Prologue
Introduction
By Andronico Barbero
At the present day, the Kingdom of the Italians (as the Greater Italian Federation is most commonly known) is one of the most fascinating and self-contradictory countries of the world. A constitutional monarchy made up of Kingdoms, Republics, Free Cities and Principalities, united in its multi-layers divisions, the only parliamentary democracy where the King is not only a mere figurehead, one of the world's economical and scientific powerhouses, home of the most brilliant world politicians in one of the most endemically corrupted political systems, the country where clear oxymora like Secular Catholicism and Individualistic Socialism are a real thing, Italy is a fascinating mystery to everyone- Italians included. As Massimo d'Azeglio once put it: "Joseph the Maistre wrote that any people has the government it deserves. It would seem that the Italians deserved many."
A common myth originated in the "Risorgimento", is that this was the Italians' destiny since the beginning of time, strengthened by the seeds of centuries of division and oppression. But is it so? It certainly was not in the eyes of the ones who lived in the many statelets in which the Italian peninsula had been divided by the Congress of Vienna. Back in those times, Italy was really "a mere geographical expression", as the (in)famous quote by Clemens Von Metternich goes. And, if many among the literates wanted a united Italy, there seemed to be no consensus on how (or even when) this unification was to be achieved: a radical Republic (as envisioned by Mazzini and Garibaldi), a Federal, somewhat liberal Kingdom (as Cavour desired), or a Confederation led by the Pope (as Gioberti dreamed)?
In the end, they all won, they all lost, and it can be said that the Italian Unification is the best example of the saying "a good compromise leaves anyone somewhat dissatisfied". This goes against the myth that portrays that generation of heroes that made Italy as a compact, united front. They were not. Some of them did not even ever met, some condemned others to death, and even the ones who had a strong relationship quarreled a lot (one could write a book just out of the fights between Cavour and Ferdinand I, despite their attested mutual friendship). It took a lot of pragmatism, blood, and sheer luck to forge all these differences into a nation.
But how could it happen? The purpose of this book is to give a partial answer to this question in a somewhat unorthodox way. We will try, as much as we can, not to tell History but the histories of the men of the "generation who made a nation". It is hard to describe "the history of a soul" but we have enough material to give it a humble try.
Of course, we will have to make choices. We will focus on the men who took actual decisions who shape the destiny of Italy. We will spend a great deal of time seeing on how pivotal were their changes of mind and moment of pragmatism, since, as Cavour wonderfully put it: "There is no principle, however just or reasonable, which, if exaggerated, cannot lead us to the evilest of consequences".
Unnecessary it might be, let us give them a brief introduction. First, we will have Ferdinand, last King of Sardinia and First King of the Italians, or, as he is usually referred to, the Gentleman King. What would have happened of him (and of Italy) had not his elder brother Victor Emmanuel tragically died in flames on September 16th, 1822 (just two months before Ferdinand's birth) is anyone's guess. Someone says that Ferdinand felt a cadet all his life and that this was one of the reasons for his strong and friendly relationship with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, First Prime Minister of Italy (a second son himself) who will of course also feature in this book. For him, we will highlight how a passionate and risk-loving man he was, in contrast with the cold-blooded, highly rational image that the later propaganda gave of him.
We will of course have Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Republican who gave his life to enlarge a kingdom. To give an account of the life of this man, who was a sailor, a spaghetti-seller in Brazil, Admiral of the Uruguayan Navy, one the best guerrilla warfare commander of all times, we would need a book of its own. Things being so, we will focus on his contribution to the Italian cause, and particularly, his last and fatal achievement, the Endeavor of Zara.
Finally, Giuseppe Mazzini, the man who made a King the Permanent President of a Republic (although, in one of history's most controversial resurrection of ancient titles, formally the King of the Italians is the Princeps of the Roman Republic).
These are the man who made the impossible possible, the Fathers of our Nation.
One of the first trauma in anyone's life is to discover that our parents are no superheroes: they cry, they hurt and get hurt, they contradict themselves, they changed their mind they make mistakes. Sometimes, it is their failures that make us better human beings, while some of their successes may make us weaker. But after the initial shock, we should ask ourselves: Is this a delusion, or a blessing?
We would say, a blessing and a warning. A blessing, because any of us may capable of great deeds and endeavors. A warning, for successful we might be, we will never be fully in control of the events, and may well end up being remembered for something we never wanted in the first place. And if so, (this is the core question we should ask ourselves), is it that bad?
