[Footnote 2: See _Selections from Treitschke_, pp. 17-20, 58-61.] [Footnote 3: _The Expansion of England_, p. 349. See also p. 1, "Some countries, such as Holland and Sweden, might pardonably regard their history as in a manner wound up."] [Footnote 4: See J.M. Robertson, _Introduction to English Politics_, pp. 251-390; Mr. H.A.L. Fisher's pamphlet on _The Value of Small States_, in which, however, the distinction between _states_ and _nations_ is not made clear; and the article on "Nationalism and Liberalism" in _The Round Table_, December 1914.] §5. _The National Idea in Italy: The Ideal Type_.--Let us now turn to Italy, a country which has in the past been as much of a European Tom Tiddler's ground as Belgium, though for rather different reasons. Italy is inhabited by a race speaking a common language and observing a common religion, she has historical memories as glorious as those of any other country in the world, and her natural boundaries are almost as well-defined as those of Great Britain; yet it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that she managed to become a nation. The chief reason why she remained a "geographical expression" long after England, France, and Spain had acquired national unity was the fact that she was until comparatively recent times an example of the less containing the greater. Throughout the Middle Ages she was a suburb, not a country. Rome was the capital of the world, Italy only its environs. Moreover, since all roads lead to Rome, and the lord of Rome was the master of Europe, the roads Romeward were worn by the tramp of the armies of all nations. Thus Italy was constantly subject to invasion, and the state-systems with which the Congress of Vienna resaddled her in 1814 were little more than relics of past military occupations of her soil by foreign armies. The main problem, therefore, in the making of modern Italy was how to get rid of the heavy burden of the past, how to deal with Rome and all that Rome stood for.