The Italian Risorgimento was prepared and determined by the associations founded by Giuseppe Mazzini: Giovine Italia, Giovine Europa, Italian National Association, Italian National Committee, European Democratic Committee, Action Party, Universal Republican Alliance, Pact of Brotherhood between the workers’ associations, and the list goes on.
Mazzini radiated his ideas throughout a democratic struggle in Europe against the order of the Restaurazione (or Restoration); especially in England where he had followers. He was later an inspiration for America’s champions of freedoms defending “colored populations”: Indians, Chinese, and Indonesians.
Once achieved national unity, the political class questioned Giuseppe Mazzini’s ideas and tried to prevent its development and dissemination. This is one of the reasons why his apostolate is quite unknown: he is remembered and known as a promoter of national unity, yet less as an advocate of the Republic and even less as a social reformer.
Fascism consisted of violence and oppression. After destroying Mazzini’s political organizations and cooperatives, it confined the memory of Mazzini within the walls of Risorgimento museums.
Fortunately, brave historians such as Omodeo, Salvemini, Salvatorelli, Sforza, Il Tramarollo, A.Colombo, and Il Mastellone pushed the study of Mazzini’s thought and actions forward, as well his vision of the future.
Faithful followers, often humble workers, were always ready to work at the cost of persecutions, so that Italy would emerge from fascism and not return to the previous conditions. The mission was to progress towards more perfect and precise forms of freedom that were tempered by justice; above all they believed in the absolute priority of moral teaching: no reform, if devoid of ethical content, was vital. In 1943, Nello Meoni, Emesto Re, Achille Magni, Giuseppe Colombo, Giannetto Savorani, Antonio Bandini Buti, and Claudio Crescenti, issued an appeal:
“In the most tragic hour that the world has ever experienced, Italy is redeeming itself. To rise again after twenty years of despotism culminating in a nefarious and cruel war, she (Italy) needs a light to guide her. This light, which does not belong to you alone, but is the patrimony of the whole world, can only be the one radiated by the thought and action of Giuseppe Mazzini. It therefore seems necessary to create the ITALIAN MAZZINIAN ASSOCIATION. Our intention is not to create a narrow cultural, but a broad familiarity with the principles of the movement that organization inspire the new GiovineItalia, if it really intends to redeem itself and rise in a world that’s been purified by pain and fraternized work … platform from which we try to better interpret … There will be no secret, no ritual: everything will take place at the light of the day methodically and well intentioned. “
The appeal gathered memberships:
The need to operate illegally was reiterated in a document issued in November 1943 to the members, many of whom militated in partisan groups in the mountains and in the city. On June 22nd, 1944 the following was stated:
” A.M.I. is not a party. It welcomes all Italians who intend to study and spread the thought of Giuseppe Mazzini, the highest consciousness of the modern era. In the present historical moment it represents a meeting point, a relief and an incitement for those who fear the loss of a people brutally tried. In the future A.M.I. will be the largest training ground where, with truth and freedom, all Italians will be able to attend their moral regeneration unfortunately compromised by the prevailing malpractice … “
At the same time, “Il Pensiero Mazziniano” was distributed, an organ of the Italian Mazzinian Association declared:
“Freedom returned … this sheet, now illegal, will become a review of studies and thought struggles” ..
It is reproduced in its entirety in “Il Pensiero Mazziniano” of April 25th 1963.
A.M.I. was present during the insurrection of April 25th 1945, and the National Committee launched a manifesto as an ode to Italians. The manifesto praised the regained freedom, declared its deep gratitude to the active participants, and was a salute to the allies as well as the mountain patriots who managed to prevent the war’s last devastations and horrors.
