Why didn't Italy unite earlier?

I am surprised that Italy DID unite. Even today there are separatist tendencies (rich north vs poor south).

Badf guys told me that Italy only could unite because evil Frnchies and still more evil Prussians wanted to cripple the Habsburg Empire...

If Nappy would not have expanded that fast (Egypt,...) he could have created an united Italian republic (minus some Austrian posessions) during his first Italian campaign.

To survive this Italy would need a strong France - for some decades - but IOTL France might not have lasted long enough...
 

Esopo

Banned
As Machiavelli said, the reason for italy not being united by a strong monarchy is one and just one: the pope.
 
I am surprised that Italy DID unite. Even today there are separatist tendencies (rich north vs poor south).

You're probably talking about Lega Nord primarily... They are a fringe party. Obviously well known, because as AHistorians, we love stuff that changes borders. The Lega Nord is infamous in Italy, and not as popular as many would believe. While lots of Northern Italian conservatives share some ideas with Lega Nord, separatism isn't one of them.
 
You're probably talking about Lega Nord primarily... They are a fringe party. Obviously well known, because as AHistorians, we love stuff that changes borders. The Lega Nord is infamous in Italy, and not as popular as many would believe. While lots of Northern Italian conservatives share some ideas with Lega Nord, separatism isn't one of them.


And even among the Lega the separatist thing is more an huff and puff than something people really take seriusly
 

Thande

Donor
It's worth pointing out that Italian nationalism was less based on memories of the Roman Empire than you'd think. Mussolini appealed to that, but not many other people. In the 18th century, when Italian nationalism started to get going, the ancient people they actually based their romanticism on was not the Romans, but the Etruscans.

After all the Roman Empire was not really an Italian-nationalist entity--anyone could become a citizen regardless of their ethnic background, and so forth.
 

Gwax23

Banned
The whole south being underdeveloped and poor only happened AFTER unification when the northern predominantly Piedmontese government ineffectively governed the south and sucked it dry of wealth and resources to primarily fuel northern growth and expansion.

The pope and outside factors played the biggest role in preventing unification earlier. Internal italian politics much less so.

There where many revolutions with unification as its primary goal or unification aspects prior to Garibaldi and the Risorgimento but many where put down by the Austrians or French.
 
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