A public republican program
Mazzini founded Young Italy in Marseille in 1831 to work for an independent, united republic. The political program was public, while membership and preparations for insurrection remained secret. Activists were to understand the objective for which they took risks.
Its General Instruction defined the nation through people joined under common law and defended popular sovereignty against hereditary privilege. It rejected a loose federation, but distinguished national political unity from administrative despotism and called for local liberties. These were proposed principles, rather than descriptions of an existing Italian state.
Publishing, membership and communication
Education and insurrection were complementary means. Members supported printing, spread arguments and pledged secrecy, mutual assistance and adherence to instructions. Monthly contributions supplied practical resources. Exiles could publish openly abroad, while domestic activists operated under police surveillance.
The journal La Giovine Italia appeared from 1832 to 1834 in six issues, treating political, moral and literary questions. Organizational networks extended across Italian states and into the Sardinian armed forces. Publications and cross-border contacts connected local activity with a common program.
Repression and reorganization
In 1833 the Sardinian authorities uncovered military networks, arrested members and imposed death sentences. Mazzini was condemned in absentia. A failed Savoy expedition and projected Genoese rising in 1834 brought further repression; Garibaldi escaped after being condemned.
Mazzini subsequently sought connections with other national movements. He reorganized Young Italy in London in 1840 and published Apostolato popolare, then established the Italian National Association in 1848. Its changing organizational forms carried a continuing republican alternative within the broader movement for unity.