The History of Education / Educational Practice and Progress Considered as a Phase of the Development and Spread of Western Civilization

by Ellwood Patterson Cubberley

II. NATIONAL ORGANIZATION IN ITALY

IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK OF NAPOLEON. So much has been written about the deluge of blood that took place in Paris in the days of the Commune and the time of the National Conventions, and of the military victories and autocratic rule of Napoleon Bonaparte, that it is difficult to appraise the importance of either, from the point of view of the progress of civilization and of the organization of modern political institutions, at its true worth. The faults of both are prominent and outstanding, but it nevertheless was the merit of the Revolution that it enabled France, and along with France a good portion of western Europe, to rid itself of the worst survivals of the Middle Ages, while to Napoleon much of western Europe is indebted for the foundation of its civil institutions, unified legal procedure, beginnings of state educational organization, and modern governmental forms. Writing on this subject, Matthew Arnold [16] well said:

With all his faults, his [Napoleon's] reason was so clear and strong that he saw, in its general outlines at least, the just and rational type of civil organization which modern society needs, and wherever his armies went he instituted it.

[Illustration: FIG. 178. EUROPE IN 1810 Showing the control of France when Napoleon was at the height of his power.]

That the French Revolution's merit and service was a real one is shown by all the world, as it improves, getting rid more and more of the Middle Ages. That Napoleon's merit and service was a real one is shown by the bad governments which succeeded him having always got rid, when they could, of his work, and by the progress of improvement, when these governments became intolerable, and are themselves got rid of, always bringing it back. Where governments were not wholly bad, and did not get rid of Napoleon's good work, this work turns out to have the future on its side, and to be more likely to assimilate the institutions round it to its pattern than to be itself assimilated by them.

In the Italian States, the Netherlands, some of the French cantons of Switzerland, the Rhine countries, and the Danish peninsula, in particular, the rule of Napoleon, imposed by his armies, carried out by rulers of his selection, and maintained for a long enough period that the legal organization, civil order, unified government, and taste of educational opportunities of a new type which his rule brought became attractive to the people, in time proved deeply influential in their political development. [17] All these nations still show traces of the French influence in their state educational organization. We shall take the Italian States as a type, and examine briefly the influence on the development of state educational organization there which resulted from contact with the forward-looking rule of "The Great Emperor."

DECLINE IN IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN ITALY. In a preceding chapter (p. 503), we mentioned that the rule of Napoleon in northern Italy awakened the national spirit from its long lethargy, and caused Italian liberals to look forward, for the first time since the days of the Revival of Learning, to the time when the Italian States might be united into one Italian nation, with Rome as its capital. This became the work of the mid- nineteenth century (see dates, Fig. 179), though not fully completed until the World War of 1914-18. Italy stands to-day a great united nation, with a large future ahead of it, but as such it is entirely a nineteenth- century creation. From the time of its intellectual decline following the Renaissance, to the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy remained "a geographical expression" and split up into a number of little independent States; up to the time of Napoleon it was a part of the German-ruled "Holy Roman Empire."

After the great patriotic effort of the period of the Revival of Learning (p. 264) in Italy, and the rather feeble and unsuccessful attempts at a reform of religion which followed, the intellectual development of Italy was checked and turned aside for centuries by the triumph of an unprogressive and anti-intellectual attitude on the part of the dominant Church. The persecution of Galileo (p. 388) was but a phase of the reaction in religion which had by that time set in. Education was turned over to the religious orders, such as the Jesuits and the Barnabites, and instruction was turned aside from liberal culture and the promotion of learning to the support of a religion and the stamping out of heresy. Though a number of educational foundations were made, and some important undertakings begun after the days when her universities were crowded and Florence and Venice vied with one another for the intellectual supremacy of the western world, the spirit nevertheless was gone, and both education and government settled down to a tenacious preservation of the existing order. Scholars ceased to frequent the schools of Italy; the universities changed from seats of learning to degree-conferring institutions; [18] the intellectual capitals came to be found north of the Alps; and the history of educational progress ceased to be traced in this ancient land. In the early part of the eighteenth century the schools there reached perhaps their lowest intellectual level.

THE BEGINNINGS OF REFORM IN SAVOY. The first and almost the only attempt to change this condition, before Napoleon's armies went crashing through the valley of the Po, was made in the seventeenth century by two Dukes of Savoy. By decrees of 1729 and 1772 they took the control of the secondary (Latin) schools in their little duchy from the religious orders, and established a Council of Public Instruction to reform the university examinations, see that teachers were prepared for the Latin schools, and take over in the name of the authorities of the duchy the control of education. Though inspired by a political interest, the two dukes brought into their little kingdom the much-needed ideas of honest work, effective administration, and public spirit, and laid the foundations for the control of education by the public authorities later on. The only other attempt to improve conditions came in Lombardy, in 1774, which then was a part of the Austrian dominions and felt the short-lived reforms of Maria Theresa (p. 562; R. 276). Elsewhere in Italy conditions remained unchanged until the time of Napoleon.

