Italian National Identity Before 1861
In the Middle Ages, the Italian peninsula was split into five large and small sovereign states that were subsequently subdivided into several smaller, semi-autonomous, mini-sates. In the mid 19th century, Napoleonic conquests resulted in French control over most of Italy.
This 14-year period of Napoleonic rule is substantial to Italian self-recognition, because the administration of the French influenced Italians into entertaining the idea of a constituted Italian nation state. The repressive nature of this era also acted to engender a new generation of Italian national revolutionaries. One of which was Giuseppe Mazzini, known as a founder of the Risorgimento. Mazzini saw Italian nationality as inclusive: “For Mazzini, all Italians, irrespective of class and property, were impoverished and oppressed, and all were therefore included in his noton of 'the people'”
Read more about this topic: History Of Italian Citizenship
Famous quotes containing the words italian, national and/or identity:
“Master of Trinity: Is he an Italian?
Harold Abrahams: Of Italian extraction, yes.
Master of Trinity: I see.
Harold Abrahams: But not all Italian.
Master of Trinity: I’m relieved to hear it.
Harold Abrahams: He’s half-Arab.”
—Colin Welland (b. 1934)
“You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“So long as the source of our identity is external—vested in how others judge our performance at work, or how others judge our children’s performance, or how much money we make—we will find ourselves hopelessly flawed, forever short of the ideal.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)