Quando crolla un’istituzione. Il corpo ufficiali della monarchia borbonica attraverso e oltre il 1860

The essay deals with one of the most controversial moments of contemporary Italian history: the downfall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1860, and the partial co-optation of its élites by the new Italian nation-state. The issue is addressed through the prism of the Neapolitan military institution. Overcoming the traditional representation of the Neapolitan officer corps, the author outlines the social, professional and ideological features of the men who fought Garibaldi during the crucial year 1860. The analysis of a huge prosopographic database allowed to retrace the choices and the strategies carried out by the Neapolitan officers during and after the collapse of their institution. In the end, the author proposes a fresh interpretation of the engagement of the Neapolitan officers in the subsequent Italian history.