CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
Lecture 2
ITALY- THE BIRTH OF THE KINGDOM
There is the problem of nationalities: What makes people Italian?
A common view is that the Italian state is very weak and that the Italians distrust both the
official institutions and each other.
Italians compete very irresponsibly for wealth and power, they ignore the law, they do not pay
their taxes, and their loyalties are never national, but they have local loyalties.
Italian rulers including party officials and deputies can be bribed, are there to be right and
they attract no respect and enjoy no legitimacy.
How did the Unification process go?
North
o Kingdom of Sardinia- capital Turin and led by monarchs of the House of Savoy
o The Kingdom of Lombardy-Venezia
o Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Middle
o Property of the State: Papal States
South
o Grand Duchy of Tuscany
o Grand Duchy of Lucca
o Grand Duchy of Modena
o Grand Duchy of Parma
THE SITUATION FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
A. Socioeconomic POV
the situation was very bad compared with France and England, where living
conditions were improving everyday → economic backwardness
the country did not have any raw materials, which were essential for the industries
(eg. iron, coal..)
underdeveloped roads and badly maintained street network
taxes used to support the court, the army, and the bureaucracy → they did not invest
in industrial development
The bourgeoisie did not want to take risks by investing in the industries, moreover in
the South, the nobles ran their estates, and their properties, without modernizing or
investing money in their lands
o in the south nobles had large properties and they ran those estates collecting
taxes and revenues from people working and living on properties but did not
invest, modernizing
o in the north, industrial abilities were a bit more developed, but still not the
best
The most important POV: ITALY WAS POLITICALLY DIVIDED
o each state had its currency
o each state had its law
o each state had its duty taxes
THEREFORE commercial relationships were very hard to make
(problem of language, currency, and duty)
B. Intellectual POV
Few people in the 1830s believed that the Italian nation may exist (no one had any
desire to revive Napoleon's partial experiment)
These few people who dreamed of unification and had different visions of how
unification should be reached were sent to exile. These differences weakened the
Lecture 2
ITALY- THE BIRTH OF THE KINGDOM
There is the problem of nationalities: What makes people Italian?
A common view is that the Italian state is very weak and that the Italians distrust both the
official institutions and each other.
Italians compete very irresponsibly for wealth and power, they ignore the law, they do not pay
their taxes, and their loyalties are never national, but they have local loyalties.
Italian rulers including party officials and deputies can be bribed, are there to be right and
they attract no respect and enjoy no legitimacy.
How did the Unification process go?
North
o Kingdom of Sardinia- capital Turin and led by monarchs of the House of Savoy
o The Kingdom of Lombardy-Venezia
o Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Middle
o Property of the State: Papal States
South
o Grand Duchy of Tuscany
o Grand Duchy of Lucca
o Grand Duchy of Modena
o Grand Duchy of Parma
THE SITUATION FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
A. Socioeconomic POV
the situation was very bad compared with France and England, where living
conditions were improving everyday → economic backwardness
the country did not have any raw materials, which were essential for the industries
(eg. iron, coal..)
underdeveloped roads and badly maintained street network
taxes used to support the court, the army, and the bureaucracy → they did not invest
in industrial development
The bourgeoisie did not want to take risks by investing in the industries, moreover in
the South, the nobles ran their estates, and their properties, without modernizing or
investing money in their lands
o in the south nobles had large properties and they ran those estates collecting
taxes and revenues from people working and living on properties but did not
invest, modernizing
o in the north, industrial abilities were a bit more developed, but still not the
best
The most important POV: ITALY WAS POLITICALLY DIVIDED
o each state had its currency
o each state had its law
o each state had its duty taxes
THEREFORE commercial relationships were very hard to make
(problem of language, currency, and duty)
B. Intellectual POV
Few people in the 1830s believed that the Italian nation may exist (no one had any
desire to revive Napoleon's partial experiment)
These few people who dreamed of unification and had different visions of how
unification should be reached were sent to exile. These differences weakened the
