9: Garibaldi and Italian Unity
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Power of Austria Broken
From the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until late in the
nineteenth century, a period of some fourteen hundred years,
Italy remained disunited, divided up among a series of states,
small and large, hostile and peaceful, while its territory was
made the battle-field of the surrounding Powers, the helpless
prey of Germany, France and Spain. Even the strong hand of
Napoleon failed to bring it unity, and after his fall its
condition was worse than before, for Austria held most of the
north and exerted a controlling power over the remainder of the
peninsula, so that the fair form of liberty fled in dismay from
its shores.
But the work of Napoleon had inspired the patriots of Italy with
a new sentiment, that of union. Before the Napoleonic era the
thought of a united Italy scarcely existed, and patriotism meant
adherence to Sardinia, Naples, or some other of the many kingdoms
and duchies. After that era union became the watchword of the
revolutionists, who felt that the only hope of giving Italy a
position of dignity and honor among the nations lay in making it
one country under one ruler. The history of the nineteenth
century in Italy is the record of the attempt to reach this end,
and its successful accomplishment. And on that record the names
of two men most prominently appear, Mazzini, the indefatigable
conspirator, and Garibaldi, the valorous fighter; to whose names
should be added that of the eminent statesman, Count Cavour, and
that of the man who shared their statecraft and labors, Victor
Emmanuel, the first king of united Italy.
THE CARBONARI
The basis of the revolutionary movements in Italy was the secret
political association known as the Carbonari, formed early in the
nineteenth century and including members of all classes in its
ranks. In 1814 this powerful society projected a revolution in
Naples, and in 1820 it was strong enough to invade Naples with an
army and force from the king an oath to observe the new
constitution which it had prepared. The revolution was put down
in the following year by the Austrians, acting as the agents of
the "Holy Alliance" - the compact of Austria, Prussia and Russia.
An ordinance was passed condemning any one who should attend a
meeting of the Carbonari to capital punishment. But the society
continued to exist, despite this severe enactment, and was at the
basis of many of the outbreaks that took place in Italy from 1820
onward. Mazzini, Garibaldi, and all the leading patriots were
members of this powerful organization, which was daring enough to
condemn Napoleon III to death, and almost to succeed in his
assassination, for his failure to live up to his obligations as
an alleged member of the society.
MAZZINI AND GARIBALDI
Giuseppe Mazzini, a native of Genoa, became a member of the
Carbonari in 1830. His activity in revolutionary movements caused
him soon after to be proscribed, and in 1831 he sought
Marseilles, where he organized a new political society called
"Young Italy," whose watchword was "God and the People," and
whose basic principle was the union of the several states and
kingdoms into one nation, as the only true foundation of Italian
liberty. This purpose he avowed in his writings and pursued
through exile and adversity with inflexible constancy, and it is
largely due to the work of this earnest patriot that Italy today
is a single kingdom instead of a medley of separate states. Only
in one particular did he fail. His persistent purpose was to
establish a republic, not a monarchy.
While Mazzini was thus working with his pen, his compatriot,
Giuseppe Garibaldi, was working as earnestly with his sword. This
daring soldier, a native of Nice and reared to a life on the sea,
was banished as a revolutionist in 1834, and the succeeding
fourteen years of his life were largely spent in South America,
in whose wars he played a leading part.
The revolution of 1848 opened Italy to these two patriots, and
they hastened to return; Garibaldi to offer his services to
Charles Albert of Sardinia, by whom, however, he was treated with
coldness and distrust. Mazzini, after founding the Roman republic
in 1849, called upon Garibaldi to come to its defense, and the
latter displayed the greatest heroism in the contest against the
Neapolitan and French invaders. He escaped from Rome on its
capture by the French, and, after many desperate conflicts and
adventures with the Austrians, was again driven into exile, and
in 1850 became a resident of New York. For some time he worked in
a manufactory of candles on Staten Island, and afterwards made
several voyages on the Pacific.
The war in 1859 of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel against the
Austrians in Lombardy opened a new and promising channel for the
devotion of Garibaldi to his native land. Being appointed
major-general and commissioned to raise a volunteer corps, he
organized the hardy body of mountaineers called the "Hunters of
the Alps," and with them performed prodigies or valor on the
plains of Lombardy, winning victories over the Austrians at
Varese, Como and other places. In his ranks was his
fellow-patriot Mazzini.
