The 1866 war revealed to the national ruling class the basic weaknesses of the new unified state and led to closing ranks and adopting an accentuated moderate and centralist line. Evidence of this trend is given by the magazine «Il Politecnico», already brought to the top of European journalism by Cattaneo, and edited from 1866 to 1868 by Francesco Brioschi. The present essay traces the events concerning this prestigious journal and shows in particular the contribution that the fourth series edited by Brioschi gave to the public debate, after the outcome of the war, on national problems and on the direction to follow to remedy the serious deficiencies inherited from the past. Parole chiave 1866, «Il Politecnico», Cattaneo, Brioschi.
Keywords: 1866, «Il Politecnico», Cattaneo, Brioschi