The Action Party () was an Italian pre-unitary

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

active during the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

. It was the first organized party in the

history of Italy Italy has been inhabited by humans Prehistoric Italy, since the Paleolithic. During antiquity, there were many ancient peoples of Italy, peoples in the Italian peninsula, including Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, Latins, Samnites, Umbri, Cisal ...

History

After the failure of the Italian revolutions of 1848,

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...

's Young Italy was dissolved as a political organization to form the Italian National Association (), which was still led by Mazzini. During the 1848–1849, the Italian National Association competed against the rival

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

led by

Vincenzo Gioberti Vincenzo Gioberti (; 5 April 180126 October 1852) was an Italian Catholic priest, philosopher, publicist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Sardinia from 1848 to 1849. He was a prominent spokesman for liberal Catholicism. Biogr ...

and Massimo d'Azeglio that won the election in the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

and established a new government. After some years of weak activities, the Italian National Association was renamed in 1853 by Mazzini to the Action Party, which published the booklet-manifesto "To the Italians" (''Agli Italiani'') and invited

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

to start various rebel and republican organizations. This tactic was changed after the failed invasion of Sapri of the same year, where

Carlo Pisacane Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni (1818–1857) was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He was an early advocate of propaganda by deed, arguing that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or gen ...

died. In 1860, the Action Party financed the creation of a paramilitary group led by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

named the Redshirts (''Camicie rosse''). The Redshirts become particularly famous for the

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand () was an event of the unification of Italy that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto al Mare near Genoa and landed in Marsala, Sicily, in order to conquer the Ki ...

, when Garibaldi conquered in a few months all of the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

and the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. In this period, the Action Party was strongly opposed to the Moderate Party and its new leader Camillo Benso di Cavour, who was close to the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. Mazzini particularly hated the annexation war, the falsification of the referendums and the Piedmontization of Italy that ignored the various diversities of a unified

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The Action Party founded the first mutual aid societies, workers' associations, public schools and cooperatives. In 1861, Mazzini founded the newspaper of the Action Party, ''L'Unità italiana''. In 1867, the Action Party attempted to conclude the Unification War and take over

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with the Battle of Mentana, which failed. Disappointed, Mazzini dissolved the Action Party and retired from politics. In 1870, Rome was captured and became the capital of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. In 1877, Agostino Bertani, a former member of the Action Party, left the

Historical Left The Left group (), later called Historical Left () by historians to distinguish it from the left-wing groups of the 20th century, was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group ...

to form the Historical Far-Left, reputed to be the real heir of the Action Party.

Proposals and goals

Unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

, including the " Irrident Lands". * Abolition of the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

and creation of a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. * Elections with

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. * Support of the

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

, press,

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

and

thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and de ...

Electoral results

References

{{Authority control Italian unification Kingdom of Sardinia Defunct political parties in Italy Defunct nationalist parties in Italy Political parties established in 1853 Political parties disestablished in 1867 Radical parties in Italy 1848 establishments in Italy 1867 disestablishments in Italy

History

Proposals and goals

Electoral results

See also

References