The success of the French and Sardinians in Lombardy during this
war stirred Italy to its center. The grand duke of Tuscany fled
to Austria. The duchess or Parma sought refuge in Switzerland.
The duke of Modena found shelter in the Austrian camp. Everywhere
the brood of tyrants took to flight. Bologna threw off its
allegiance to the pope, and proclaimed the king of Sardinia
dictator. Several other towns in the States of the Church, did
the same. In the terms of the truce between Louis Napoleon and
Francis Joseph the rulers of these realms were to resume their
power if the people would permit. But the people would not
permit, and these minor states were all annexed to Sardinia,
which country was greatly expanded as a result of the war.
CAVOUR THE STATESMAN
It will not suffice to give all the credit for these
revolutionary movements to Mazzini, the organizer, Garibaldi, the
soldier, and the ambitious monarchs of France and Sardinia. More
important than king and emperor was the eminent statesman, Count
Cavour, prime minister of Sardinia from 1852. It is to this able
man that the honor of the unification of Italy most fully
belongs, though he did not live to see it. He sent a Sardinian
army to the assistance of France and England in the Crimea in
1855, and by this act gave his state a standing among the Powers
of Europe. He secured liberty of the press and favored toleration
in religion and freedom of trade. He rebelled against the
dominion of the papacy, and devoted his abilities to the
liberation and unity of Italy, undismayed by the angry
fulminations from the Vatican. The war of 1859 was his work, and
he had the satisfaction of seeing Sardinia increased by the
addition of Lombardy, Tuscany, Parma and Modena. A great step had
been taken in the work to which he had devoted his life.
THE INVASION OF SICILY
The next step in the great work was taken by Garibaldi, who now
struck at the powerful kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the south.
It seemed a difficult task. Francis II, the son and successor of
the infamous "King Bomba," had a well-organized army of 150,000
men. But his father's tyranny had filled the land with secret
societies, and fortunately at this time the Swiss mercenaries
were recalled home, leaving to Francis only his native troops,
many of them disloyal at heart to his cause. This was the
critical interval which Mazzini and Garibaldi chose for their
work.
At the beginning of April, 1860, the signal was given by separate
insurrections in Messina and Palermo. These were easily
suppressed by the troops in garrison; but though both cities were
declared in a state of siege, demonstrations took place by which
the revolutionary chiefs excited the public mind. On the 6th of
May, Garibaldi started with two steamers from Genoa with about a
thousand Italian volunteers, and on the 11th landed near Marsala,
on the west coast of Sicily. He proceeded to the mountains, and
near Salemi gathered round him the scattered bands of the free
corps. By the 14th his army had increased to 4,000 men. He now
issued a proclamation, in which he took upon himself the
dictatorship of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, "king of
Italy."
After waging various successful combats under the most difficult
circumstances, Garibaldi advanced upon the capital, announcing
his arrival by beacon-fires kindled at night. On the 27th he was
in front of the Porta Termina of Palermo, and at once gave the
signal for the attack. The people rose in mass, and assisted the
operations of the besiegers by barricade-fighting in the streets.
In a few hours half the town was in Garibaldi's hands. But now
General Lanza, whom the young king had dispatched with strong
reinforcements to Sicily, furiously bombarded the insurgent city,
so that Palermo was reduced almost to a heap of ruins.
At this juncture, by the intervention of an English admiral, an
armistice was concluded, which led to the departure of the
Neapolitan troops and war vessels and the surrender of the town
to Garibaldi, who thus, with a band of 5,000 badly armed
followers, had gained a signal advantage over a regular army of
25,000 men. This event had tremendous consequences, for it showed
the utter hollowness of the Neapolitan government, while
Garibaldi's fame was everywhere spread abroad. The glowing fancy
of the Italians beheld in him the national hero before whom every
enemy would bite the dust. This idea seemed to extend even to the
Neapolitan court itself, where all was doubt, confusion and
dismay. The king hastily summoned a liberal ministry, and offered
to restore the constitution of 1848, but the general verdict was,
"too late," and his proclamation fell flat on a people who had no
trust in Bourbon faith.
The arrival of Garibaldi in Naples was enough to set in blaze all
the combustible materials in that state. His appearance there was
not long delayed. Six weeks after the surrender of Palermo he
marched against Messina. On the 21st of July the fortress of
Melazzo was evacuated, and a week afterwards all Messina except
the citadel was given up.
