebellion was crushed. As a consequence the Piedmontese army lost not just authority but morale. The battle of Novara soon occurred and this resulted in yet another defeat for the Piedmontese army but this time King ...
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
Multiple historians have touched on the change in government during Fascist Italy’s reign in World War II. In Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development, Alexander De Grand clarifies the many promises Benito Mussolini fabricated for the Italian people in order to get them to join his cause such as the improvement on poverty with the rise of a new Roman Empire. De Grand also gives an opposite view, with some citizens seeing Fascism as a “model of efficiency.” In Melton S. Davis’ Who Defends Rome?, t...
Italy achieved her unification in 1870. She had a constitutional monarchy like that of Great Britain, but democratic society failed to develop in Italy because the government was controlled by corrupt politicians, called the party bosses. They controlled the elections by bribing the voters. Once they were in power, they were more interested in achieving personal gains for themselves than in solving the social and economic problems of the people. As a result of this political corruption, Italy remained a poor country. Industrial progress was slow. Italy was poor in natural resources and lack of fertile land. Many of the farm laborers were landless and were often unemployed, so millions of Italians were forced to emigrate.
The Extent to Which the Lack of Popular Support was the Main Reason for the Weakness of Italian Nationalism in the Period 1815-1848
By 1791 their had been a constitutional monarchy with the revolutions mission complete, now major changes would have to be made to ensure that the country benefited from this change, but this would be hard, the church had already been abolished and its funds taken to resolve the spiralling debt problems. A lot of groups had been set up to fight the revolutionary committee including the Monarchiens and the Noirs. The main opposition came from ...
These arguably great dictators were not handed their title, but rather had to rise up to it. The death of previous leaders helped each Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. The death of socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti made Italy a one-party state. Liberals
Throughout history, countless uprisings have occurred. Historians classify any forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system as a revolution. The success or failure of a revolution is directly related to the revolution’s causes and courses. The French Revolution was more successful than the Nicaraguan Revolution, because the Nicaraguan Revolution left the country in social and financial ruin, foreign powers had much greater interference, and it precipitated a period of political unrest with multiple leadership changes.
The failure of the Italian revolutions cannot be attributed to one reason as there are a plethora of reasons which could be cited as a main cause. The main reasons which could be argued as the most important reasons for the failure of the Italian revolts are the lack of organisation within revolutionary groups, the Austrian army’s strength, the political and military inexperience of those in power, the Pope’s abandonment of the revolution, the hesitation of Charles Albert to front the campaign of unity and Bonaparte’s intervention. In 1815 Italy was not recognised as a country, Metternich, an Austrian statesman, said "The word 'Italy' is a geographical expression, a description which is useful shorthand, but has none of the political significance the efforts of the revolutionary ideologues try to put on it” which shows that Italy was not considered a country this was because it was separated into different states and each had their own rulers. The system of government was mainly autocratic which meant that just one man was in charge of the entire state and so it would be true to say that Italy was not a democratic country. The French Revolution that began in 1789 meant that countries all over Europe were under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte, Italy included until the battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated. All progress that had been made in the country was reversed with the Treaty of Versailles which meant that the autocratic kings were reinstated into Naples, Sardinia-Piedmont and Sicily and the duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany were given back to Austrian rule. The people of Italy had tasted a better life under Napoleon’s rule and wanted change, this led to the revolts.
Revolutions are effected by the morals of the country. Depending on where the country stands morally, what they considered to be right and wrong, will affect how a revolution will processed. The morals of the leaders will effect a revolution. Where these leaders stand on their morals will affect the direction that the people wish to go. People by nature go with the flow, and if their leader is going in one direction, wither good or bad, that is the directions the people will go. Maximilion de Robespierre was the leader of the French Revolution. He said, “The Revolution is the war of liberty against its enemies.” The liberty that Robespierre was picturing was one of his own making with bloodshed, and violence against the French people. His revolution ended up killing the King and Queen of France, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette his queen, by beheading them. Robe...
Despite intense feelings of nationalism, when Italy’s opportunity came to unify in early 1848 the leaders and the people became hopelessly divided.
The widespread uprising of the revolutions after the publication of the Communist Manifesto are know as the Revolutions of 1848. They started in France and mainly spread to Germany, Italy, and the Austrian Empire, but were documented in other empires as well, but on a lesser degree.[4] Although the Communist Manifesto is not said to be the driving force behind these revolutions it can definitely be noted as a factor. The revolution in France happened because the working class desired universal suffrage. King Louis Philippe was overthrown and the Second Republic of France was established. The revolution in Germany, partially inspired by the French revolution that preceded it, unified the country with the national parliament.
Revolutions are a prevalent part of world history and have shaped our world into what it is today. The French and the Bolshevik revolutions serve as just two examples of the many revolutions throughout history that have brought about changes to their respective countries. Both of these revolutions had distinct causes and were stimulated by other revolutions in the past. Since these two revolutions happened many years apart, with the French Revolution in the late sixteenth century and the Bolshevik Revolution in the early twentieth century, the ideologies behind them were somewhat different. The people went the extremes in both countries to bring about the desired changes. The revolutions were both radical because of the shortage of food and the uprising of the people. In both revolutions, there is a quest for change and the citizens were willing to go as far as they needed to go to make that change, even if it meant the people had to overthrow their leaders.
The Italian Unification was a big impact on Nationalism, which was led by Benso di Cavour, which supplied most of the ideology for the movement. Benso di Cavour was also the Prince of Piedmont-Sardinia and severed as King Victor Emmanuel II. Cavour built the strength of Piedmont-Sardinia by making a strong army, an environment that was healthy, and political freedom. Cavour was all for freedom of speech, gaining Napoleon III support by promising him Sa...
"The manner in which Mussolini and the Fascist Party gained possession of the government was regarded in most foreign circles as an illegal act of violence." (3) As the nation of Italy began to suffer great debts, Mussolini had been summoned by the King to form a government to aid in the economic needs. This marked the birth of the Fascist Party in Italy. In the beginning of his rise to the top, Mussolini was popular amongst his people. His popularity was high, and people began to trust in his judgment and ideas. (4) He was, in essence, saving the people from the turmoil that had ensued the nat...
Across Europe, the revolutionaries of 1848 came from a variety of different social backgrounds and they all held different political beliefs. They could be liberals, republicans, nationalists or socialists and therefore they all wanted different things out of the Revolutions. Each group was also internally divided, with a radical faction and a more moderate one. Initially they all joined forces to overthrow the existing regimes with which they were discontent. However once power was in their hands, they found that ‘Revolutionary Consensus’ was virtually impossible. Their initial victory was “followed by ensuing struggle to implement change”5. The people had taken to the streets not knowing what they would do if they did manage to take power. Now that they had, because of their different individual aims, they found it hard to compromise. This eventually led to a growing split between moderates and radicals, as well as between social classes, particularly in France. The moderates did not want a government based on universal male...