Reasons for the failure of 1848- 1849 revolutions in Italy Essay

One of the most influential political figures in Europe during this time was Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a politician from Piedmont-Sardinia who had very small and realistic goals for Italy (Hearder 40). To him, there was no hope for a democratic revolution across Italy, and he viewed the settlement from the Congress of Vienna as “arbitrary [and] defective” (Doc. 4). He only

A revolution, by definition, is the overthrow of one government followed by replacement with another. The American Revolution against the British during 1775 to 1783 and the French Revolution pitting the French people against their own government during 1789 to 1799 were both very important political and social turnovers. This movement towards the establishment of a constitutional government influenced political thought throughout the world. By closely examining three of the main causes of these revolutions, it is clear that although the two revolutions have their differences, the basis of cause for the revolutions have, overall, much stronger similarities.

The situation was the same across central and west Europe. Revolutionaries found that the high hopes they had held in 1848 were pushed aside by the reality of different aims. As a result the counter-revolution continued to develop and gain the upper hand, particularly in the Habsburg monarchy, where rivalries within the monarchy itself and the confusion of competing national claims made counter-revolution easier, and in the Italian states where a lack of support had proved too powerful.

The war created many social and political problems throughout the country and by the election of 1919 things changed dramatically. The socialists and popular Catholic parties took over the Parliament, which lead to the ideas of a revolution among the people (Defusco). One leader of this revolution was Benito Mussolini, who founded a movement called Fascism. After four years of revolution, Mussolini took over as the dictator of Italy and eliminated civil liberties, political parties, and encouraged a totalitarian regime (Defusco). Mussolini soon joined forces with Hitler and World War II came into affect. The Fascists later turned on Mussolini and Italy joined the Allies to fight Germany. This reaction lead to a strong anti-Fascist movement called the Committee of National Liberation (Defusco). By the year 1946 the idea for a republic was anonymous. Various parties were

The Revolutions of 1848 During the year of 1848, a revolutionary tide broke out in Europe.

Therefore, they strategically persuaded European powers to fight against Austria…Italy provoked Austria into war Cavour then used Garibaldi’s popular appeal to his benefit. “When Garibaldi and Emmanuel rode through Naples to cheering crowds, they symbolically sealed the union of north and south, of monarch and people.” (McKay, 837) Italy was now unified.

Those who agreed that Italy should be unified argued that Italy would not survive in the separated states, would be vulnerable to invasions, and would ultimately be weaker overall. Giuseppe Mazzini, an attorney who was exiled from Piedmont and wanted Italy to be unified so that he could

The revolution resulted, among other things, in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in France and in the establishment of the First Republic. It was generated by a vast complex of causes, the most important of which were the inability of the ruling classes of nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie to come to grips with the problems of state, the indecisive nature of the monarch, impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual ferment of the Age of Enlightenment, and the example of the American Revolution. Recent scholarship tends to downplay the social class struggle and emphasize political, cultural, ideological, and personality factors in the advent and unfolding of the conflict. The Revolution itself produced an equally vast complex of

The French Revolution was spreading and Prussia and Austria had grown fearful; therefore, to stop the spreading of the revolution the countries waged war against France, gaining land, troops, and power bringing fear to the French. The neighboring countries in the awakening of the revolution, August 1791, formed an alliance wreaking havoc in the French cities. (Doc A) When the guillotining of Louis the 16th occurred Austria became fearful and angry hoping for the safety of the queen and beloved sister Marie Antoinette. (Doc A) The raging war went on for many years but in 1794 the invasion of foreign enemies grew short and the French are close to stopping them. (Doc A) In the words of Robespierre “We must smother the … external enemies of the Republic or perish.”(Doc G)

"Just how the revolution would have evolved if war had not intervened in the spring of 1792 is one of history's elusive `might have beens' . France had now gone into a state of riot, a counter-revolution had broken out in the vendee and war had broken out with Austria. The convention

Giuseppe Mazzini was instrumental in unifying the Italian nation as his ideals spread throughout Italy’s intellectual community. Although many of his attempts at rallying the common people to a revolution failed, he circulated and popularized the idea of a fully unified Italy for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire. In his work “The Duties of Man,” Mazzini establishes that he is largely a romantic nationalist, since he draws heavily on history; however, he utilizes the power of certain liberal nationalist sentiments such as individuals’ rights in his own work.

The Italian and German revolutions reacted similarly to the failed revolutions in 1848. This reaction caused both revolutions to take analogous paths and have similar results. The revolutions after 1848 gained more structure and shape and took more conservative paths to revolution. Revolutions by their nature are looking to cause radical change whereas conservatism looks to preserve the past. These “conservative revolutions” differed however with their “ideals” and their foreign policy.

Revolutions have occurred throughout history and continue to arise even in the present day. Many revolution happens because of the miscommunication between the government and its citizens. In the end, the outcome of revolutions are usually good but, sometimes it might not be what people want. In the following paragraphs, examples of the general causes and effects that creates a revolution will be discussed in order to illustrate how revolutions are mainly caused by the dispute between the regime and its citizen.

The loss of one of its great powers caused the Catholic Church great distress. Pope Pius VI, who ruled during the Revolution, died and in 1799, Pope Pius VII was elected. Pius VII inherited many problems, including the division between France and Rome.

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