OCCUPATION OF NAPLES
Europe was astounded at the remarkable success of Garibaldi's
handful of men. On the mainland his good fortune was still more
astonishing. He had hardly landed - which he did almost in the
face of the Neapolitan fleet - when Reggio was surrendered and
its garrison withdrew. His progress through the south of the
kingdom was like a triumphal procession. At the end of August he
was at Cosenza; on the 5th of September at Eboli, near Salerno.
No resistance appeared. His very name seemed to work like magic
on the population. The capital had been declared in a state of
siege, and on September 6th the king took to flight, retiring,
with the 4,000 men still faithful to him, behind the Volturno.
The next day Garibaldi with a few followers, entered Naples,
whose populace received him with frantic shouts of welcome.
The remarkable achievements of Garibaldi filled all Italy with
overmastering excitement. He had declared that he would proclaim
the kingdom of Italy from the heart of its capital city, and
nothing less than this would content the people. The position of
the pope had become serious. He refused to grant the reforms
suggested by the French emperor, and threatened with
excommunication any one who should meddle with the domain of the
Church. Money was collected from faithful Catholics throughout
the world, a summons was issued calling for recruits to the holy
army of the pope, and the exiled French General Lamoriciere was
given the chief command of the troops, composed of men who had
flocked to Rome from many nations. It was hoped that the name of
the celebrated French leader would have a favorable influence on
the troops of the French garrison of Rome.
The settlement of the perilous situation seemed to rest with
Louis Napoleon. If he had let Garibaldi have his way the latter
would, no doubt, have quickly ended the temporal sovereignty of
the pope and made Rome the capital of Italy. But Napoleon seems
to have arranged with Cavour to leave the king of Sardinia free
to take possession of Naples, Umbria and the other provinces
provided that Rome and the "patrimony of St. Peter" were left
intact.
VICTOR EMMANUEL TAKES COMMAND
At the beginning of September two Sardinian army corps, under
Fanti and Cialdini, marched to the borders of the states of the
Church. Lamoriciere advanced against Cialdini with his motley
troops, but was quickly defeated, and on the following day was
besieged in the fortress of Ancona. On the 29th he and the
garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. On the 9th of October
Victor Emmanuel arrived and took command. There was no longer a
papal army to oppose him, and the march southward proceeded
without a check.
The object of the king in assuming the chief command was to
complete the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, in conjunction
with Garibaldi. For though Garibaldi had entered the capital in
triumph, the progress on the line of the Volturno had been slow;
and the expectation that the Neapolitan army would go over to the
invaders in a mass had not been realized. The great majority of
the troops remained faithful to the flag, so that Garibaldi,
although his irregular bands amounted to more than 25,000 men,
could not hope to drive away King Francis, or to take the
fortresses of Capua and Gaeta, without the help of Sardinia.
Against the diplomatic statesman Cavour, who fostered no
illusions, and saw the conditions of affairs in its true light,
the simple, honest Garibaldi cherished a deep aversion. He could
never forgive Cavour for having given up Nice, Garibaldi's native
town, to the French. On the other hand, he felt attracted toward
the king, who, in his opinion, seemed to be the man raised up by
Providence for the liberation of Italy.
Accordingly, when Victor Emmanuel entered Sessa, at the head of
his army, Garibaldi was easily induced to place his dictatorial
power in the hands of the king, to whom he left the completion of
the work of the union of Italy. After greeting Victor Emmanuel
with the title of King of Italy, and giving the required
resignation of his power, with the words, "Sire, I obey," he
entered Naples, riding beside the king; and then, after
recommending his companions in arms to his majesty's special
favor, he retired to his home on the island of Caprera, refusing
to receive a reward, in any shape or form, for his services to
the state and its head.
The progress of the Sardinian army compelled Francis to give up
the line of the Volturno, and he eventually took refuge, with his
best troops, in the fortress of Gaeta. On the maintenance of this
fortress hung the fate of the kingdom of Naples. Its defense is
the only bright point in the career of the feeble Francis, whose
courage was aroused by the heroic resolution of his young wife,
the Bavarian Princess Mary. For three months the defense
continued. But no European Power came to the aid of the king,
disease appeared with scarcity of food and of munitions of war,
and the garrison was at length forced to capitulate. The fall of
Gaeta was practically the completion of the great work of the
unification of Italy. Only Rome and Venice remained to be added
to the united kingdom. On February 18, 1861, Victor Emmanuel
assembled at Turin the deputies of all the states that
acknowledged his supremacy, and in their presence assumed the
title of King of Italy, which he was the first to bear. In four
months afterwards Count Cavour, to whom this great work was
largely due, died. He had lived long enough to see the purpose of
his life practically accomplished.
