Friday, June 22, 2018

Why were liberal and nationalistic ideas limited in Italy in 1884?

During the 1840s, Italy was experiencing a tumultuous period. The Revolutions of 1848 were led by people revolting against the monarchies of Europe in several countries. It all started in Sicily in January 1848. These nationalist and liberal factions of people who sought to establish a new republic faced incredible challenges while pursuing this endeavor. In particular, French military intervention in Rome restored order. A monarchy was re-established. Members of the middle class and clergy were not in favor of and feared the radical, socialist ideas of the nationalists and liberals, and they strengthened the law enforcement institutions within Italy after 1848. These absolutist, centralized, and repressive institutions ensured that political power was retained within the monarchy—and nobody else—for the majority of the second half of the 19th century in Italy.
They also led an effort to attack the press and liberal associations that threatened political life. Throughout the rest of the 19th century in Italy, these forces limited and constrained nationalistic and liberal ideas so that there was no infiltration or influence within the newly-established monarchy of Rome. The emerging middle classes, which sought to overtake the aristocracy and establishment middle class of landowners whose families were tied by marriage, were largely contained. They could not meaningfully resist the monarchy's grip over their social and political lives.

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