What Was The Role Of Nationalism In Italy

Nationalism is a love for one’s country and is between groups who share a common heritage. Ideas of nationalism pushed people to strive to unify their common peoples in the 1800s. Reforms that result from nationalist ideas can be either positive or negative, though. In Italy, nationalism helped to bring separate states together, but it also tore Austria apart. Serving as a force for unity in Italy and disunity in Austria, nationalism was a major catalyst for change in the 1800s. Nationalism played a big part in the struggle for Italian unification. By the 19th century, Italians had not been unified as one since the time of the Romans. Nationalists knew it was time for a change; it was time for Italy to become one again. Unification …show more content…
Austrians ruled groups of very diverse people, making unity difficult. Each different group felt nationalism toward their specific culture, which created feelings of disunity. Austria also began to face problems and changes that already occurred in other parts of Europe, such as problems in Industrial life. The Hapsburg monarchs’ empire was multinational, which further caused disunity between rival groups. Francis Joseph gained control and formed a legislature that contained mostly German-speaking Austrians and this did not please other nationalities in the empire. Hungarians were the most determined to rule over themselves. The Hungarians achieved this goal with the formation of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary gave Hungarians to rule themselves, but not have to worry about economics or foreign affairs. Other nationalities, such as the Czechs, wanted the same treatment. The creation of the Dual Monarchy caused other nationalities who had allegiance to their own people to be even more unhappy and made unity almost impossible. Because the Austrian rule included so many diverse people and cultures, unity was difficult when the ideas of nationalism and allegiance to one’s own heritage in people’s