WATCHWORD OF THE PATRIOTS
Great as had been the change which two years had made, the
patriots of Italy were not satisfied. "Free from the Alps to the
Adriatic!" was their cry; "Rome and Venice!" became the watchword
of the revolutionists. Mazzini, who had sought to found a
republic, was far from content, and the agitation went on.
Garibaldi was drawn into it, and made bitter complaint of the
treatment his followers had received. In 1862, disheartened at
the inaction of the king, he determined to undertake against Rome
an expedition like that which he had led against Naples two years
before.
In June he sailed from Genoa and landed at Palermo, where he was
quickly joined by an enthusiastic party of volunteers. They
supposed that the government secretly favored their design, but
the king had no idea of fighting against the French troops in
Rome and arousing international complications, and he
energetically warned all Italians against taking part in
revolutionary enterprises.
GARIBALDI MARCHES AGAINST ROME
But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his way was barred by
the garrison of Messina he tuned aside to Catania, where he
embarked with 2,000 volunteers, declaring he would enter Rome as
a victor, or perish beneath its walls. He landed at Melito on the
24th of August, and threw himself at once, with his followers,
into the Calabrian mountains. But his enterprise was quickly and
disastrously ended. General Cialdini despatched a division of the
regular army, under Colonel Pallavicino, against the volunteer
bands. At Aspromonte, on the 28th of August, the two forces came
into collision. A chance shot was followed by several volleys
from the regulars. Garibaldi forbade his men to return the fire
of their fellow-subjects of the Italian kingdom. He was wounded,
and taken prisoner with his followers, a few of whom had been
slain in the short combat. A government steamer carried the
wounded chief to Varignano, where he was held in a sort of
honorable imprisonment, and was compelled to undergo a tedious
and painful operation for the healing of his wound. He had at
least the consolation that all Europe looked with sympathy and
interest upon the unfortunate hero; and a general sense of relief
was felt when, restored to health, he was set free, and allowed
to return to his rocky island of Caprera.
Victor Emmanuel was seeking to accomplish his end by safer means.
The French garrison of Rome was the obstacle in his way, and this
was finally removed through a treaty with Louis Napoleon in
September, 1864, the emperor agreeing to withdraw his troops
during the succeeding two years, in which the pope was to raise
an army large enough to defend his dominions. Florence was to
replace Turin as the capital of Italy. This arrangement created
such disturbances in Turin that the king was forced to leave that
city hastily for his new capital. In December, 1866, the last of
the French troops departed from Rome, in spite of the efforts of
the pope to retain them. By their withdrawal Italy was freed from
the presence of foreign soldiers for the first time probably in a
thousand years.
In 1866 came an event which reacted favorably for Italy, though
her part in it was the reverse of triumphant. This was the war
between Prussia and Austria. Italy was in alliance with Prussia,
and Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead an army across the Mincio to
the invasion of Venetia, the last Austrian province in Italy.
Garibaldi at the same time was to invade the Tyrol with his
volunteers. The enterprise ended in disaster. The Austrian
troops, under the Archduke Albert, encountered the Italians at
Custozza and gained a brilliant victory, despite the much greater
numbers of the Italians.
Fortunately for Italy, the Austrians had been unsuccessful in the
north, and the emperor, with the hope of gaining the alliance of
France and breaking the compact between Italy and Prussia,
decided to cede Venetia to Louis Napoleon. His purpose failed.
All Napoleon did in response was to act as a peacemaker, while
the Italian king refused to recede from his alliance. Though the
Austrians were retreating from a country which no longer belonged
to them, the invasion of Venetia by the Italians continued, and
several conflicts with the Austrian army took place.
