Why was Young Italy able to gain many members in northern Italy?

Young Italy, the revolutionary movement founded by Giuseppe Mazzini, experienced rapid growth in northern Italy—specifically in Liguria and Piedmont—during the early 1830s.

The movement's ability to gain many members in these regions was primarily facilitated by a high literacy rate. This demographic advantage allowed for the wide distribution and effective reach of the society’s official publication, the journal Giovine Italia, which Mazzini used to propagate his vision of a united, republican Italian nation.1

While the movement aimed to be a popular initiative that embraced all classes, it remained fundamentally a middle-class organization. Through the dissemination of these revolutionary ideas, the movement grew from approximately 40 members at its inception in 1831 to tens of thousands by 1833.12