The objective of this study is to explain the negative consequences of France’s occupation of the Papal city of Ancona in February 1832. This event occurred against the Pope’s will, yet at a time when France and the Papal States were at peace. The whole incident represented a serious breach of international law, and was criticised throughout Europe not just by sovereigns, diplomats and politicians, but also by lower social groups. In the long-term, its significance lay in reducing the faith of European societies in the fairness of the Great Powers’ policies, and the stability of the European system of states which had until then been guaranteed by the outcome of the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
The article asserts that it is very difficult to understand the development of relations between European countries and nations from 1815 to 1914 without an appreciation of the strong but hitherto overlooked perception of diplomatic affairs by people who, regardless of their nationality, political affiliation, gender or social status, desired stability and fairness in Europe generally acknowledged as a common security space. It introduces a new thesis that the 19th century witnessed an important but as yet unknown process whereby the abuse of power by stronger states in as well as outside Europe gradually eroded the Europeans’ faith in the international security ensured by treaties and launched their search for greater security in material force. This transition from institutionalism to realism in international affairs between 1815 and 1914 was an important outcome as well as factor of the decline of the European states system during one hundred years, a process that began in the first half of the century and later resulted in a widespread security dilemma. The rise of Realpolitik, nationalism, imperialism and colonialism for example, much like a more normative approach in the peace movement, must thus be seen as the components of a complex process beyond simply the actions of the governing elites: they resulted from the people’s deep interest in and response to supranational affairs.
The article’s goal is to introduce the thesis that not only the constitutional and socio-economic agendas of states but also international affairs strongly influence the formation of various human communities and their political programmes, and that this interaction was often no less important than these other factors in the rise of 19th century nationalism. By combining the history of international politics, international law, social history and ethics the article reveals a completely new story of the Italians’ reception of and response to diplomatic affairs in the 1840s. At that time a considerable number of them felt that the heritage of the Congress of Vienna was being eroded and that the world was becoming increasingly insecure. This conviction was primarily caused by the abuse of power by the most powerful states at the expense of weaker ones in Europe as well as the former’s imperialist policies in more remote regions. The increasing mistrust in the great powers’ policies and in the stability of the whole structure of the post-Napoleonic states system gave rise to a conviction that the security of their own countries in the world where the rule of force dominated was to be best preserved by material strength, which also made the Italians more willing to accept whatsoever kind of political unity based upon the concept of nationality.
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