Where does the word

ITALIA come from?

It was probably borrowed from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle"

The bull was a symbol used by many southern tribes. It appears in many

Greek coins used in the Italian colonies

A map of people and languages in 6 BC

According to Antiochus of

Syracuse (420 BC), the word Italia indicated the southern portion of the

Bruttium peninsula

The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region, but it was during the reign of Emperor Augustus (63 BC. – 14 AD) that the term was expanded

to cover the entire peninsula until the Alps

Augustus’ Reign

337 AD – Constantine’s Reign

The end of the Roman Empire

Italy in 1328

Europe in 1519

Italy in the 1500s

• In 1797 the French Republic sends Napoleon to face the Austrian troops on Italian soil.

• After a series of victories Napoleon’s troops move south marching towards Rome.

• Pope Pius VI is captured and sent to France, but dies on the way.

• The Kingdom of Naples tries to resist the French, but soon king Ferdinand IV flees leaving for Palermo escorted by the English Admiral Nelson.

• After 3 years of fighting and political adjustments Italy is divided into 5 Republics.

Italy in January

1799

The republican experience and the national ideals of the French Revolution inspire many Italian intellectuals.Filippo Maria Buonarroti fights for a Unitarian National State writing:“We can’t wait to see our Homeland free! And the pointless distinctions of being born in Naples, Milan, Turin should disappear forever among us patriots. We all belong to one country, to one Homeland. […] “

In March 1799 the Austrian an Russian troops attack the French.

The Italian republics fall and the old monarchies are restored.

Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo creates an army called Santafede.

In Napoli alone more than 100 revolutionary patriots are executed while the Santafede brings on a real massacre in the nearby towns and in the countryside.

The army of Cardinal Ruffo

• In 1804 France becomes an Empire and Napoleon its Emperor.

• Between 1806 and 1809 he conquers again the Italian peninsula.

• 3 new reigns are formed under French command.

• Sicily remains under the Bourbons.

• Sardinia under the house of Savoia (future kings of unified Italy).

Italy in 1810

For the first time since the end of the Roman Empire, the entire “boot” shares one common constitution, fiscal system and law.

The invasion causes the rise of an anti-French movement, a strengthening of the national Italian ideal and the birth of underground patriotic revolutionary societies.

Great examples of “nationalistic” literature:

-Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis by Ugo Foscolo

-Platone in Italia by Vincenzo Cuoco

Italy 1815

The situation is “brought back in time” to the asset of 1795.

The people of Italy had experienced a more democratic life and could not accept a restoration of the ancient noble rights over the territory.

Political and social unrest favors the illegal activity of political sects.

The “CARBONERIA”

• The Carbonari ("charcoal burners”) were organised in the fashion of Freemasonry, broken into small cells scattered across Italy.

• Most of the membership sought the creation of a liberal, unified Italy.

The initiation right

Catholicism and National Movement

• The nationalistic societies identify the patriotic hero with Jesus.

• The Carbonari state that Christ was the 1st mason.

• The initiation right sees the mason in the role of Jesus who swears fidelity while being crucified.

• The religious terminology adds “nobility and dignity” to the initiation process.

• It is the foundation of national ideology as political religion of the contemporary era.

• This can explain the high number of priests involved in the illegal nationalistic operations in the 1800s.

Symbols of the Carboneria

• The underground sects organize a series of successful revolutions that restore republics throughout Italy but fail (or do not intend) to unify the country.

• In 1830 Austria fights back restoring the reigns under the rule of the Italian nobles.

• Southern Carbonari imagine a unified Italian State within the borders of the Reign of Naples.

• Others think that a broader national state could include all peoples from the Alps to Sicily.

• According to the second group Italians are united by:

- Blood - Culture

- Language - Common past

- One religion

Alessandro Manzoni

Italy in 1830s

Giuseppe Mazzini

La Giovine Italia

In 1831 Mazzini went to Marseille, where he became a popular figure to the other Italian exiles. He organized a new political society called La giovine Italia

The group's motto was God and the People, and its basic principle was the unification

of the several states and kingdoms of the peninsula into a single republic as the

only true foundation of Italian liberty. The new nation had to be: "One,

Independent, Free Republic".

