Have Italy be a Catholic Theocracy run by the Pope by 2021
- Thread starter Komrad
- Start date
Without a medieval pod (Papacy curbstomps HRE influance in italy at some point) prehapse have Napolion III approach italian unification using the Papacy as a catalyst (since he was weirdly obsessive about them OTL to the point of not allowing Italy to annex them early on.)
Maybe if Pius IX turned out to be the Italian nationalist a lot of people thought (or hoped) he was?
Osman Aga
Banned
Italy experiences authoritarianism and suffered some traumatic defeats. After the annexation of Rome, Papist supporters want the pope to become the leader of Italy. The negative events in Italy leads to protests until the Papist faction hijacks the protests and brings down the Monarchy. Anything between 1881-1911.
The idea of an Italian confederation with the pope as its President was proposed by Vincenzo Gioberti. Intellectuals didn't like it at all as most were Liberal and/or Republicans...
Nappy III had also swore in his youth to help the Italian cause, and IOTL what prompted him to do something was Felice Orsini's failed attempt at his own life. In the Plombieres Agreement, he envisioned with Cavour a partition of the Papal States, where the Pope would have just retained Lazio, without even consulting with Pious IX. The Pope would also have been nominal President of a loose Italian Confederation made of four Kingdoms in this plan, but I do not think this meets the OP's request (and Pious IX would have never accepted such an offer after having lost the vast majority of his realm).
Have the Neo-Guelfs win out, and have Pope Pius intervene initially in the war against Austria (as much as it will pain him to go to war against a Catholic state). This should not only win the Papacy enough resect that they will likely be seen as the natural head of a United Italy, but it shold also spare Pius the first of the traumatic experiences which soured him so badly on liberal nationalism in OTL. If you accomplish that, when the Italian Unification Wars really kick in, the Pope will likely seen the perfect head of an Italian state - they will have less of a territorial base than Sardinia-Peidmount, they will have a great deal of spiritual authority, and will be popular in all but the most radical communities in Italy.
Now, this won't be a theocracy in any but the loosest sense of the word (nor do I think it would work, if it was a totaltarian theocracy). The Pope would likely be established asthe Head of State, but there will naturally be a parliament where most of the power lies, and there will have to be some accomodations given to religious freedom - though the Church will certainly enjoy a special relationship akin to that of Ireland in the early and mid 20th centuries - freedom of the press, and the like. I suspect the Pope would take little role in the day to day managing of Italy and focus instead of the administration of the Church and theological matters (I don't care how much energy a man has, he can't do everything!)
However, it would be a fasinating scenerio to play out - both due to the impact it would have on Italy, as well as the massive changes it would have on 19th and 20th century Catholicism.
Now, this won't be a theocracy in any but the loosest sense of the word (nor do I think it would work, if it was a totaltarian theocracy). The Pope would likely be established asthe Head of State, but there will naturally be a parliament where most of the power lies, and there will have to be some accomodations given to religious freedom - though the Church will certainly enjoy a special relationship akin to that of Ireland in the early and mid 20th centuries - freedom of the press, and the like. I suspect the Pope would take little role in the day to day managing of Italy and focus instead of the administration of the Church and theological matters (I don't care how much energy a man has, he can't do everything!)
However, it would be a fasinating scenerio to play out - both due to the impact it would have on Italy, as well as the massive changes it would have on 19th and 20th century Catholicism.
Austrian high command actually takes the sugestions of marschall Radetzky seriously and make reforms to the army, which include Krnka breech loading rifles, an effective conscription system and updated formation tactics. Actually, have Franz-Joseph be more reform minded and willing to listen early on to his more competent advisors, and not entertain millitary idiots.
The modernized Austrian army then gives a proper beating to the Franco-Sardinian army at Solferino, force a peace wih France, and occupy Sardinia. They also butcher Garibaldi and his revolutionaries, when they attempt battle. Following this, our more-reform minded Austrians decide that a new, long-term settlement in Italy is necessary, and decide to form an Italian federation, with pope at its head, with the regional Italian monarchs under him. This at first excludes Two sicillies, who might, or might not eventually join. Lombardy and Venetia might well stay in Austria untill it falls apart (though considering that Austria will be victorious and taking necessary reforms, we might well see a surviving Habsburg empire. In that case, the regions might join later on, if Vienna decides they are not worth keeping, or might fully embrace reional identities and remain part of the Habsburg empire).
The new Italian federation would at first be quite autocratic, though it would probably make eventuall democratic reforms, though certainly much more conservative. The Pope would maintain some levels of power and influence, as a uniting figure, as would the regional rullers.
Maybe the Pope as constitutional figurehead monarch and an additional Primeminister as head of government.