BATTLE OF IRONCLADS
But the most memorable event of this brief war occurred on the
sea - the greatest battle of ironclad ships in the period between
the American Civil War and the Japan-China contest. Both
countries concerned had fleets on the Adriatic. Italy was the
strongest in navel vessels, possessing ten ironclads and a
considerable number of wooden ships. Austria's ironclad fleet was
seven in number, plated with thin iron and with no very heavy
guns. In addition there was a number of wooden vessels and
gunboats. But in command of this fleet was an admiral in whose
blood was the iron which was lacking on his ships, Tegetthoff,
the Nelson of the Adriatic. Inferior as his ships were, his men
were thoroughly drilled in the use of the guns and the evolutions
of the ships, and when he sailed it was with the one thought of
victory.
Persano, the Italian admiral, as if despising his adversary,
engaged in siege of the fortified island of Lissa, near the
Dalmatian coast, leaving the Austrians to do what they pleased.
What they pleased was to attack him with a fury such as has been
rarely seen. Early on July 20, 1866, when the Italians were
preparing for a combined assault of the island by land and sea,
their movement was checked by the signal displayed on a scouting
frigate: "Suspicious-looking ships are in sight." Soon afterwards
the Austrian fleet appeared, the ironclads leading, the wooden
ships in the rear.
The battle that followed has had no parallel before or since. The
whole Austrian fleet was converted into rams. Tegetthoff gave one
final order to his captains: "Close with the enemy and ram
everything grey." Grey was the color of the Italian ships. The
Austrian were painted black, so as to prevent any danger of
error.
Fire was opened at two miles distance, the balls being wasted in
the waters between the fleets. "Full steam ahead," signaled
Tegetthoff. On came the fleets, firing steadily, the balls now
beginning to tell. "Ironclads will ram and sink the enemy,"
signaled Tegetthoff. It was the last order he gave until the
battle was won.
Soon the two lines of ironclads closed amid thick clouds of
smoke. Tegetthoff, in his flagship, the Ferdinand Max, twice
rammed a grey ironclad without effect. Then, out of the smoke,
loomed up the tall masts of the Re d'Italia, Persano's flagship
in the beginning of the fray. Against this vessel the Ferdinand
Max rushed at full speed, and struck her fairly amidships. Her
sides of iron were crushed in by the powerful blow, her tall
masts toppled over, and down beneath the waves sank the great
ship with her crew of 600 men. The next minute another Italian
ship came rushing upon the Austrian, and was only avoided by a
quick turn of the helm.
One other great disaster occurred to the Italians. The Palestro
was set on fire, and the pumps were put actively to work to drown
the magazine. The crew thought the work had been successfully
performed, and that they were getting the fire under control,
when there suddenly came a terrible burst of flame attended by a
roar that drowned all the din of the battle. It was the death
knell of 400 men, for the Palestro had blown up with all on
board. The great ironclad turret ship and ram of the Italian
fleet, the Affondatore, to which Admiral Persano had shifted his
flag, far the most powerful vessel in the Adriatic, kept outside
of the battle line, and was of little service in the fray. It was
apparently afraid to encounter Tegetthoff's terrible rams. The
battle ended with the Austrian fleet, wooden vessels and all,
passing practically unharmed through the Italian lines into the
harbor of Lissa, leaving death and destruction in their rear.
Tegetthoff was the one Austrian who came out of that war with
fame. Persano on his return home was put on trial for cowardice
and incompetence. He was convicted of the latter and dismissed
from the navy in disgrace.
FINAL ACT OF ITALIAN UNITY
But Italy, though defeated by land and sea, gained a valuable
prize from the war, for Napoleon ceded Venetia to the Italian
king, and soon afterwards Victor Emmanuel entered Venice in
triumph. Thus was completed the second act in the unification of
Italy.
The national party, with Garibaldi at its head, still aimed at
the possession of Rome, as the historic capital of the peninsula.
In 1867 he made a second attempt to capture Rome, but the papal
army, strengthened with a new French auxiliary force, defeated
his badly armed volunteers, and he was taken prisoner and held
captive for a time, after which he was sent back to Caprera. This
led to the French army of occupation being returned to Civita
Vecchia, where it was kept for several years.
The final act came as a consequence of the Franco-German war of
1870, which rendered necessary the withdrawal of the French
troops from Italy. The pope was requested to make a peaceful
abdication. As he refused this, the States of the Church were
occupied up to the walls of the capital, and a three-hours'
cannonade of the city sufficed to bring the long strife to an
end. Rome became the capital of Italy, and the whole peninsula,
for the first time since the fall of the ancient Roman empire,
was concentrated into a single nation, under one king.
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