Exile and Internationalism. Reflections on the Networks, Contacts and Activities of Italian Political Exiles During the Risorgimento

During the 19th century, a great number of Italian patriots and political activists spent part of their lives in exile. They participated in the broader phenomenon of "diasporic nationalism", which characterised political and patriotic groups from different countries. Exile bore a transnational dimension that assumed several facets: it was a peregrination among various locations; it implied the existence of links and collaborations between Italian refugees and exiles of other nationalities. The existence of networks among political migrants of different nationalities was not based on cosmopolitan ideals, but on internationalism and on the principle of national emancipation.