The Watershed of 1840: The Rise of International Insecurity and the Origins of Italian Moderate Nationalism

Abstract

In 1840 the international crises and territorially limited armed conflicts in Europe and overseas gave rise to or at least fueled feelings of deep mistrust, pessimism, and fear among a considerable number of Europeans toward the unsettled international situation, provoking across Europe a transnational debate about stability and justice in international affairs and the prospect for peace, all of which were usually seen as very insecure. This widespread and intensive public reaction to what was regarded as external threats if not to the general peace then at least to the security of European countries continued beyond 1840. Through the presentation and analysis of the response in the bourgeois public sphere to international insecurity in the example of the origins of moderate Italian nationalism, this essay reveals the strong influence of international affairs on how Europeans viewed justice and security in the mid nineteenth century.