Shifting capitals: innovation (and conservative strategies) in Italy 1850-1880

Turin, Florence, Rome: in a very short spell of time (1861-1870) the capital city of the brand new Italy, which has finally gained unity, changes three times, an event that probably no other European 19th century state has been experimenting in such a stunning form. In all these three cases the adaptation – social, economical, urban – to the new role is influenced by local situations, but, at the same time, this complex process is up to the same national political and technical élites. “Insiders” and “outsiders” meet abruptly, innovation and strategies of conservation face each other unexpectedly. Which is the legacy of such an event on the different cities? Certainly social costs and shock, and loss of historical built heritage, swept up by the new post-unity urban plans, but at the same time, an explosion of cultural, technical and social innovation that will be effective for decades. Can we track some shared strategies which link these three different experiences one to the other? This contribution aims to outline some aspects which might aid to a compared interpretation, pointing in the first place at the consequences in terms of modernization, but remembering also the explicit use of history as an instrument for legitimating the new born state, building a national consciousness where memory rather than modernity is the root chosen by the leading élites to compact after 1861 such different and heterogeneous populations, in order “to build the Italians, after having built Italy”, as the patriot and politician Massimo d’Azeglio said. Some examples may be discussed to show the outcomes of this mix of tradition and innovation.