Timeline / 1830 to 1880 / ITALY
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Timeline / 1830 to 1880 / ITALY Date Country Theme 1831 Italy Political Context Giuseppe Mazzini founds the republican movement for national unification, Giovine Italia (Young Italy). 1831 - 1835 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Once Rossini has left the stage, his place is taken by Gaetano Donizetti (1797– 1848) and Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835). They introduce the new romantic spirit into melodrama and establish a tighter link between words and music. Their style is characterised by greater attention to the psychology of the different characters. 1835 - 1837 Italy Reforms And Social Changes For the first time, a cholera epidemic hits Italy, killing more than 140,000 (26,000 in Palermo and 19,600 in Naples). Its causes remain unknown until the 1880s. Its spread is favoured by poor sanitation in urban centres. Cholera epidemics hit poor people especially and often occasion social unrest. 1837 - 1840 Italy Great Inventions Of The 19th Century Naples and Turin are the first Italian towns to have gas street lightning. 1839 Italy Great Inventions Of The 19th Century First Italian railway line (Napoli–Portici, 8 km). In the following years, other railway lines are inaugurated in other Italian states, e.g. Milano–Monza (1840), Pisa- Livorno (1844), Padova–Venezia (1846), Torino–Moncalieri (1848). Political fragmentation is an obstacle to the construction of long railway lines. 1842 Italy Travelling A seaside hostel is opened in Viareggio (Tuscany) for the treatment of children affected by tuberculosis (the first of its kind in Italy). In Tuscany, experiments of “marine therapy” for children started in the 1820s. By 1882, 21 seaside hostels for medical purposes are active in Italy. 1842 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Triumph of Nabuccodonosor by Giuseppe Verdi (1831–1901) at La Scala Theatre (Milan): it marks the appearance of a new operatic style, in which both voice and music show an entirely new heroic passion and strength. 1843 Italy Travelling First bathing establishment created in Rimini. 1847 - 1848 Italy Great Inventions Of The 19th Century First Italian telegraph line (Florence–Pisa–Livorno). Date Country Theme 1848 - 1849 Italy Political Context Uprisings in different parts of Italy demand constitutional rule and national unification. In Rome and Venice, short-lived republics are proclaimed. King Carlo Alberto (Kingdom of Sardinia) grants a constitution and wages war against the Austrian Empire, but he is defeated. 1848 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Donizetti dies and Verdi remains the only heir to the Italian melodrama, which is increasingly identified with the Risorgimento movement, becoming a “sound track” of the Italian fight for independence and unification. 1850 - 1855 Italy Fine And Applied Arts The painters of the School of Posillipo (Naples) develop a new style of more natural observation of landscapes and everyday life. 1850s - 1860s Italy Travelling Mountaineering on the Alps becomes a sport and tourism activity. Local people had always climbed mountains. Since the end of the 18th century, scientists had started exploring the Alps for scientific purposes (Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786). In 1857, Irish mountaineer John Ball starts climbing the Dolomites and writing guidebooks about them. 1851 - 1853 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Verdi composes the so-called popular trilogy (Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata), consolidating his fame and reaching full musical and dramatical maturity. 1852 Italy Political Context Cavour (Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, 1810–61), the architect of the diplomatic strategies that allowed Italian unification, becomes prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia (he will remain prime minister until his death). 1854 Italy Fine And Applied Arts Leopoldo Alinari, with his brothers Romualdo and Giuseppe, opens in Florence one of the first photography workshope – Fratelli Alinari. 1855 Italy Political Context The Kingdom of Sardinia participates in the Crimean war as part of the Anglo- French alliance against Russia. 1855 Italy Fine And Applied Arts The Caffé Michelangelo in Florence becomes a meeting place for artists and republican intellectuals close to Giuseppe Mazzini, in opposition to academic and official environments. Date Country Theme 1855 Italy Rediscovering The Past Inauguration of the Egyptian Museum in Florence. The bulk of its holdings are the items collected by Ippolito Rossellini during the 1828–29 Franco-Tuscan expedition to Egypt, together with the Egyptian antiquities that the Medici family had collected during the 18th century. 1858 Italy International Exhibitions An industrial exhibition is held in Turin. 