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The map below shows the various regions into which Italy was divided before unification, and the foreign powers that controlled them. .
It can be seen from this map that Austria had domination over most of Italy. The rich provinces of Lombardy and Venetia had been joined to the Austrian empire, while the rest of the Italian peninsula to the south of these two regions was directly under its control.
Austria was an autocratic empire, depending for its survival on the suppression of freedom. Metternich (the Austrian chancellor) was a ruthless ruler and he understood very well the dilemma of an autocratic government, that it was far better not to make any concessions to the people. Even though this might cause unrest it was better than giving the people concessions because this only intensified the demands for more concessions. His policy was therefore simple repression and was supported by the apparatus of the police state with government controlled courts and press, spies, informers and arbitrary arrests.
Austrian rule in Lombardy/Venetia was harsh and heavy handed. Taxation was twice as heavy per head as in the rest of the empire. Local industries were discouraged in favor of those in Austria. Education was staffed and controlled with the aim of producing uncritical and loyal subjects.
Further south, rulers shared Metternich's belief in the need for repression to assure their survival. Modena, for example, was a full-blown police state where education was controlled by the Jesuits and where Jews were persecuted. In Parma the Archduchess Marie Louise (Napoleon's widow) allowed the duchy to be run by her Austrian advisors. Here universities were suppressed for encouraging freedom of thought.
In the poverty stricken and backward Papal States, conditions were far worse. The great mass of the population was kept illiterate and wretched, and anyone suspected of being liberal thinking was dealt with by the secret police.