Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- List of maps
- 1 Society and politics in Liberal Italy
- 2 New political pressure groups and foreign policy
- 3 The making of a Foreign Minister: Antonino Di San Giuliano
- 4 The Consulta: the bureaucrats of foreign policy
- 5 How Italy went to Libya
- 6 How Italy stayed in Libya
- 7 The politics of alliance: Italy in the Triple Alliance, 1912–1914
- 8 The politics of friendship: Italy, the Triple Entente, and the search for a new Mediterranean agreement, 1911–1914
- 9 ‘Un cliente maleducato’: Italy in the Dodecanese and Ethiopia, 1912–1914
- 10 Preparing to digest some spoils: Italian policy towards Turkey, 1912–1914
- 11 San Giuliano's epilogue. The realities of European war 28 June to 16 October 1914
- Conclusion
- Appendix I The Ten Commandments for Italians abroad
- Appendix II Pro-memoria on our politico-military situation, by A. Pollio
- Appendix III San Giuliano's poem about his funeral ceremony
- Abbreviations used in the notes and bibliography
- Select bibliography
- Notes
- Index
4 - The Consulta: the bureaucrats of foreign policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- List of maps
- 1 Society and politics in Liberal Italy
- 2 New political pressure groups and foreign policy
- 3 The making of a Foreign Minister: Antonino Di San Giuliano
- 4 The Consulta: the bureaucrats of foreign policy
- 5 How Italy went to Libya
- 6 How Italy stayed in Libya
- 7 The politics of alliance: Italy in the Triple Alliance, 1912–1914
- 8 The politics of friendship: Italy, the Triple Entente, and the search for a new Mediterranean agreement, 1911–1914
- 9 ‘Un cliente maleducato’: Italy in the Dodecanese and Ethiopia, 1912–1914
- 10 Preparing to digest some spoils: Italian policy towards Turkey, 1912–1914
- 11 San Giuliano's epilogue. The realities of European war 28 June to 16 October 1914
- Conclusion
- Appendix I The Ten Commandments for Italians abroad
- Appendix II Pro-memoria on our politico-military situation, by A. Pollio
- Appendix III San Giuliano's poem about his funeral ceremony
- Abbreviations used in the notes and bibliography
- Select bibliography
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Tourists have traditionally passed by the ochre-stained palazzo on the wrong side of the Quirinal hill. The Consulta has merely formed a convenient backdrop for the water-colours of Vanvitelli or for the clicking shutters of millions of Yashicas and Leicas today. The statue of the Dioscuri and its fountain, the magnificent view over Rome beyond, the papal, royal and then presidential palace of the Quirinale, or the nearness of Bernini's Sant' Andrea, divert attention from yet another Roman palace.
Nonetheless, the Consulta is a distinguished building. Set in what used to be Constantine's imperial gardens, it was built in 1730 by Fuga for Pope Clement XII. It was to house the Tribunal of the Sacred Consulta or Supreme Court and Administrative Power of the Pontifical Government. There were also barracks for the papal guard.
When Rome became capital of the united Italy after 1870, it was this building which was chosen to house the Foreign Ministry of the new state. Apart from its architectural beauty, the Consulta was also appropriately situated; only a step across the road from the Quirinale, the royal palace, it was a reminder that Charles Albert had retained many prerogatives in the constitution which he had granted in 1848. In the era before the telephone, messages of advice and instruction could pass to the Consulta more easily from the Quirinale than from Montecitorio, the parliament building, where deputies debated, or from the Palazzo Braschi, where Prime Ministers had their offices. The Consulta was positioned to demonstrate that the foreign policy of Italy was not to be too different from that of the Kingdom of Piedmont – Sardinia.
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- Information
- Italy the Least of the Great PowersItalian Foreign Policy Before the First World War, pp. 95 - 126Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1979