Back in the 14th and 15th century, the region of modern Italy was in its younger years. Unlike its neighbouring countries, the region had its geographical advantages because it was the trade gateway between the Eastern and Western parts of the world. As a result, the region became the new source of wealth by monopolizing a new business “frontier” of trade. The region was divided into six Italian City-States, each of which had its own trade specialty that contributed efficiently to the entire region as a whole economy. In other words, Italy was a giant enterprise instead of a nation; While the wealth from this capitalist driven region benefited the humanist ideals of the Renaissance, this caused the geographical region as a whole to become politically unstable and powerless. This is the reason why Niccolo Machiavelli and his manifesto, The Prince, had such drastic impact on Italy, he transformed Italian leaders and politicians to have control over politics, which in those times, the ultimate power a ruler can ever have.
Before Machiavelli, The region of Italy was politically unstable when it came to foreign politics. The Italian city-states relied on internal cooperation for tranquillity and safety from foreign invaders in an alliance called the Treaty of Lodi. While this was a great idea to defend the land from foreign invaders, the alliance couldn’t save them from themselves. Keep in mind, all the members of the alliance were historical enemy against each other in the past, and if anything is true, old traditions die very hard. In other words, there were many internal conflicts between the members of the Treaty of Lodi. Eventually, in 1494 the treaty ended when the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, begged King Charles VIII and his army to march through Italy and reclaim Naples after they insulted and threatened Milan. If anything is clear here, this wasn’t politics, it was a personal vendetta for leaders to get back at each other.
On the other hand, the bureaucratic side of renaissance politics was even worst. Before Machiavelli, Italian politics were completely powerless. Bear in mind that the Catholic Church had the divine power over all European rulers and politicians since they were the “liaison” between god and the human soul. The church thought that rulers and politicians should be merciful, peaceful, tolerant, and generous. In other words, A being a good politician meant being a devoted Catholic and not being productive. Hence why so many leaders of the time funded many social humanity projects such as schools and orphanages.
Between these two substantial issues, Italian politics during the 14th and 15th century were completely useless. In fact, politics just ended up becoming personal ve rather than a policy issue, Thus was no strategy or rational decision process. Eventually, The renaissance got out of hand and transformed into political catastrophe. Since Machiavelli had to grow up during this turbulent era in Florence, Machiavelli was tired and disgusted by the political atmosphere. Hence, why he devoted his whole life he was so passionate about transforming rulers and politicians into powerful “princes”.
For one thing, Machiavelli sought out the importance of a ruler’s perception and image. Machiavelli thought that in order to be a good ruler, his people must seem him as a good ruler because then they will obey him. However, he also stresses the importance of balancing a ruler popularity with authorship so the ruler can still maintain control over his kingdom without becoming too vulnerable. In Chapter XVIII of The Prince, Machiavelli writes, “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves… Therefore one must be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves,”. Deception is the key behind Machiavelli’s analogy. Princes must appear as robust and proud to keep up his public image, in but at the same time be sly and able to manage the kingdom behind the scenes. Hence, maintaining control and power while keeping them all together.
However, the most important and historical concepts Machiavelli introduced was criminal virtue. Now we all know that virtue has many definitions and meanings, but in this case, criminal virtue is a set moral standard that a leader or politicians must use to govern power. According to Machiavelli, a leader or politician must have courage, perseverance, strategy, stoicism, and ruthlessness within themselves in order to become a good leader. Alternatively, a good leader used his common sense, even if it was cruel. In one of most famous lines in his entire manifesto, Machiavelli states with the utmost importance:
“Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. . . .fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present,” .
While this might seem a bit extreme, fear enforces people and establishes control. As a result, politics become more productive and rulers can maintain control of governance while also using fear as strategy to advance towards more power and influence. Machiavelli is just giving us the harsh truth that nice guys never win anything because they prioritize others before themselves. How can one govern a land when they can’t even rule themselves. At the end of the day, if it benefited the state, these actions were justifiable. Because the matter of the state come before anything else in life.
Niccolo Machiavelli is the reason why the world has become the place we recognize today both from a historical and political standpoint. Historically, Machiavelli started the foundation of unifying Italy as a whole nation. Before Machiavelli, politics was not a casual topic of conversation at the dinner table. Machiavelli made society become more involved with politics through his harsh matters. Leaders finally had control of their power and as a result, society became more productive. Thus, changing history and society together forever.