1859 - 1861 Italy Political Context The Kingdom of Sardinia, backed by France, wages war against the Austrian Empire and annexes Milan. Pro-unification insurrections in central Italy; Garibaldi leads an expedition of 1,000 volunteers in Southern Italy. Italy is unified under King Victor Emanuel II (formerly King of Sardinia) as a constitutional monarchy. 1859 Italy Reforms And Social Changes The Casati Law is passed in the Kingdom of Sardinia (and in 1860 extended to the rest of Italy) that defines the organisation of the educational system, from primary school to university. The system is aimed more at educating the ruling elite than the illiterate masses. Humanities are given a much higher status than scientific and technical education. 1860 - 1870 Italy Fine And Applied Arts In opposition to academic painting, the Macchiaioli movement (Telemaco Signorini, Vincenzo Cabianca and Silvestro Lega) experiments with “spot painting”, based on the strong contrast between light and shadow. 1860 Italy Cities And Urban Spaces The unification of Italy leads to urban expansion outside the old city walls, which have lost their defensive value. Medieval urban buildings are often demolished in order to build monumental architecture. 1860 Italy Political Context The right to vote is reserved for a small elite of men who have certain levels of income and education: only 2.2% of the Italians can vote. 1861 Italy International Exhibitions First Italian National Exhibition of Agricultural and Industrial Products and Fine Arts opens in Florence. 1861 Italy Rediscovering The Past The pre-unification laws on the protection of cultural heritage of the individual Italian states remain in force even after unification. Until 1902, different Italian regions are thus subject to different disciplines. Date Country Theme 1862 Italy Economy And Trade Law on the unification of currencies passed: the lira becomes the Italian currency. 1863 Italy Travelling The Club Alpino Italiano is founded in Turin. Its goal is “to promote the knowledge of mountains, and especially of Italian mountains, their ascent and scientific expeditions”. In 25 years, membership reaches 4,500 with 34 local branches. By 1900 it had built 57 mountain huts. 1864 Italy Reforms And Social Changes A governmental survey reveals the existence of 443 friendly societies (Società di mutuo soccorso), all located in Central and Northern Italy (Milan has 38 societies with a total of 9,923 members, Turin 13 with 14,864 members). Their number and membership grows considerably over time until the development of modern welfare. 1865 - 1867 Italy Reforms And Social Changes The worst of the five cholera epidemics that hit Italy during the 19th century kills more than 160,000. The most affected towns are always Naples and Palermo. 1865 Italy Reforms And Social Changes The new-born Italian state approves a civil code that places women in a subordinate position in the family. Boys and girls can inherit equally, but married women need “marital authorisation” to manage their property. Male and female adultery are treated differently. The “defence of honour” is accepted as attenuating circumstance in murder cases. 1866 Italy Economy And Trade A law confiscates the properties of religious orders and congregations, and establishes a state fund to support the clergy and monks. 1866 Italy Political Context Italy participates in the Austro-Prussian War on the side of Prussia and annexes Venice. 1867 Italy Economy And Trade Law on the abolition of religious bodies: the real estate properties of 25,000 religious bodies are auctioned. 1867 Italy Reforms And Social Changes Around 60 per cent of men and 80 per cent of women are unable to sign their marriage certificate because they are unable to write. 1867 Italy Political Context Date Country Theme Uprising in Rome demanding unification with Italy. At the same time, Garibaldi leads an expedition of volunteers that enters the Papal States and tries to seize Rome. Roman rebels are defeated and executed. Garibaldi is defeated by Papal troops backed by a French expeditionary corps (France protects the Papal States). 1867 Italy Travelling The Società Geografica Italiana is founded. In 1869-70, it organises an exploratory expedition to East Africa, in 1875 to Tunisia and in 1876 to Ethiopia. Many other journeys to Africa, and also to Central Asia, South America and Papua follow. Such travels generally combined scientific purposes and political agendas. 1868 Italy Reforms And Social Changes Gualberta Alaide Beccari (a feminist with republican ideas, much influenced by Mazzini) founds the periodical La donna, which campaigns for women’s rights. La donna’s main contributor is Anna Maria Mozzoni, who since 1865 had campaigned against “marital authorisation” and for women’s right to vote. 1870 Italy Cities And Urban Spaces Renewal and urban modernisation of Rome