This article retraces the last 18 months of the reign of Joachim Murat, from his repeal of the continental blockade in November 1813 to his alliance with the Anglo-Austrians in January 1814 and his disastrous Italian campaign in the spring of 1815. It demonstrates that the choices made during this period cannot be dismissed as headlong and opportunistic attempts by Murat to save his throne despite the collapse of the Napoleonic empire. His abandonment of the continental system and subsequent adherence to the "English system" were complex options, both politically and economically, and they were deeply rooted in the economic-financial crisis of the Kingdom of Naples as well as in the search for peace and the need for an international standing (in Europe and in the Mediterranean) that would favor the stability and economic progress of the Kingdom. Murat's new policy was based on the promotion of foreign trade, the main tenet of government action from Leipzig to Tolentino. Free trade was the economic policy of the Kingdom, but also a tool of political propaganda, an agent of peace, and a means to build international alliances, in particular with England. And it was possibly also an expression of Murat's own intellectual mindset. © FrancoAngeli.
L'articolo ripercorre gli ultimi 18 mesi di regno di Gioacchino Murat - dall'abrogazione del blocco continentale in novembre 1813, all'alleanza con gli anglo-austriaci in gennaio 1814, fino alla rovinosa campagna d'Italia della primavera del 1815 -, dimostrando che le scelte compiute nel periodo non sono riducibili ad avventati e opportunistici tentativi di Murat di 'conservare il trono' malgrado il crollo dell'impero napoleonico. L'abbandono del sistema continentale e la successiva adesione al 'système de l'Angleterre' sono opzioni complesse, di matrice ad un tempo politica ed economica, radicate nella crisi economico-finanziaria del Regno di Napoli, nell'esigenza di pace, nella ricerca di una collocazione internazionale (europea e mediterranea) che favorisse la stabilità e il progresso economico del Regno. La nuova politica murattiana si manifesta, in particolare, nella promozione del commercio estero, cifra dell'azione governativa da Lipsia a Tolentino: il liberismo commerciale è la politica economica del Regno, ma è anche uno mezzo di propaganda politica, un veicolo di pace, uno strumento di costruzione di alleanze internazionali, segnatamente con l'Inghilterra. Ed è anche, plausibilmente, espressione dell'orientamento intellettuale di Murat.
Peace and trade under murat (1813-1815)|Murat, la pace, il commercio (1813-1815)
Ciccolella D
2019
Abstract
This article retraces the last 18 months of the reign of Joachim Murat, from his repeal of the continental blockade in November 1813 to his alliance with the Anglo-Austrians in January 1814 and his disastrous Italian campaign in the spring of 1815. It demonstrates that the choices made during this period cannot be dismissed as headlong and opportunistic attempts by Murat to save his throne despite the collapse of the Napoleonic empire. His abandonment of the continental system and subsequent adherence to the "English system" were complex options, both politically and economically, and they were deeply rooted in the economic-financial crisis of the Kingdom of Naples as well as in the search for peace and the need for an international standing (in Europe and in the Mediterranean) that would favor the stability and economic progress of the Kingdom. Murat's new policy was based on the promotion of foreign trade, the main tenet of government action from Leipzig to Tolentino. Free trade was the economic policy of the Kingdom, but also a tool of political propaganda, an agent of peace, and a means to build international alliances, in particular with England. And it was possibly also an expression of Murat's own intellectual mindset. © FrancoAngeli.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
