Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe's Own Il Resorgimento
01 Dec 2014 at 07:07hrs | Views
Job Max Mhende, DYM President
Il Resorgimento was a term used in the Unification of Italy in the 19th century. Resorgimento literally means Resurgence which might also mean Restoration.
Italy was but a geographical expression given its fragmented territories most under foreign dominion. Garibaldi and Mazzini led the unification and by and by Resorgimento was materialising. Italy today stands as a great power due to the efforts of those who crafted the idea of the Resorgimento.
Mazzini the prophet and mind of a united Italy was only 35 when he conceived the idea of il Resorgimento. His youthful movement Carbonari and later the Young Italian Movement was regarded too diminutive a force to abrogate Austria which largely dominated the Italian Peninsula. General Radesky of Austria was the Goliath of that time - indomitable!!
Mazzini and his Young Italian Movement together with Garibaldi and his army of only 1000 men (The Red Shirts) managed to out-maneuver the grand Austrian army in 1848, fought and defeated the well-backed Roman army and managed to RESTORE southern and central Italy, an effort that was finally fulfilled in 1865.
Similarly Zimbabwe today is fragmented, torn apart and desperately needs its own Resorgimento. Our economy is in the Intensive Care Unit. It's high time we followed our own Mazzinis and Garibaldis who have dedicated themselves to Restoration of our beloved country. Little known people can make a difference. Italy only knew of big names such as King Charles Albert of the Italian Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia and Pope Pius IX of the Papal States if ever Restoration was talked about. Mazzini was pauper and so was Garibaldi.
Great Zimbabweans remember at the inception of the liberation struggle of country Mugabe too was politically a 'pauper' but given support by those who did not know anything about him managed to lead Zimbabwe albeit his prolonged stay now!! We have small people today but with great minds and leverage to lead our own Resorgimento. One does not need to be popular to be able to lead, all it takes is humility, capability and determination. I don't want to give the story of Abraham Lincoln who grew up in a log cabin but later became the 16th President of the United States.
When DARE arises and proclaims RESTORATION and real EMPOWERMENT is it not wise to invest our hopes in such a sincere movement with a great vision of a Zimbabwean Utopia? We need not to be afraid of the unknown. If it was so for Italy when Mazzini and Garibaldi preached il Resorgimento or for Zimbabwe when little known villagers thought of launching an armed struggle then there was going to be perennial doom to the peoples of the respective nations. But mind you more doom for Zimbabweans if we fail to reckon with forces of Restoration.
Zimbabwe will never be the same again. Viva #DARE!!!
Italy was but a geographical expression given its fragmented territories most under foreign dominion. Garibaldi and Mazzini led the unification and by and by Resorgimento was materialising. Italy today stands as a great power due to the efforts of those who crafted the idea of the Resorgimento.
Mazzini the prophet and mind of a united Italy was only 35 when he conceived the idea of il Resorgimento. His youthful movement Carbonari and later the Young Italian Movement was regarded too diminutive a force to abrogate Austria which largely dominated the Italian Peninsula. General Radesky of Austria was the Goliath of that time - indomitable!!
Mazzini and his Young Italian Movement together with Garibaldi and his army of only 1000 men (The Red Shirts) managed to out-maneuver the grand Austrian army in 1848, fought and defeated the well-backed Roman army and managed to RESTORE southern and central Italy, an effort that was finally fulfilled in 1865.
Similarly Zimbabwe today is fragmented, torn apart and desperately needs its own Resorgimento. Our economy is in the Intensive Care Unit. It's high time we followed our own Mazzinis and Garibaldis who have dedicated themselves to Restoration of our beloved country. Little known people can make a difference. Italy only knew of big names such as King Charles Albert of the Italian Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia and Pope Pius IX of the Papal States if ever Restoration was talked about. Mazzini was pauper and so was Garibaldi.
Great Zimbabweans remember at the inception of the liberation struggle of country Mugabe too was politically a 'pauper' but given support by those who did not know anything about him managed to lead Zimbabwe albeit his prolonged stay now!! We have small people today but with great minds and leverage to lead our own Resorgimento. One does not need to be popular to be able to lead, all it takes is humility, capability and determination. I don't want to give the story of Abraham Lincoln who grew up in a log cabin but later became the 16th President of the United States.
When DARE arises and proclaims RESTORATION and real EMPOWERMENT is it not wise to invest our hopes in such a sincere movement with a great vision of a Zimbabwean Utopia? We need not to be afraid of the unknown. If it was so for Italy when Mazzini and Garibaldi preached il Resorgimento or for Zimbabwe when little known villagers thought of launching an armed struggle then there was going to be perennial doom to the peoples of the respective nations. But mind you more doom for Zimbabweans if we fail to reckon with forces of Restoration.
Zimbabwe will never be the same again. Viva #DARE!!!
Source - Job Max Mhende
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