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9
MAZZINI'S SOCIAL IDEAS AND
THE RISORGIMENTO

W HILE Mazzini was preaching these theories in
Italy, the men who were carrying on the struggle
for national independence had to contend with the
diplomatic situation resulting from the 1815 treaties,
to prosecute the war against Austria, to combat the
despotism of the ruling princes supported as they were
by both aristocracy and clergy, and to defy all those
local interests and prejudices which were inimical to
the idea of Italian unity.

No contribution towards the national effort could be
expected from the peasantry and agricultural labourers,
and little reliance could be placed, before 1860, in the
city working classes except in urban centres of northern
and central Italy. The only available forces were those
of the far from numerous liberal section of the aris-
tocracy; the industrial, commercial and professional
middle class; the young intellectuals and university
students; and, after 1848, a few groups of city artisans
and skilled workers. 1 It was necessary for the House

____________________
1 Before 1848 the strongest element in the Giovine Italia consisted of university
students and young intellectuals. Although Mazzini approved the idea of forming
'two Giovine Italia organizations, one with student and the other with working-
class membership' ( Mazzini, Epistolario, VI, 230; see also Giovine Italia, ed.
Menghini, p. 121), he had no opportunity until 1840 'to study this valuable
element' ( Mazzini, Scritti editi ed inediti, Milano-Roma, Daelli, 1861-91, VI, 91).
'C'est un élément que nous avions trop négligé jusqu'ici et qui nous promet de la
force', he wrote in April 1840 ( Epistolario, IX, 85). Again, in 1843, 'time must be
allowed for ideas to penetrate, little by little, from the youth of the middle classes
to the people, even if only that of the towns' ( Mazzini, Scritti, ed. Daelli, VII, 140).
In 1847, 'We must confess that in 15 years we have only succeeded in arousing
political passion in the young intellectuals, never in the people.' ( Correnti, Scritti
scelti, Roma, Forzani, 1891, I, 4. See Tivaroni, op. cit., pp. 111, 428-9, 478
et seqq.; 496, 508.)

From 1848 onwards, the workers began to enter the national movement, 'of their
own accord and as a result of their opinions' ( Bonfadini, Mezzo secolo di patriottismo,
Milano, Treves, 1886, p. 359), accepting Mazzinian ideas. The attempt of Feb.
6th, 1853, while it produced a break between Mazzini and many middle-class
patriots, was the first noteworthy sign of the entry of the workers into Mazzini's
orbit: 'signs of a moral transformation in the working-classes afterwards appeared
more often and more openly' ( Mazzini, Scritti, Daelli, VIII, 227-8). According to
Felice Orsini ( Memorie, p. 127), in 1854 the Mazzinian party in Milan consisted
exclusively of workers.

Afterwards the proletarian character of the Mazzinian party continued to increase,
although the student element always remained ( Mazzini, Scritti, ed. Daelli, VII,
136 ; XIV; Lettres de Joseph Mazzini à Daniel Stern, Paris, Libr. Germer, Baillière,
1873, p. 34; J. W. Mario, Agostino Bertani, Firenze, Barbèra, 1888, I, 267; Schak,
Giuseppe Mazzini e l'unità italiana, Rome, Soc. ed. Laziale, 1892, p. 90; Politica
segreta italiana, Torino, Roux e C., 1891, p. 391; Rosi, op. cit., pp. 982, 983, 992,
1000); the middle classes joined the conservative parties ( Mazzini, ed. Daelli, III,
XIV, XVI).

-185-

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Publication Information: Book Title: Mazzini. Contributors: Gaetano Salvemini - author, I. M. Rawson - transltr. Publisher: Stanford University Press. Place of Publication: Stanford, CA. Publication Year: 1957. Page Number: 185.
    
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