• In 1848 a series of protests in the Kingdome of Naples pushes Ferdinand II to grant a more democratic constitution with elected representatives.

• Carlo Alberto King of Sardinia, Piedmont and Savoia follows the example of Ferdinand.

• Even the Pope, Pius IX, delivers a speech blessing Italy and its Nation.

Le 5 giornate di Milano

In 1848 Lombardia and Veneto were still under Austrian domination.

News of successful revolutions in Piedmont and Naples reached the city of Milano.

March 18 the people formed barricades in the streets and began fighting the Austrian troops.

After 5 days of fighting the city was freed.

The end of a dream

• Carlo Alberto di Savoia declared war to Austria and marched towards Milano meeting with the revolutionaries.

• The Pope organized his own army to fight the war for the independence of Italy.

• King Ferdinand prepared an army to attack the Austrians from the Southern Front.

• France decided not to interfere.

King Carlo Alberto annexes Lombardia and Veneto to his reign.

The Pope reconsiders his position: He doesn’t represent Italians, he represents all Catholics. He cannot fight a nationalist war.

King Ferdinand decides not to intervene in the war as he fears that King Carlo would try to extend his influence to Southern Italy.

The Austrian fight back and 9 August 1848 Milano is back under the control of Austrian troops.

. Carlo Alberto gives his people a liberal and more democratic constitution and Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour is elected as prime minister.

• 14 January 1858 Felice Orsini throws 3 bombs at Napoleon III in Paris.

• He holds Napoleon III responsible for the Italian situation

• More than 50 people die but Napoleon survives

• Napoleon III understands that the political and social unrest in Italy could constitute a problem for the French borders.

• He promises Vittorio Emanuele II King of Sardinia to fight for the liberation of Italy in exchange of the territories of Nizza and Savoia

1859• French and Piedmontese

troops face the Austrians in Montebello

• Garibaldi collects a victory after the other liberating Lombardia

• In the battle of Solferino and San Martino 1,662 French and 12,000 Austrian soldiers die.

• The French leave the Italian territory.

• The Piedmontese troops are left to face the Austrians backed by groups of volunteers.

• Lombardia, Emilia, Romagna and Toscana are annexed to the crown of Piedmont.

L’impresa dei Mille• 5 May 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi leaves from

the port of Quarto with 1,000 volunteers (I Mille).

• 11 May the Mille get to Marsala, Sicily.• Garibaldi proclaims himself dictator of the

island in the name of Vittorio Emanuele.• 20,000 volunteers come from different

regions to fight with Garibaldi• The Borbonic troops are defeated and 6

September Francis II abandons Naples.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Elections and the Unification• The people of Southern Italy vote for the

annexation to the Kingdome of Piedmont.• 26 October 1860 Garibaldi and Vittorio

Emanuele meet at Teano in Campania, but he’s dismissed from command.

• 4 November 1860, Marche and Umbria become part of the Kingdome.

• 17 March 1861 Vittorio Emanuele is proclamed king of Italy.

• Rome was proclaimed Capital even though still under French protection.

• The Third War of Independence freed Veneto from the Austrians in 1866.

• In July 1870 Napoleon III ordered his men to leave Rome. General Cadorna entered into the city which became part of the Kingdome against the Pope’s will.

After 150 years songs about Garibaldi are still being sang

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a1j6za86Gchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a1j6za86Gc

The history of the unification is still controversial

• Many believe that the annexation of the Southern territories to the reign of Piedmont should be interpreted as a “conquest” driven by Garibaldi in the name of the king. In their view the modern national state and the Italian national identity is the product of an act of violence.

This anti-national poster reads: “I don’t celebrate 150 years of lies!”