Italia

Regional Map    

 

National status (1815) (Status as a people/region)

 Rome was the center of the empire that ruled most of the known world, after the fall of the Roman Empire. Italy was divided into many individual states. By AD 800 northern Italy had come under the control of Charlemagne, the first leader of the Holy Roman Empire. Also French general Napoleon Bonaparte conquered italy in the 1790s. In the 1805 he had himself crowned king of Italy. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815, most Italian states went back to there former rulers.

Sources:  http://users.dickinson.edu/~rhyne/232/Three/Bound15.jpg 

Ethnic Make-up

 Almost all Italians speak Italian. Only very few communities first language is not Italian. The way of life in Italy can be differentiated largely between the North and the South. The North is more industrialized with people living in rich urban areas. The south is where most of the agriculture takes place. Throughout Italy, all children from the age of six to fifteen must attend school.

Sources: Davis, John A. "Italy." World Book Online Reference Center. 8 Oct. 2008

Religious Make-up

Italy's major religion around the time of 1815 was Roman Catholicism. Mostly all of the Italians were Catholics. Roman Catholicism is a large part of Christianity. In fact, more than half of Christians are Catholics. Italy is home to the capital of Christianity which is known as the Vatican. The Vatican is the home of the Pope who is the ruler of the the Roman Catholic Church. 

Sources: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REcatholic.htm

Davis, John A. "Italy." World Book Online Reference Center. 8 Oct. 2008  

http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar2832

Stimulants to Unification (Issues prior to/during 1815)

 One mans goal became the main reason why Italy is unified. In 1848 Italians wanted leadership from the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. It was the most powerful state of all Italian states. Soon after, the kingdom followed a liberal constitution in 1848. However, in 1852 a man named Camillo di Cavour wanted to expand the power of the state. He believed in strengthening Italy rather than unifying it. Cavour’s main goal was to gain control of northern Italy and drive out Austria. Shortly, Cavour declared war with Austria and succeeded in gaining control over all of northern Italy except Venetia.  Although, Cavour wanted to strengthen northern Italy rather than unifying it, he also thought of the possibilities of ruling over southern Italy. He continued gaining control by looking south, and asking for assistance from Giuseppe Garibaldi to help him unite the southern and northern regions. Together they succeeded in the unification of Italy and decided to let the Sardinian King rule.

Sources:  Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia I. Shabaka. Modern World History: Patterns Of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell Inc., 1999. 

Obstacles to Unification

Becoming a unified state, takes a lot of work. Not only was the unification of Italy a process, but it also took two men to make it work. A major obstacle to the unification of Italy was the fact that the state was divided into many individual yet powerful city-states, making it harder for Italy to come together as a whole. The difficulty was getting all the city-states to agree to unify and to cool off their competitive drive. Each city-state was fighting for control and dominance. As power continued to change hands, a movement to unify Italy began in 1861 by a man named Victor Emmanuel II. By 1870 the unification of Italy was completed.

Sources: " Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.6 Oct. 2008  <http://www.school.eb.com/all/elementary/article?articleId=345713>.

Status of Jews

In the year of 1569, the Jewish people were expuled out of any state that had the Pope as the leader. However, there were still Jewish communities that existed in some of Italy's cities, such as, Venice, Florence, and Livorno. Even though Pope Sixtus V wanted the Jews to help him with finances at the Vatican, the Jews were forced to live in ghettoes. As time went on to the 18th century, things started to turn around for the Jews. Due to the Enlightenment, things changed in a positive way. Then in the 1800s, the French Revolution led to the Jewish emancipation. As a result of the French Revolution, Napoleon  gave support to the Jews by bringing the emancipation laws to Italy. Although there were still laws that restricted the Jews, in 1815 until 1848, Restoration regimes helped the Jewish communities in Italy to better their society. The regimes helped the Jews out by encouraging them to take advantage of business and educational opportunities. In 1848 a Constitution removed all the restrictions from the Jews, so they could be equal citizens. All in all, the Jewish emancipation was a  very important step for improving the Jewish communities in Italy.

Sources: Sarti, Roland. 2004. "Jews in <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Italy</country-region></place>." <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on" /></country-region><country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Italy</place></country-region>: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. 2 Oct 2008 http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=ITA0433&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 6, 2008).

Important Figures/Leaders

Some important leaders during this time can include Napoleon and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Napolean was an important figure during the 19th century because he helped to drive out Austria from Northern Italy. Napoleon also brought the Jewish emancipation laws to Italy. By doing this Napoleon greatly helped the Jewish community. Giuseppe Garibaldi united Southern Italy and tried to unify all of Italy. Below you will find photos of the main leaders of Italy during the 1800s. To the left is Garibaldi and to the right is Napoleon.

Sources: Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia I. Shabaka. Modern World History: Patterns Of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell Inc., 1999. 

“Garibaldi, Giuseppe." Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. Modern World History Online. 2 Oct.2008. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=WHI0032&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 6, 2008). 

Regional Map

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Foreign Policy

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