Essay Instructions: How strong was Italian nationalism in the middle decades of the nineteenth century? It is not enough to answer, simply, “strong enough to create a united Italy in 1861.”
After all, at the time the obstacles to Italian unification had seemed great, if not insurmountable: strong regional differences, Catholic opposition, widespread poverty and illiteracy, and political rivalries all threatened to prevent Italian unification; in fact, the foundation of the Italian Kingdom in 1861 captivated Europeans precisely because it was such an expected achievement.
Therefore, to answer our deceptively simple question, we will need to break it down into three more specific sub-questions:
1) How dedicated and united were the leaders of Italy’s nationalist movement (for example, to name just the most famous protagonists: the revolutionary conspirator, Giuseppe Mazzini; the king of Piedmont-Sardinia, Victor Emanuel II; the Piedmontese prime minister, count Camillo di Cavour; and the charismatic general, Giuseppe
Garibaldi)?
2) How committed were the ordinary men and women who joined the nationalist movement (for example, as volunteer soldiers)?
3) How active and supportive was the general population in the effort to create a free, independent, and united Italy? In short, we want you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Italian nationalism using a limited number of primary and secondary sources. We recommend that you read and analyze the sources in the following order.
First, read the relevant pages of our textbook, Sherman and Salisbury’s The West in the World. (These pages are:
a) pp. 585-586, 593, and 596 on Giuseppe Mazzini and Italy during the Restoration;
b) p. 601 on Italy’s revolutions of 1848; and, most important of all,
c) pp. 609-614 on Italian unification, including Doc. 19.1, Fig. 19.1, and Map 19.1) Which protagonists, issues, and events does our textbook emphasize? How strong or weak do Sherman and Salisbury make Italian nationalism seem?
Second, read and analyze the two documents by Giuseppe Mazzini (“Mazzini on Young Italy” and “On Nationality”) and the eight brief documents ."Documents on Italian Unification”. What do these documents add to your understanding of Italian nationalism and the road to Italian unification? Third, read and analyze the long (78-page) excerpt from the nationalist Giuseppe Cesare Abba’s diary account of Garibaldi’s dramatic invasion of Sicily in 1860.
To ensure that you incorporate a range of different sources and perspectives, we are making the following formal source requirement: in your essay you must discuss
1) The West in the World;
2) at least 3 of the 8 “Documents on Italian Unification”; and
3) Abba’s diary.
(Incorporating the two documents by Mazzini is optional.) As you will quickly notice,
Abba’s diary is far longer and more detailed than the other sources; to leave room for your analysis of this unusually rich source, you might want to divide up the contents of your essay (roughly) as follows: ca. 2-3 pages on The West in the World and the assorted documents, ca. 3- 4 pages on Abba’s diary. But this is simply a recommendation, not a requirement.
For further instructions regarding the length and form of this essay, rules regarding late submission of the essay, and writing and editing advice, please consult the attached “essay guidelines” document.
