Do as the Spaniards do. The 1821 Piedmont insurrection and the birth of constitutionalism

  • Pierangelo Gentile Universidad de Turín
Keywords: Cádiz Constitution, Carlo Alberto of Savoia, monarchy, revolution, repression

Abstract

Despite the local reference historiography, the 1821 Piedmont insurrection still lacks a reading that gives due weight to the historical-constitutional aspect. When Carlo Alberto, the “revolutionary” Prince of Carignano, granted the Cádiz Constitution, after the abdication of Vittorio Emanuele I, a crisis began in the secular history of the dynasty and the kingdom of Sardinia: for the first time freedoms and rights of representation broke the direct pledge of allegiance, tipycal of the absolute state, between kings and people. The new political system was not autochthonous but looked to that of Spain, among the many possible models. Using the extensive available bibliography, I analyzed the national and international influences of that short historical season. Moreover I emphasized the social and geographic origin of the leaders of the insurrection (i.e. nobility and bourgeoisie, core and periphery of the State) and the consequences of their actions. Even if the insurrection was brought down by the convergence of the royalist forces and the Austrian army, its legacy weighed on the dynasty. In 1823, during the war between Spain and France, Carlo Alberto became the hero of the Trocadero: a reactionary choice that influenced the future of Savoy. Certainly the shadow of the Cádiz Constitution accompanied Carlo Alberto until 1848, when he granted the Statuto. The pre-unification political season was marked by a more moderate text of the Constitution. Over time, the Cádiz Constitution became a symbol of the freedom and the exiles of 1821 went to fight in Europe for those peoples who were oppressed by the Holy Alliance.

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Published
2021-06-15
How to Cite
Gentile P. (2021). Do as the Spaniards do. The 1821 Piedmont insurrection and the birth of constitutionalism. Historia y Política, 45, 23-51. https://doi.org/10.18042/hp.45.02