1820-31 Italian Revolutions

Naples 1820:

• the early revolutions began in Naples
• King Ferdinand had increased the church power which meant they now controlled censorship of books, newspapers and magazines which meant freedom of speech was greatly reduced
• middle classes detested this because they had liberty under Napoleon
• Ferdinand was also short, financially, so he decided to reduce spending e.g. education
• a revolution in Spain encouraged people in Naples to revolt
• it was Carbonari led and involved General Pepe
• Ferdinand gave into revolutionaries' demands and granted a constitution similar to the 1812 Spanish one
• the constitution allowed all adult men to vote and limited the king's power

Sicily:

• a separate revolt began in Sicily
• people were determined to gain independence from Naples and King Ferdinand who was believed to be focusing on Naples only and neglecting Sicily
• agricultural prices fell dramatically
• peasants were struggling and getting themselves into debt
• this resulted in rioting demanding a constitution
• revolutionaries took over the city

FAILURE IN NAPLES AND SICILY:

• a meeting of the new parliament in Naples, mostly consisting of middle classes, agreed that Sicily should remain part of Naples and should never be allowed to claim independence
• Metternich was disgusted by the fact revolutionaries succeeded
• he called for a meeting with the Great Powers and decided that if revolutionaries got so bad then they should intervene which is why Austria were the cause of most, if not all, revolution failures
• Ferdinand told Metternich that he…