Giuseppe Mazzini

Since the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the divided Italian states watched as the rest of Europe (and Russia) unified into centralized political entities. The world was becoming populated with nations, and for years Italy acted as the playground for wars and political maneuvers between greater European powers. Enter Giuseppe Mazzini, a political activist referred to as "the beating heart of Italy". Once exiled from his own homeland, Mazzini fought for his dream of a unified nation of Italy, and beyond that, a unified Europe.

Giuseppe Mazzini Summary

Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian journalist, political activist, and spiritual founder of the Italian revolutionary movement for independence and unification. Not a battlefield commander by any means, Mazzini was a politically minded revolutionary, responsible for instilling a sense of nationalism and republicanism in his homeland of Italy.

Fig. 1- Portrait of Giuseppe Mazzini.

Although Giuseppe Mazzini would not live to see his greater political ambitions reach fruition (by the time of his death, Italy had mostly found its independence, but under a monarchy rather than a democratic republic), the activist was successful in promoting his ideas of Italian nationalism into the mainstream. In 1946, three years after the fall of dictator Mussolini, Italy officially became a republic, fulfilling Mazzini's dream. As one of the first believers in a united Europe, the establishment of the European Union in 1949 met another of Mazzini's hopes.

Giuseppe Mazzini Life

Giuseppe Mazzini achieved much in his life, inciting national revolutions with his ideas. But what was the life of such a man? How did it inform his political activism?

Giuseppe Mazzini Early Life

Giuseppe Mazzini was born in June 1805 in Genoa. At the time, the Republic of Genoa was a political entity within the Ligurian Republic, a French republic established by Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. From a young age, Mazzini revealed himself to be a prolific writer and scholar. He was accepted into the University of Genoa in 1819 and graduated with a law degree seven years later, at the young age of twenty-two.

Fig. 2- Map depicting territorial boundaries during Italian unification.

After graduation, Mazzini worked as a lawyer and honed his craft as a writer, compiling articles, essays, and many letters. Already, many of his writings discussed liberation and unification for Italy. Unsatisfied with the individuality of his pursuits, Giuseppe Mazzini joined the Carbonari association in Tuscany in 1827. The secretive organization vowed to overthrow absolute monarchal rule in Italy. The dangers of belonging to such a society were real; in 1830, Mazzini was betrayed by a fellow Carbonari member to the police as the secret organization was dissolving. Mazzini was jailed for six months.

Giuseppe Mazzini Later Life

While in prison, Mazzini cultivated a greater sense of purpose in achieving Italian nationalism. As a condition of his freedom, Mazzini was exiled to Marseille, France. It would not be for another 18 years that Mazzini could return to his homeland, the country that he sought to revolutionize. While in France, Mazzini became a leader for other Italian exiles, forming the Young Italy political activist group. The goal of Young Italy: unify Italy and form an independent, singular, non-monarchial republic. The group swelled to over 60,000 members.

Despite his rising popularity and influence, Giuseppe Mazzini failed in inspiring any meaningful insurrections within Italy. After traveling to Switzerland and England, his writings gaining even more attention, Mazzini was finally invited back to Italy in 1849. Seemingly, the political shape of Italy was turning in his favor: Rome and Tuscany had become republics. In Rome, Giuseppe Mazzini was elected Triumvir, effectively the leader of the government.

The Catholic Pope had different plans. Calling upon aid from Catholic armies across Europe, the short-lived republics in Tuscany and Rome were toppled. In the following years, Mazzini tried to organize more insurrections, each failing. Mazzini placed great blame on himself for the failure of the independence movements. In 1861, Italy almost achieved total unification, but unification under monarchal rule, the House of Savoy. Displeased, Mazzini fought against the shape of the new Italian government until he died in 1872.

Giuseppe Mazzini Nationalism

Giuseppe Mazzini worked for his vision of Italy as an independent, republic nation. Mazzini was careful not to tread into ideas of socialism, as he ideologically disagreed with both Marx and the fundamental proposition of the German philosopher's movement.

Fig. 3- Italian national flag adopted in 1861.

Mazzini wished to bestow upon Italian citizens a sense of national pride and patriotism to inspire the creation of an independent nation. He argued, using his deeply religious beliefs, that God had placed each Italian citizen on their peninsula, in proximity to each other, for a reason. Mazzini further asserted that the shared Italian language and cultural heritage of the disparate city-states necessitated a movement towards establishing an Italian nation. Additionally, Mazzini was a supporter of women's rights in Italy, advocating for women to naturally share equal citizenship in a free and independent Italy.

Giuseppe Mazzini Significance

Throughout history, Giuseppe Mazzini has been regarded as both a hero and a failure in Italian history; Mazzini considered himself a failure, writing, "I thought I was awakening the soul of Italy, and I see only the corpse before me."

Fig. 4- Statue of Giuseppe Mazzini in Italy.

Giuseppe's political activism is responsible for putting Italy on its path to becoming an independent, modern nation. He did not live to see Italy become a free, independent republic, but historians credit Giuseppe's political ideologies with sparking a sense of national urgency in his country.