“The Revolutions of 1831 and 1832 failed due to a lack of unity” To what extent do you agree with this judgement?
The revolutions of 1831 and 1832 in Modena, Parma and the Papal states certainly failed due to a lack of unity. The revolutionaries had only limited shared aims and beliefs, and were lacking in a clear and decisive plan. However, although this was not the sole reason for their non-success, it was the most important one. In addition, the role of Austria, and Prince Von Metternich undoubtedly cannot be overlooked, for this strong willed, reactionary man was Chancellor to the largest power in Europe at the time, meaning that his involvement in crushing these uprisings is indisputably a reason for their failure. The lack of popular …show more content…
And Metternich, the Chancellor, was extremely reactionary in his views, opposing liberalism, nationalism and radicalism as he believed that they would all lead to revolution that would undermine Austrian control, as its empire contained many nationalities, he felt that they would encourage revolutionary ideas of independence within its borders, surely weakening Austria’s position. He wished for Italy to remain as separate states ruled by their respective monarchs of foreign occupation. His involvement in maintaining Austria’s established order meant sending in Austrian troops to intervene in March 1831, with them taking Bologna with ease. He was entitled to do this as the 1820 Neapolitan revolutions caused the convening of the Quintuple Alliance, the major powers within Europe at the time, at the Congress of Troppau. And the Troppau Protocol was signed, stating that if revolutions were to arise in Italy again that they would intervene militarily and crush the revolution. This essentially meant that Austria had a “free hand” in Europe. Meaning that no-one would oppose to them taking military action against another country, as they were not in actual fact breaching the terms of the agreement. It was this “free hand” that allowed Austria to wreak havoc …show more content…
There was no hope of a sense of unity naturally occurring, especially due to the foreign occupation in 6 of the states, making it exceedingly hard to bring about any change, never mind the unification of a country through the means of revolution, the was the aim of the nationalists. The differing beliefs also affected their sense of unity, for without unifying beliefs the revolutionaries were not going to put up a united front against Austria. And it is both the geographical limitations of Italy and the strikingly different beliefs held between the revolutionaries that so greatly affected their sense of unity, and without unity there is no way to stand against Austria, making the lack of unity
The revolutions of 1831 and 1832 in Modena, Parma and the Papal states certainly failed due to a lack of unity. The revolutionaries had only limited shared aims and beliefs, and were lacking in a clear and decisive plan. However, although this was not the sole reason for their non-success, it was the most important one. In addition, the role of Austria, and Prince Von Metternich undoubtedly cannot be overlooked, for this strong willed, reactionary man was Chancellor to the largest power in Europe at the time, meaning that his involvement in crushing these uprisings is indisputably a reason for their failure. The lack of popular …show more content…
And Metternich, the Chancellor, was extremely reactionary in his views, opposing liberalism, nationalism and radicalism as he believed that they would all lead to revolution that would undermine Austrian control, as its empire contained many nationalities, he felt that they would encourage revolutionary ideas of independence within its borders, surely weakening Austria’s position. He wished for Italy to remain as separate states ruled by their respective monarchs of foreign occupation. His involvement in maintaining Austria’s established order meant sending in Austrian troops to intervene in March 1831, with them taking Bologna with ease. He was entitled to do this as the 1820 Neapolitan revolutions caused the convening of the Quintuple Alliance, the major powers within Europe at the time, at the Congress of Troppau. And the Troppau Protocol was signed, stating that if revolutions were to arise in Italy again that they would intervene militarily and crush the revolution. This essentially meant that Austria had a “free hand” in Europe. Meaning that no-one would oppose to them taking military action against another country, as they were not in actual fact breaching the terms of the agreement. It was this “free hand” that allowed Austria to wreak havoc …show more content…
There was no hope of a sense of unity naturally occurring, especially due to the foreign occupation in 6 of the states, making it exceedingly hard to bring about any change, never mind the unification of a country through the means of revolution, the was the aim of the nationalists. The differing beliefs also affected their sense of unity, for without unifying beliefs the revolutionaries were not going to put up a united front against Austria. And it is both the geographical limitations of Italy and the strikingly different beliefs held between the revolutionaries that so greatly affected their sense of unity, and without unity there is no way to stand against Austria, making the lack of unity