Investing in the Nation: Adriano Lemmi, Radical Nationalism, and the Southern Italian Railroad

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.

While radical nationalist Adriano Lemmi was predominantly known for his role in financing the

clandestine activities inspired and promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, this paper explores one of

Lemmi’s few state-sanctioned nationalist activities: the construction of branches of the southern

Italian railroad immediately after unification. In efforts to connect the southern peninsula with the

northern kingdom, it was Giuseppe Garibaldi who suggested a fellow radical take on the railroad

project and facilitated Lemmi winning the contract. This paper considers how Lemmi balanced his

radical republican vision for the nation with his business investment in the railroad, an investment at

base advocated by a moderate national leadership seeking to physically and culturally link north and

south. I argue that Lemmi and his business partner’s more radical political affiliation hindered the

project from the start, and that ultimately the inability to reconcile moderate and radical political

positions led to the failure of this iteration of railroad expansion.