The Role of Geopolitics in the Italian Risorgimento during the 1840s: An Introductory Survey
The Role of Geopolitics in the Italian Risorgimento during the 1840s: An Introductory Survey

Summary/Abstract: The article’s goal is to introduce the thesis that not only the constitutional and socio-economic agendas of states but also international affairs strongly influence the formation of various human communities and their political programmes, and that this interaction was often no less important than these other factors in the rise of 19th century nationalism. By combining the history of international politics, international law, social history and ethics the article reveals a completely new story of the Italians’ reception of and response to diplomatic affairs in the 1840s. At that time a considerable number of them felt that the heritage of the Congress of Vienna was being eroded and that the world was becoming increasingly insecure. This conviction was primarily caused by the abuse of power by the most powerful states at the expense of weaker ones in Europe as well as the former’s imperialist policies in more remote regions. The increasing mistrust in the great powers’ policies and in the stability of the whole structure of the post-Napoleonic states system gave rise to a conviction that the security of their own countries in the world where the rule of force dominated was to be best preserved by material strength, which also made the Italians more willing to accept whatsoever kind of political unity based upon the concept of nationality.

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