Nationalism & Italian Unification

Part 1: Reflecting on Nationalism 
Read the following quote from the Palmer European history textbook.  He provides a great definition of what it means to be a member of a "nation."  In your opinion, are these feelings of national belonging - or feelings of nationalism - a positive or negative force?  Are Americans members of a nation?


“A nation-state may be thought of as one in which supreme political authority somehow rests upon and represents the will and feeling of its inhabitants.  There must be a people, not merely a swarm of human beings.  The people must basically will and feel something in common.  They must sense that they belong - that they are members of a community, participating somehow in a common social and cultural life, that the government is their government, and that outsiders are “foreign.” The nation is usually (though not always) composed of persons sharing the same speech.  A nation may also possess a belief in common descent or racial origin (however mistaken), or a sense of common history (sometimes imagined), a common future, a common religion, a common geographical home, or a common external menace. In the nineteenth century governments found that they could not effectively rule or develop the full powers of the state except by enlisting this sense of membership and support among their subjects...Morally and psychologically it meant the creation of new ties between government and governed.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     -Palmer (518-519)

Part 2: Italian Nationalism, Giuseppe Mazzini's The Duties of Man
Purpose: How is a "national identity" justified by Mazzini?

• Paragraphs 1 & 2: What is man's duty?
• Paragraph 3: What is the problem we face living up to that duty?
• Paragraph 4: What is the solution to that problem (and where did the solution come from)?
• Paragraphs 4 & 5: What immediate force has become a roadblock to that solution?
• Paragraphs 5 & 6: What characteristics does Mazzini describe that unify all Italian peoples?

Part 3: Italian Unification
Since Italian unification was a process that spanned the early and late 19th century (about 1830-1870), its key leaders reflect the changing political views of this era.  In particular, we can see how nationalism evolved over time, becoming a political tool of both liberals and conservatives by the late 19th century.

Therefore, the triumph of Italian unification testifies to the strength of nationalism to unify people across the political spectrum.  The four key leaders of Italian unification were: Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, and Victor Emmanuel II.  Where did each fall on the political spectrum?  What were each leader's aims for Italy's political future?

Mazzini

Garibaldi

Cavour

Victor Emmanuel II

While nationalism and the vision of a single Italy helped to bridge these leaders' differences, political compromise and deal-making also played an essential role.  Together, what do the political cartoon and map show about that process of compromise, and the end result of unification?


Part 4: Reflection
To what extent is the following statement true: "Nationalism played a determining role in the unification of the Italian Peninsula."