“A.M.I. is not a party … but an institution of culture and diffusion of Mazzinian thought … ”
“A.M.I. wants to exercise an energetic and profound action for the awakening of minds, consciences and has per goal to: – spread the Master’s principles – The solution of the centuries-old institutional problem with the advent of the Republic – The achievement of European federal unity restoration of moral values - The education and instruction of the people – The formation of a fundamental charter of moral, political, social and economic principles present in Mazzinian Socialism: – Mazzini, before others, addressed himself to the workers and pointed out to them the way of emancipation through free association, education and observance of the law of duty “.
In the campaign for the Republic or Monarchy referendum, A.M.I. participated intensely and vigorously. On June 2nd, the Republic won; the Constituent Assembly began its agenda; after eighteen months of discussions, on December 22nd 1947 the Italian Republic’s Constitution was approved with 453 votes against 62, that is, with eighty-eight percent.
On December 27th it was broadcasted, on January 1st 1948 it was put into practice: the Albertine Statute had lasted for one hundred years.
Modern commitment and dynamism of the Association.
A.M.I. wants every municipality to have a tangible memory of the popular movement that saw Mazzini as leader. However, this is not a sufficient reason for its existence. Society is undergoing a rapid and radical transformation in political, administrative, social and economic structures, as well as in tradition. The same goes for the change in taste, in everyday conversation from figurative to spoken language. Those who are unaware, or worse who do not want to adapt their to the revolution’s rhythm is inexorably overwhelmed. “An issue of Il Pensiero Mazziniano in 1962 specified that A.M.I is not a popular and partisan version of the Institute for the History of the Risorgimento, nor a duplicate of the Mazzinian Institute of Genoa or of the Domus Mazziniana of Pisa; and above all it is not a commemorative factory”.
” A.M.I. is a body of culture, of diffusion and even more so of propaganda. Free from the electoral concerns of the parties, A.M.I is a body of nonconformist criticism and progressive stimulation. Do we want to affirm that we will ban all commemoration of men and events? No: we are proud of the republican tradition and will rise whenever we see it being ignored or deformed. We are faithful servants of the fundamental principles of democracy which see the inspiration Giuseppe Mazzini as its founder. For this reason, we do not limit ourselves to the bigoted and mechanical literal repetition of formulas and slogans born in the tumult of yesterday’s battles and which threaten to petrify if they are not dynamically carried out in today’s reality. We will commemorate, but only when we have continued the path traced by our greatest modern men – as modern as Mazzini was! – we wouldn’t have wanted to live in any other era: today our mission is here: in the ideas, in the problems, in the programs, in the language of today… ”.
Mazzini did not distrust young people: believing in them helped guide them even in the years their later years. A warning he addressed to them is still valid today: he cited the poet he respected and of whom he published original literary and political material: “Do not copy ideas, every era has its own and the few years that separate you from Foscolo’s last years mark the boundary between two radically different ages. On the contrary, embrace the ideas the present in which you live, as he did with his own era “.
This reaffirms Article 1 of the Statute:
“A.M.I. it is a free association of culture, education and propaganda, independent of political parties. The association proposes the development and implementation of the moral, political, legal, social, and economic principles as well as female emancipation. These are essentials of the republican tradition in which Giuseppe Mazzini was its strongest spokesperson. A.M.I also has per goal the fulfillment of the European federal unity within the international narrative, in the perspective of a universal alliance of peoples”.
Joint action:
In order to achieve its goals, A.M.I. is affiliated with the C.N.D.I. (National Council of Italian Women), the C.I.M.E. (European Movement), the Italian Section of Langues Internationales de l`Enseignement, de l`Education et de la Culture Populaire, to the Italian Atlantic Committee. A.M.I also collaborates with the Institute of Historical Studies of the Republican Movement (Rome), with LIDU – International League for Human Rights (Milan), with AEDE – Association Européenne des Enseignants (Brussels – Rome), UDAI – Democratic Union Friends of Israel (Milan), and lastly with the MFE – European Federalist Movement.
Press organization:
A.M.I. regularly publishes “Il Pensiero Mazziniano”, a quarterly on politics, history, and culture.