The Kingdom of Italy that emerged in 1870 was not the dynamic, powerful state that
many nationalists had hoped for. 

The state was mired in debt. The liberal values of the regime suggested that they assume
the debts of the states that Piedmont had absorbed in the process of unification. The wars
of liberation had been expensive. The loans organized in France had to be repaid. Much
infrastructure for a united state had to be created: public buildings in Rome, the new
capital, a navy, a unified army, and an educational system, to name a few. 

In many areas the masses spoke dialect and not Italian. It wasn’t merely in jest that
Massimo D’Azeglio pronounced his famous quip: “We have made Italy; now we must
make Italians.” 
 

All of this took money, and Italy was poor. The liberal administrators of the Kingdom of
Italy insisted on fiscal responsibility, and balanced budgets. The tax on milling grain, the
macinato, which had been introduced into Piedmont by Quintino Sella in 1869 was now
applied to the entire realm. These and other strict financial measures, although beneficial
for the state as a whole, bore heavily on the poorer peasants, especially in the south.

Liberal doctrine also demanded that the laws and practices be standardized throughout the
land. Piedmontese officials, bringing with them new laws and practices that inadvertently
undermined the economy of the south. Many, especially peasant “brigands” resisted the
Piedmontese officials as representatives of a conquering power. The regime had to keep
tens of thousands of troops in the south in order to maintain order. 

It was not just the discontented poor of the south that threatened the stability of the
regime. many adherents of Mazzini and Garibaldi felt betrayed by the state that had
emerged. Austria might still hope to restore her position in Italy. And the Church, still 
headed by Pius IX, condemned the new state and all that it stood for. 

In these conditions the state had to struggle to survive. Rather than emerging strong and
glorious from the wars of unification, Italy entered the “Age of Prose.”

The documents for this week concern the relationship between the Kingdom of Italy and the Church. In class, we will discuss the politics of the liberal state with special emphasis on its inclusion of liberal doctrine and the phenomenon of trasformismo.