Why was anti-clericalism such an important aspect of liberalism in France and Italy in the second half of the nineteenth century? The mid-nineteenth century was a time of great change throughout Europe. Revolutions and social upheavals meant new ideologies and perspectives coming to the forefront as existing social orders began to crumble under popular pressure. Liberalism was one of these new causes, designed to make a fairer and more benevolent society for all its sectors. However Liberalism could not succeed in a church dominated state. Thus anti-clericalism came to become a symbolic part of