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Talking History!

This is an ongoing podcast about the Italian Unification.

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21 - Thought and Action

3/31/2014

2 Comments

 
Mazzini organized many revolutions in Italy, but because of his public notoriety was blamed for all of them, even those he had actively opposed. The revolutions all failed - partly due to poor planning, but also partly due to bad luck. It was hard to tell ahead of time which revolts would peter out almost before they began and which would somehow light the spark of popular resistance. That Mazzini tried again and again was not because he enjoyed making martyrs out of men, but because he believed in the unity of thought and action - if Italian patriotism was indeed favored by God, how could men of good conscience stand by and do nothing? They had to try. And, by trying, they inspired more people to believe in Italy. We’re not done with Mazzini - he still has a major role to play in the years to come. But, if he had died here, he would still be famous, as the man who made millions believe in Italy. Download Episode 21
2 Comments
Chris Leatherman link
4/8/2014 04:33:11 pm

Gentlemen,

Just caught the latest podcast and enjoyed it. Who would have guessed the Italian unification was such a messy and difficult process. Did this play any role in the poor leadership Italy suffered during World War I? How are things going with the contest?

Reply
Benjamin
4/10/2014 12:08:40 pm

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Your question about WWI is very insightful. Italy's poor showing in the wars that followed the unification (Ethiopia, WWI, and WWII) is a result not of Italian cowardice (as the individual soldiers were often very brave), but poor leadership. While this isn't ONLY due to the unification, the lack of a clear national identity definitely hurt them, and their muddled politics didn't help.

Nobody has replied about the contest yet, I'll bug people again in the next episode.

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    Benjamin and Adam are brothers, and are both in grad school studying theoretical chemistry. History is their hobby.

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