ABSTRACT
Both Piedmont and the Kingdom of Naples had come under a sufficiently strong Napoleonic influence since the beginning of the century to accept a centralized system of administration. The tradition in favour of centralization was less strong in the Papal States, and considerably less strong in Lombardy. The Piedmontese foreign ministry became the Italian foreign ministry when a few bureaucratic changes were introduced. Inevitably Rome was made the capital of Italy, and her acquisition by the Italian Kingdom was confirmed by plebiscite in October, 1870. The most significant chapter of Italian history, usually referred to as the Risorgimento, had reached its natural conclusion. The institutions of education were a more delicate plant than the armed forces, but were not for that reason treated with greater respect. In this field the new regime was working from pure motives: it decided that it must eradicate illiteracy, even if this involved conflict with local and traditional forces.
