How accurate is it to say that the political and social consequences of the 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were limited? Flashcards
How accurate is it to say that the political and social consequences of the 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were limited?
How accurate is it to say that the political and social consequences of the 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were limited?
Political limitations
Lack of democracy/limited impact of statuto
- Monarchs, such as Francis, were restored in most states and constitutions gained during the revolutions were repealed in most state eg papal
- upper chamber was appointed by the king whilst the lower chamber represented only 2.5% of the population
- Piedmont still remained a monarch, whilst more liberal and with the Statuto allowed, VE remained in control of the army and the ability to appoint and sack ministers
- Still a lack of democracy in Piedmont despite the statuto. Cavour appointed himself PM, finance minster and foreign minster in 1852.
- VE was a political conservative disinterested in politics, so he was not in the best position to provide further social and political changes for Piedmont; strong politicians like Cavour and Azeglio were needed.
Social limitations
Papal reforms
-1849- pope excommunicated all who tried to reduce his temporal power of the papacy and he returned to Rome in 1850
-Roman republic was ended, overturning its social and political progress of slum clearance and censorship removal
-Pope now protected by 20,000 French catholic soldiers which led to his protection until 1870.
State rulers/REASSERTION OF AUSTRIAN CONTROL
-Power of Austria re-installed and strengthened in many cases eg Venetia where the efforts of the venetian republic tightened Austrian control due to the threat of further revolts
-2 sicilies reunited and Bourbon rule re-asserted
Socially and politically the pope was in a very strong position and the legacy of the roman republic was short lived as the pope wanted to make the Papal States even more conservative and further resented unification
Political benefits/changes
Piedmontese benefits
- statuto was allowed to remain in Piedmont, which had now become the political hub of liberalism and progressive politics in Italy
- Austria wary to change it as the feared Piedmont would call on France, suggesting the political power of Austria had been challenged, as it was France who ultimately saved the pope from the roman republic and not Austria; Austria were not the only ones entrenched in italy
- no fear of foreign or papal repression of political views, which is why 30,000 politically motivated immigrants migrated to Piedmont including economist Ferrara
Social changes/ benefits
Roman republic
-the roman republic under the leadership of Mazzini, armellini and Safe epitomised what could be achieved in the future for nationalists with coherent aims, as it temporarily introduced an array of social reforms included slum clearance and the removal of church control and censorship
Piedmont emerged as leader
-whilst Mazzinian politics saw a decline, other potential leaders of unification eg the Pope also saw a decline in the likelihood of leading a unified Italy; whilst this may have meant a lack of progress in the short term it meant that Piedmont had largely emerged as the most likely leader of unification and became the hub of social and political progress as a result
-lessons were also learnt that the masses of peasants could not be ignored in terms of progress towards unification in the future
Criteria/ judgement
IN the short term the impact on social and political factors was relatively limited as Italy were no closer to unification than they had been before 1848, owing to their ultimate failure in the revolutions. Instead social and political impacts were more long term as it saw a re-evaluation of ideas about unity and progress, in which Piedmont emerged as the most likely leader of unification and therefore the relatively most political and social benefits were felt there, even if they were democratically limited
