Civil Wars under the Sign of Vendetta. The Concept of the “Republican Triennium” in Italy 1796—1799 by Gabriele Turi

Abstract

Italian researcher Gabriele Turi proposed a new concept of the history of revolutionary changes and the struggle against the French invaders in the states of Italy at the end of the 18th century. This historian focuses on the issues of mutual perception of political and military opponents, the birth of a new political language, the formation of groups of Democrats and Republicans — “patriots”, collaboration of elites in the era of the invasion of the French republic armies, regional features of popular uprisings in Tuscany, Lazio, Calabria, Basilicata and other areas of Italy. The Insorgenzebeing the people's war against the French troops and Italian “patriots”, is presented by Professor Turi as part of the civil wars that swept the Apennine peninsula after 1796. Professor Turi offers the original answers to the debated questions about the “republican triennium”, about the theory of the “passive” revolution, the reasons for the fall of the sister republics, the collective psychology of the participants of the anti-revolutionary movement.