Tra dissenso e rivoluzione: Brescia dalla Repubblica di Venezia alla Repubblica italiana (1791-1802)

In recent decades, historians interested in the revolutionary period in the Italian peninsula have often focused their attention on specific experiences ("municipalist perspective"). In part following this tendency, this research aims at valuing the context of Brescia - the city and its territory - during the last years of the Venetian domination and in concomitance with the revolutionary period. However, it is not a study limited to the borders of Brescia. On the contrary, an important part of the research will focus on the reconstruction of the conspiratorial ramifications that linked the revolutionaries of Brescia with those of other cities in the Peninsula. The relationship with the Italian Army will also be studied. The work is therefore based on two main topics: dissidence and revolution, considered as two distinct moments from the temporal point of view, but indissoluble from the point of view of the theorisations and political statements of the Brescian revolutionaries. The conspiracy that led to the fall of the power of the Venetian Republic and the dynamics of the Republic of Brescia (1797) will be analysed. Furthermore, the meaning of the terms "democracy" and "revolution" applied to the small Republic will be questioned, offering the characteristics and a new interpretation of this political experience. The world of political associationism and the question of consensus and propaganda will also be explored. An important part of the book is dedicated to the period when Brescia was united with the Cisalpine Republic, understanding the consequences and questioning the real meaning of "political modernity". Another aim of the research will be to move away from the centrality of the year 1797 and the experience of the Republic of Brescia, although it is important. Indeed, the studies published so far have focused almost exclusively on the months of the small Republic, almost entirely neglecting the Cisalpine period. The experience of the autonomous and independent Republic of Brescia may have had a significant influence on the actions of the revolutionaries after 1798, to the extent that one might wonder whether the revolutionaries themselves wanted to embark on the path of unification or whether they merely wanted to put an end to the domination of the Serenissima. It is necessary to re-evaluate and reconstruct the years in which the city of Brescia was united with the Cisalpine Republic and to understand how the revolutionaries behaved in the face of Bonaparte's choice and France. Therefore, it is necessary to rediscover the years from 1798 to 1802 (with particular attention to the period of exile), which have been forgotten by those who dealt with Brescia. In fact, it was during this period that the revolutionaries and the population of Brescia were forced to face political instability, French interference and war. In addition to analysing the aspects of social, cultural, religious and military life that specifically concern the revolutionary front, we must not forget the counter-revolution and the urban resistance to the spread of revolutionary ideals. There were many counter-revolutionary centres in Brescia and its territory, especially in the valleys and also in the city itself.