MAZZINI, GIUSEPPE (1805–72)

MAZZINI, GIUSEPPE (1805–72)

Giuseppe Mazzini is now regarded as a saintly figure a founder and chief inspirer of the Italian nation. Behind the hallowed image lies the reality of a life lived with single- minded concentration in pursuit of an ideal. The ideal was that of Italian independence and unity, held on to with stubborn insistence at a time when Italy was considered, in the well-known phrase of Mazzini’s arch-enemy, the conservative Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich, a mere ‘geographic expression’ devoid of political meaning. Among the leading figures of the Risorgimento, Mazzini stands out for a life of sacrifice, for his capacity to inspire and for his broad vision. Another and often overlooked important characteristic of Mazzini was the ability to get the most from the limited means at his disposal. Funds were always scarce, and often came with strings attached to them by donors, the political pamphlets and newspapers that he published had a very limited circulation, and living abroad for most of his life he communicated with his followers in

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Italy with great difficulty. Yet, for all these disadvantages, again according to Metternich,

he was the most dangerous revolutionary in pre1848 Europe.

A combination of things made Mazzini particularly dangerous in the eyes of conservatives. There was, first of all, his appeal to national sentiment and pride, which in Restoration Europe seemed to be a more potent force that the appeal to class and social sentiments favoured by those groups that were just beginning to be called socialist. But Mazzini was not content with appealing to national sentiments. His appeal to national sentiments was closely linked to a call for political equality and social justice. The independent nations that he envisaged were to be democratic republics in which the voice of the people would prevail. As he defined it, the ‘People’ (Popolo was one of the key words of his political vocabulary that he always spelled with a capital P), consisted of everyone. Rich and poor, educated and uneducated, men and women, were all part of Mazzini’s definition of what makes up a people. Their differences were not as important as the similarities of customs, language and history that made them a people.

Mazzini’s vision appealed to generous instincts and was not confined to any single people or nationality. Always partial to Italy, he nevertheless regarded the Italian movement as part of something greater. The international scope of his vision, easy to overlook, was an important part of his appeal. Italian unity would be the starting point of

a democratic process destined to sweep through Europe and beyond. That liberating process would destroy absolute monarchies and multinational empires, install independent democratic republics, foster forms of social co-operation across class lines and lead ultimately to the peaceful coexistence of independent nations. The crowning achievement would be some form of European unity, which he did not spell out in detail.

Sustaining this vision of a radically new order was the bedrock of religious faith. It was a faith that conformed to no known theology. He believed in God’s omnipotence and the immortality of the soul, but not in the Trinity, the divine nature of Christ or the ritual and sacramental aspects of Christianity. He was neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant. Belief in God sustained his sense of certainty. Often when confronted by particularly trying situations and stinging reproaches, he would appeal to God and his conscience as the ultimate justification for his course of action. God was also the logically necessary source of the Law of Progress that he thought would inevitably lead to the new order to which he dedicate his life.

How to achieve that new order was Mazzini’s most pressing problem from the moment he discovered his mission in life. Visionary though he was, Mazzini did not lack

a sense of the practical. He understood, for instance, that the goals he pursued required a broad strategy of political and social action. In the socalled Age of Revolution, Mazzini proposed political conspiracy, fighting on the barricades and a long-term effort to educate the masses, which he saw as too steeped in ignorance and too impoverished to respond readily to the call for change. His followers, whom he called Apostles, must be ready for all contingencies as conspirators, fighters and teachers. It was a tall order, and Mazzini was known as a hard taskmaster with little patience for those who strayed from the path

he prescribes. Amazingly, he nevertheless managed to gather about him a following of several thousands who were ready to do his bidding.

How this complex figure was formed is the question that has vexed and still vexes his biographers. The vital statistics are clear enough. He was born in Genoa on 22 June 1805. He was the third of four children, the only male, and by far his mother’s favourite. A few

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weeks before his birth Napoleon had incorporated Genoa into the French Empire, making Pippo, as those closest to him always called him, technically a French citizen. Technically only, because Mazzini would grow up to reject nearly everything French, including the French Revolution that others of his generation saw as a great liberating event. The revolution he had in mind had to be Italian, and his. Schooled privately, he entered the University of Genoa at age 14. He graduated with a Law degree in 1827, but the university years were more notable for the love of literature that he developed and for the friendships he made than for his proficiency in law, which he practised only briefly and with no particular distinction. The university years were also those of his political awakening. Shortly after receiving his degree in 1827, he joined the secret society of the Carbonari, conspired to topple the monarchy of the House of Savoy, was arrested, tried, and given the choice of expatriating or accepting confinement to some remote locality where the police could monitor his movements.