NAPOLEON REVIVES THE NATIONAL SPIRIT. In 1796 Napoleon's armies invaded Sardinia, Lombardy, and the valley of the Po, and he soon extended his control to almost all the Italian peninsula. For nearly two decades thereafter this collection of little States felt the unifying, regenerating influence of the organizing French. Monasteries and convents and religious schools were transformed into modern teaching institutions, brigandage was put down, and efficient and honest government was established. The ideas of the French Law of 1802 as to education were applied. Every town was ordered to establish a school for boys, to teach the reading and writing of Italian and the elements of French and Latin; the secondary schools were modernized; and the universities were completely reorganized. Some of the universities were reduced to licei (lycées; secondary schools), while others were strengthened and their revenues turned to better purposes. The universities at Naples and Turin in particular were transformed into strong institutions, with a decided emphasis on scientific studies. A normal school was founded at Pisa, on the model of the one at Paris. New standards in education were set up, the study of the sciences was introduced into the secondary schools, and the study of medicine and law was regenerated.

With the fall of Napoleon his work was largely undone. The firm, just, and intelligent government which he had given Italy—something the land had not known for ages—came to an end. The little States were "handed back to the reactionary dynasts whose rule was neither benevolent nor intelligent, while the ever-ready Austrian army crushed out any local movement for liberal institutions." The laws regarding education were repealed, and the schools the French had established were closed as revolutionary and dangerous. The normal school at Pisa ceased to exist; the university at Naples was dismantled; the one at Turin was closed; and the Jesuits were allowed to return and reorganize instruction. The result was that a common discontent with ensuing conditions made Italians conscious of their racial and historical unity, and this finally expressed itself in the revolutions of 1848. These failed at the time, and the heel of the Austrian oppressor came down harder than before. Liberty of the press practically ceased. The national leaders went into exile for safety. The prisons were filled with political offenders. The schools were closed or ceased to influence. The Pope, fearing the end of his earthly kingship approaching, united firmly with the Austrians to resist liberal movements. Finally, under the leadership of the enlightened King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel (1849-78) and his Prime Minister, Count of Cavour, the Austrians were driven out (1859-66) and all Italy was united (1870) under the rule of one king interested in promoting the welfare of his people.

[Illustration: FIG. 179. THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY, SINCE 1848]

SARDINIA LEADS TO NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL. The movement to free Italy was essentially a liberal movement. Many hoped to create a republic, but chose a liberal constitutional monarchy under Victor Emmanuel as the most feasible plan. Cavour understood the importance of public instruction, and from the first began to build up schools [19] and put them under state control. In 1844, a normal school was opened in Turin. In 1847, a Minister of Public Instruction was appointed and a Council of Public Instruction created, after the plan of France, In 1848, a General School Law was enacted, and the organization and improvement of schools was begun with a will. In 1850, a commission was sent to study the school systems of Europe, and in particular those of France and of the German States. A Supreme Council of Public Instruction was now formed for Sardinia, and the process of creating primary schools, higher-primary schools, classical and technical secondary schools, colleges, and the reorganization of the universities was begun. In 1859, when the growth of Italian unity was rapidly extending the rule of Victor Emmanuel, [20] a new law, providing a still better state organization of public instruction, was enacted. A Minister of Public Instruction appointed by the King, a Supreme Council of Public Instruction, and a Department of Public Instruction as a branch of the government, were all provided for, after the French plan.

[Illustration: FIG. 180 COUNT OF CAVOUR (1810-61)]

This Law of 1859 was later extended to cover all Italy, and has formed the basis for all subsequent legislation. It clearly established a state system of education, though the religious schools were allowed to remain. It also established control after the French plan, with a high degree of centralization and uniformity. The schools established, too, were much after the French type, though much less extensive in scope. The primary and superior primary at first were but two years each, though since extended in all the larger communities to a six-year combined course. The two-class school system was established, as in France and German lands. The secondary-school system consisted of a five-year ginnasio, established in many places (218 in Italy by 1865; 458 by 1916) with a three-year liceo following, but found in a smaller number of places. Parallel with this a seven-year non-classical scientific and technical secondary school was also created, and these institutions have made marked headway (461 by 1916) in central and northern Italy. Pupils may pass to either of these on the completion of the ordinary four-year primary course, at the age of ten. Above the secondary schools are numerous universities. The normal-school system created prepared for teaching in the primary schools, while the university system followed the completion of the liceo course. [Illustration: FIG. 181. OUTLINE OF THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE ITALIAN STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM]

The influence of French ideas in Italian educational organization is clearly evident. Before the French armies brought French governmental ideas and organization to Italy almost nothing had been done. Then, during the first six decades of the nineteenth century, the transition from the church-school idea to the conception of education as an important function of the State was made, and the resulting system is largely French in organization and form.

SUBSEQUENT PROGRESS. From this point on educational progress has been chiefly a problem of increased finances and the slow but gradual extension of educational opportunities to more and more of the children of the people. The church schools have been allowed to continue side by side with the state schools, and the problem of securing satisfactory working relations has not always been easy of solution.

In 1877 primary education was ordered made compulsory, [21] and religious instruction was dropped from the state schools, but the slow progress of the nation in extending literacy indicates that but little had been accomplished in enforcing the compulsion previous to the new compulsory law of 1904. This made more stringent provisions regarding schooling, and provided for three thousand evening and Sunday schools for illiterate adults. In 1906, an earnest effort was begun to extend educational advantages in the southern provinces, where illiteracy has always been highest. In 1911, the state aid for elementary education was materially increased. In 1912, a new and more modern plan of studies for the secondary schools was promulgated. Since 1912 many important advances have been inaugurated, such as elementary schools of agriculture, vocational schools, continuation schools, the middle-class industrial and commercial schools. The World War directed new attention to the educational needs of the nation. Italy, at last thoroughly awakened, seems destined to be a great world power politically and commercially, and we may look forward to seeing education used by the Italian State as a great constructive force for the advancement of its national interests.