OLLI0071 - The Kingdom of Italy: Unity or Disparity, 1860-1945

Course Description

As a “geographical expression” Italy has a long and rich history. But as a nation-state Italy has existed even fewer years than the United States, having only been unified politically, diplomatically, and militarily since 1859-60. Even as a singular nation-state—The Kingdom of Italy—with all regions subject to the same king, same constitution, and same laws, it faced many disparities. Among these were a basic disagreement among the populace whether republic or monarchy was the better form of government; an industrializing, modernizing North and an agrarian, traditionalist South; rabid anti-clericalism alongside devout Catholicism and the presence of the Pope as a religious and secular authority. These existed on top of the vestiges of the impositions of previous foreign rulers, among them Spanish, Austrian, and French, seen even in dialects and cuisine. The history of the Kingdom of Italy from 1860 to 1945 is a history of trying…and many times failing… to overcome these disparities and create a stable polity and of the irony of the “unity” created by the Fascist Regime. Watch video