Page 49 - spring21

But in practice the harmony between individual and national freedom wasn’t so

clear-cut. For one thing, both America and Italy were divided between a richer north
and a poorer south. This reflected social and economic differences.

Italy had more than just a north-south divide. Metternich described Italy as “a mere
geographical expression”, which was true. Historically, over the centuries following
the end of the Roman Empire, the Italian peninsular had been both politically divided
and subject to foreign interference from powerful neighbours – Byzantines,
th
Lombards, Holy Roman Emperors, Spanish and French kings and, in the 19 century,
the Austrian Empire. The Northern Italian states tended to look north and west to
Europe. Early on, their city-states became highly developed, commercially, culturally
and politically, and were the cradle of the Renaissance.