By Andronico Barbero
At the present day, the Kingdom of the Italians (as the Greater Italian Federation is most commonly known) is one of the most fascinating and self-contradictory countries of the world. A constitutional monarchy made up of Kingdoms, Republics, Free Cities and Principalities, united in its multi-layers divisions, the only parliamentary democracy where the King is not only a mere figurehead, one of the world's economical and scientific powerhouses, home of the most brilliant world politicians in one of the most endemically corrupted political systems, the country where clear oxymora like Secular Catholicism and Individualistic Socialism are a real thing, Italy is a fascinating mystery to everyone- Italians included. As Massimo d'Azeglio once put it: "Joseph the Maistre wrote that any people has the government it deserves. It would seem that the Italians deserved many."
A common myth originated in the "Risorgimento", is that this was the Italians' destiny since the beginning of time, strengthened by the seeds of centuries of division and oppression. But is it so? It certainly was not in the eyes of the ones who lived in the many statelets in which the Italian peninsula had been divided by the Congress of Vienna. Back in those times, Italy was really "a mere geographical expression", as the (in)famous quote by Clemens Von Metternich goes. And, if many among the literates wanted a united Italy, there seemed to be no consensus on how (or even when) this unification was to be achieved: a radical Republic (as envisioned by Mazzini and Garibaldi), a Federal, somewhat liberal Kingdom (as Cavour desired), or a Confederation led by the Pope (as Gioberti dreamed)?
In the end, they all won, they all lost, and it can be said that the Italian Unification is the best example of the saying "a good compromise leaves anyone somewhat dissatisfied". This goes against the myth that portrays that generation of heroes that made Italy as a compact, united front. They were not. Some of them did not even ever met, some condemned others to death, and even the ones who had a strong relationship quarreled a lot (one could write a book just out of the fights between Cavour and Ferdinand I, despite their attested mutual friendship). It took a lot of pragmatism, blood, and sheer luck to forge all these differences into a nation.
But how could it happen? The purpose of this book is to give a partial answer to this question in a somewhat unorthodox way. We will try, as much as we can, not to tell History but the histories of the men of the "generation who made a nation". It is hard to describe "the history of a soul" but we have enough material to give it a humble try.
Of course, we will have to make choices. We will focus on the men who took actual decisions who shape the destiny of Italy. We will spend a great deal of time seeing on how pivotal were their changes of mind and moment of pragmatism, since, as Cavour wonderfully put it: "There is no principle, however just or reasonable, which, if exaggerated, cannot lead us to the evilest of consequences".
Unnecessary it might be, let us give them a brief introduction. First, we will have Ferdinand, last King of Sardinia and First King of the Italians, or, as he is usually referred to, the Gentleman King. What would have happened of him (and of Italy) had not his elder brother Victor Emmanuel tragically died in flames on September 16th, 1822 (just two months before Ferdinand's birth) is anyone's guess. Someone says that Ferdinand felt a cadet all his life and that this was one of the reasons for his strong and friendly relationship with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, First Prime Minister of Italy (a second son himself) who will of course also feature in this book. For him, we will highlight how a passionate and risk-loving man he was, in contrast with the cold-blooded, highly rational image that the later propaganda gave of him.
We will of course have Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Republican who gave his life to enlarge a kingdom. To give an account of the life of this man, who was a sailor, a spaghetti-seller in Brazil, Admiral of the Uruguayan Navy, one the best guerrilla warfare commander of all times, we would need a book of its own. Things being so, we will focus on his contribution to the Italian cause, and particularly, his last and fatal achievement, the Endeavor of Zara.
Finally, Giuseppe Mazzini, the man who made a King the Permanent President of a Republic (although, in one of history's most controversial resurrection of ancient titles, formally the King of the Italians is the Princeps of the Roman Republic).
These are the man who made the impossible possible, the Fathers of our Nation.
One of the first trauma in anyone's life is to discover that our parents are no superheroes: they cry, they hurt and get hurt, they contradict themselves, they changed their mind they make mistakes. Sometimes, it is their failures that make us better human beings, while some of their successes may make us weaker. But after the initial shock, we should ask ourselves: Is this a delusion, or a blessing?
We would say, a blessing and a warning. A blessing, because any of us may capable of great deeds and endeavors. A warning, for successful we might be, we will never be fully in control of the events, and may well end up being remembered for something we never wanted in the first place. And if so, (this is the core question we should ask ourselves), is it that bad?
Last edited: