Abstract

At the end of the Eighteenth century Italians experienced the establishment of republican governments under the pressure of the French armies. Since then, some politicians and writers have emphasized the difficulties encountered by the new institutions to create linkages with the plebs and the multifarious world of the popular classes. This article aims to show the deep divisions exploded in that occasion, also between popular insurgents and the counter-revolutionary ruling classes, taking into account the events of the frontier between the Papal State and the Kingdom of Naples. In addition, this case-study, which can be extended to other Italian territories, outlines the necessity to distinguish attentively the narratives of the Vandean model from the realities of the Counter-revolution all over Europe.