ABSTRACT
As French power collapsed in 1814, the ‘moderates’ who had enjoyed some status and local power under French rule had reason to feel fearful. Aspirations to Italian independence and/or unity were not totally forgotten, and indeed in Naples King Joachim abandoned Napoleon and proclaimed an independent Italian state, but he found few supporters. The ‘moderates’ hoped, above all, to avoid a simple return to royal absolutism. They therefore advocated constitutional government, with elected legislatures, and knew that the victorious British would support them. But Austria, not Britain, was the dominant Coalition Power on the Continent, and after 1814 she directly governed much of northern Italy. The Austrian Emperor had no wish to rule constitutionally, and saw no reason to rely on Italian middle-class lawyers. A constitution therefore remained an aspiration, not a reality; but it was an important aspiration, and it did remain.
