14 Facts About Italian nationalism

Italian nationalism is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country.

Italian nationalism is often thought to trace its origins to the Renaissance, but only arose as a political force in the 1830s under the leadership of Giuseppe Mazzini.

Italian nationalism became strong again in World War I with Italian irredentist claims to territories held by Austria-Hungary, and during the era of Italian Fascism.

Origins of Italian nationalism have been traced to the Renaissance where Italy led a European revival of classical Greco-Roman style of culture, philosophy, and art.

Italian nationalism was considered by Niccolo Tommaseo, who collected his Lettere, as one of the precursors of the Italian irredentism.

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Mazzini was captivated by ancient Rome that he considered the "temple of humanity" and sought to establish a united Italy as a "Third Rome" that emphasized Roman spiritual values that Italian nationalism nationalists claimed were preserved by the Catholic Church.

Economic Italian nationalism influenced businessmen and government authorities to promote a united Italy.

Supporters of Italian nationalism ranged from across the political spectrum: it appealed to both conservatives and liberals.

Italian nationalism became a major force at both elite and popular levels until 1945, when popular democracy became a much more important force.

Seizure of power by the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and his development of a fascist totalitarian state in Italy involved appeal to Italian nationalism, advocating and creating a Roman-like Italian Empire in the Mediterranean Sea.

Today, Italian nationalism is still mainly supported by right-wing political parties like Brothers of Italy and minor far-right political parties like The Right, CasaPound, Forza Nuova and Tricolour Flame.

Nonetheless, in recent times Italian nationalism has been occasionally embraced as a form of banal nationalism by liberal parties like Forza Italia, centrist parties like the Union of the Centre or even by centre-left parties like the Democratic Party.

Italian nationalism has faced a great deal of opposition from within Italy itself.

Italian nationalism identity has been long strained by an ever growing north–south divide that developed partly from the economic differences of a highly industrialized North and a highly agricultural South.