Executive Struggles in Italy 1861–1909

Abstract

The building of the nation-state in Germany and Italy meant a new relationship between those who lived there and the executive authorities. Dieter Gosewinkel explains, “State and nation entered into a new relationship. Belonging to the national state implied belonging to the nation.”¹ Gosewinkel characterizes this shift as the “nationalization” of the state, a construct that, as Hannah Arendt justly pointed out, set the stage for the development of statelessness.² The closer relationship between the state and nation meant that the executive authorities would have to sharpen their anti-Gypsy policies if they wanted to keep those they labeled as Gypsies out of the nation. The place of birth and residence of populations labeled as Gypsies became critical, since these factors might be, and often were, used by Gypsies to claim belonging in the state (which, in turn, as Gosewinkel argues, implied membership in the nation).