Mazzini’s chose to go abroad, thus beginning that life of wanderings that took him to France (1831–3), Switzerland (1833–7), and England for the greater part of his remaining years. In Marseilles he founded Young Italy (1831), the political society on which he placed his hopes and with which he is always identified. Young Italy was designed to conspire, promote revolution and educate the masses. It did all three with limited success. It all but dissolved when an attempted invasion of the region of Savoy by conspirators based in France, Switzerland and the Piedmontese navy fizzled out in February 1834. That fiasco greatly complicated Mazzini’s life. The Swiss authorities, which until then had tolerated his presence, turned on the pressure and forced him to go underground. That did not stop Mazzini from meddling in Swiss politics, or from launching another political society. Young Europe, founded in Bern in April 1834, was to be the foundation for a ‘Holy Alliance of Peoples’ that would transcend national differences and point towards European unity. It was torn apart by factions, but the name and concept appealed to a new generation of radicals looking for broader horizons.

Eventually the pressure of the Swiss authorities became intolerable, and Mazzini reluctantly left for England in January 1837. The young, handsome and likable exile eventually gained acceptance in London society. He was befriended by the Carlyles and was on good terms with the Mills. He wrote for French and English radical publications, commented on literature, art and politics, opened a school for the children of Italian workers, made himself a figure to be reckoned with in the world of political exiles. As his international reputation grew, so did his popularity among Italians who chafed under Austrian rule. Mazzini played no direct role in unleashing the revolutions of 1848, but when revolution broke out he rushed to Italy for the first time since 1831 and received a hero’s welcome. That changed when he turned to politics. He made enemies in Milan when he put aside his republican sentiments and welcomed the participation of King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia in the war against Austria.

His moment was in Rome, where he went and took over the Government of the Roman Republic in February 1849. Rome was the stage on which he played his most convincing role as revolutionary and political leader. Universal suffrage, land reform and assistance for the unemployed were among the measures enacted by the Government, but

he also showed respect for private property and did his best to maintain law and order. His role in the unequal struggle against the French, Austrian, Neapolitan and Spanish troops sent to suppress the Republic was controversial, but it did not diminish his new

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prestige. The fact that he had tried and failed to save the Republic by political rather than military means actually improved his image. Before 1848 he had been a conspirator and a political theoretician; after 1848 he had the aura of a statesman who had shown that he could adapt his ideals to the realities of political life.

Mazzini’s role changed after 1848. The failure of revolution that year oriented the movement for national unification in a more moderate direction. Moderate or downright conservative elements took the initiative and carried movements of national unification to their conclusion in Italy and Germany. Cavour and Bismarck were the men of the hour. Mazzini remained active, but revolutionary zeal could be counterproductive in the new political environment. Many former supporters turned against him after a botched uprising in Milan in January 1853 provoked a harsh Austrian reaction. Mazzini was left to conspire with extreme zealots like Felice Orsini and Carlo Pisacane. He was still important in Italy’s Risorgimento, but more as a symbol than as an actor. Most republicans now placed their hopes on GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI, a former Mazzinian who was turning into a formidable rival. To Cavour, who was more enemy than rival, Mazzini was useful largely as an example of the kind of extremism that moderates could avoid by supporting constitutional monarchy.

Yet, it would be a mistake to dismiss Mazzini as irrelevant after 1848. He continued to play a role in the Italian movement as a spur to action and as a symbol of national identity. Many of Garibaldi’s supporters and volunteers were former Mazzinians. After 1860 Mazzini promoted the formation of labour unions, co-operatives and mutual-aid societies. The burgeoning Italian labour movement owed much to his efforts. Internationally, he took up the fight against socialism, a principled position that cost him the support of many young activists, especially after Mazzini condemned the Paris Commune in no uncertain terms as a manifestation of the spirit of materialism and class warfare that he abhorred. By that time he had only a few years left to live. He could have congratulated himself for the role he had played in bringing about Italian unity. Instead,

he regarded himself as a failure, a republican defeated by monarchists, a social reformer rejected by socialists, a democrat who had failed to reach the people. He was bitter enough to refuse offers of pardon from the Italian Government that would have allowed him to return to Italy undisturbed. His return under an assumed name was a final act of defiance. He died in Pisa on 10 March 1872. A whole generation had to pass before controversy died down and he could take his place among the officially acknowledged and revered fathers of the nation.