The Three Pillars Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), the soul

The intellectual and ideological force behind Italian unification. Founded Young Italy (1831), a revolutionary organization dedicated to creating a unified Italian republic. Mazzini's vision was democratic and republican. He inspired a generation of revolutionaries through his writings on national self-determination and the duties of citizenship. He spent much of his life in exile and his republican vision was ultimately not the form Italian unification took, but his ideas shaped the movement.