REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF THE 1848 REVOLUTIONS IN ITALIAN STATES

REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF THE 1848 REVOLUTIONS IN ITALIAN STATES

1. The Italians were militarily weak and were not supported by the various state armies. On the other hand, Austria was a military power with a mighty army, which was commanded by experienced commanders like Radetsky. Radetsky was a great mobiliser and a battle hardened soldier, who had fought Napoleon on several occasions. This is why he defeated Italians at Custozza and Novara, which brought the revolution to a bitter end.

2. Economic backwardness compared to Austria's strength also made the Italians to fail The Italians did not have sufficient resources to mobilize, finance and arm a strong army that could have defeated Austria.

On the other hand, Austria had exploited her subjects (Italians inclusive) and had sufficient resources, which she successfully used to suppress the revolutions.

3. Mettenich system had undermined Italian nationalism in favour of Austrian dominance. His policy of spy network, divide and rule and force explains why the Italians were not united and organized during the revolution. Although Metternich fled to exile, his system was effectively used against Italians by his successor, Schwazenburg.

4. Racial and Ideological differences were also responsible for the failure of the revolutions in Italian states. The middle class supported Austria to suppress the revolutions because they were afraid of communism, which was being advocated by workers and peasants. There were also divisions and conflicts between agitators of republican, federal and military governments. The republicans led by Mazzini disregarded foreign assistance and kings, which made kings to turn against the revolutions. All these provided a line of weakness for the success of Austrians troops against Italians.

5. Religion also divided the Italians and contributed to the failure of the revolutions. It made some Catholics in Italian states not to join the revolution because of Austria being a strong Catholic state. This is what partly made Charles Albert to hesitate to attack Austria and was also responsible for the Pope's defection. It should not be taken for granted that Napoleon's restoration and protection of the pope in

Rome against the revolution was also due to religious consideration.

6. The selfish interest of Charles Albert and his hesitation to attack Austria was a total blunder that led to the failure of the Italian revolution. Charles Albert had a hidden agenda to use the revolution to expand his kingdom of piedmont at the expense of Italians. He did not have a united Italy in his heart and had profound hatred for republicanism, which frustrated some Italians from joining the revolution. Charles Albert's hesitation to attack Austria made him to lose a crucial moment of defeating Austrian troops. It gave Austria enough time to re-organize and reinforce Radetsky's troops who defeated his troops at Custozza.

7. The Italians also failed due to inadequate politicization and poor mobilization. Mazzini’s politicization had failed to fully sensitize the peasants because of the high level of illiteracy. This left the revolutions confined to intellectuals in a few towns and cities, which were easily suppressed by Austrian forces.

8. The failure of the revolution in Austria was bad news that contributed to the failure of Italians as well.

The Austrian troops invaded and recaptured Vienna on Oct 1848 from the revolutionaries. This reduced pressure on Austrian troops and made it easy to release troops who reinforced Radetsky and led to the defeat of Italians at Custozza.

9. Lack of foreign assistance was also responsible for the failure of the 1848 revolution in Italian states.

European powers that could have assisted the Italians were busy either with their own internal problems or suppressing revolutions. This left the Italians isolated without any military assistance. It should be noted that the Italians expected assistance from France but were disappointed when Napoleon refused, which demoralized the Italians and contributed to the failure of the revolution.

10. The sudden defection of the Pope made the Italians to lose faith in his leadership and the revolution as well. As the revolution was progressing, the Pope suddenly denounced the war and withdrew his forces with a justification that he was not ready to wage war on Austria who was a staunch Catholic state. This demoralized the soldiers and Italian Catholics who had joined the revolution due to the Pope's liberal attitudes.

11. The French intervention was a landmark that contributed to the failure of the Italian revolution.

Garibaldi and Mazzini had overthrown the pope and established Roman republic in Rome. However, the French soldiers successfully restored the pope in Rome and destroyed the republic. The French intervention also denied the Italians the chance to use Rome for mobilization and left them vulnerable to further defeats. This explains why Austrian forces easily re-conquered other Italian states such as Venice and Nice.

12. The role of the Vienna settlement of 1815 should not be underrated in the failure of the 1848 revolutions in Italy. The settlement gave Austria direct and indirect control over Italian states. It also legalized Metternich and Austrian intervention against any revolutionary movement in Italian states. This made Austrian Authorities to crush the revolution without fear of foreign intervention. It's partly for this reason that Napoleon III who had wished to assist the Italians turned round and instead used his troops against the revolution.

13. Lastly, the revolution in Italian states also failed due to the outbreak of epidemic diseases. The Italian city of Venice presented the strongest resistance to Austrian forces. However, by August 1849, the city was hit by cholera epidemic and famine. These reduced people's ability to resist Austrian bombardment and forced the revolutionaries to surrender to Austrian forces