A Response to International Insecurity: The Origins of Colonial Aspirations in Italy

ABSTRACT In reaction to numerous international disputes, crises, and wars, trust in the strength of the written law in the relations amongst European countries began to weaken before the mid-nineteenth century. One reaction to this gradual loss of faith in international justice was the rise of the power-oriented nationalist movements in Germany and Italy advocating not only national unity but also the creation of strong national armed forces and defensible frontiers. This response to international insecurity also contained the seeds of imperialist and colonial aspirations during the 1840s in both disunited Germany and Italy. It was for this reason that the growth of Italian nationalism during that decade remained closely connected with colonial ambitions. A colonial policy would bring Italians additional material strength to enable them to achieve a sufficiently strong and therefore safer place in a world seen as increasingly predatory.