Unification Flashcards
When did Italy become a nation?
1861
When did Italy become fully unified?
1870
What did political leaders struggle to do? That would?
In the subsequent 50 years, they struggled to create an identity for Italy that would unite its citizens and encourage a sense of shared patriotism
What had Italy been since the Middle Ages?
Fragmented politically, economically and culturally
What did Italy as a nation mean to Italians?
Very little
Why?
They were used to identifying with their local towns and regions
What were Italians defined by?
Campanilismo
Define campanilismo
A feeling of pride and belonging to their place of birth
Campanilismo was…
stronger than any sense of national identity
What were Italians not unified by?
By language
What percentage of Italians spoke in a regional dialect?
99%
Why was this a problem?
Italians from one region were unable to understand what Italians from other regions were saying
What was the official language?
The dialect from Florence
How many people spoke in the Florence dialect?
Very few outside Florence or the educated classes spoke it
What dialect did King Victor Emmanuel II speak in?
Piedmont dialect
What did this mean?
This meant that most Italians outside Piedmont couldn’t understand him
What was this a clear impediment to?
This was a clear impedimention to the unified nation of Italians under the figure of the monarchy that the leaders of Risorgimento had dreamt of
What did Massimo d’Azeglio write at the time of unification?
We have made Italy. Now we must make Italians
What did people question in the last years of the 1800s?
Whether Italy could even survive as a unified nation
What happened on May 1898?
The protestors against Italy’s political system and growing economic problems were met by a brutal government crackdown and 100 protesters were killed in Milan
What happened on 29th July 1900?
King Umberto I was assassinated by an Italian anarchist who wanted to avenge the protests’ deaths
