ARIANNA ARISI ROTA

La questione della Bosnia Erzegovina e l'Italia (1875-1877)

2 - La  diplomazia

N. 156

Summary — In the former section of the report Angelo Ara examines Italian public opinion and feeling about the Christian Slavs’ revolt in Bosnia-Erzegovina (July 1875) and about the domestic problems of the Ottoman empire as a whole.

In spite of the several hints that such a subject suggests, a poor number of essays have been specifically dedicated to it. According to the Risorgimento thought and background, Italian opinion matched and blamed the two multinational empires of Europe the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman one. The author gives also a short account of the main articles that two significant reviews of that time - Nuova Antologia e Civiltà Cattolica - dedicated to the Turkish question.

In the latter section Arianna Arisi Rota examines Italian diplomats’ perception of the Balkan crisis. She outlines three main themes dealing with the judgement on the revolt, on the reforming question in the Ottoman empire, on the balance policy in Europe. The most interesting aspect in such a perception lies in the final judgements given by Italian diplomats on the little weight that Italy could play in the European power system.