The men of the provinces who had seen themselves almost free of the
yoke they so deeply hated were indescribably bitter at this outcome,
Garibaldi and his volunteers felt themselves confirmed in that antipathy
to Napoleon they had been at small pains to conceal, and the general was
only calmed by the personal appeal of his King. But the effect was most
disastrous upon Cavour, who had labored to bring about this war as no
other man in Italy had done, and who now believed that the tremendous
efforts of his life had gone for nothing. He had shouldered tremendous
responsibility, now he felt the disaster overwhelmingly. He hurried to
the King's camp, and making small effort to conceal his anger, denounced
the Emperor and counseled the King to refuse to accept Lombardy under
the terms of peace. Positions were reversed, for the moment Victor
Emmanuel was the calm statesman looking to the future, Cavour the man
of fiery impulse who would accept no compromise. The meeting was long
and difficult, and when Cavour left, having placed his resignation in
the King's hands, there was a deep breach between the two men. Cavour
returned to Turin, "in the space of three days grown older by many
years."
The Treaty of Villafranca was signed July 12, 1859, and by it Lombardy
was joined to Piedmont. The Cavour ministry only held office until their
successors could be appointed. Rattazzi at last agreed to accept the
helm.
The high contracting parties to the treaty had thought that they could
dispose of the small Italian states as they pleased, and return them to
the dominion of their Grand Dukes and Princes by a stroke of the pen.
It proved, however, quite otherwise. Modena, Parma, the provinces of
Bologna, Ferrara, Umbria, Perugia, and the Marches, had been too near
freedom to suffer the peaceful return of their old overlords. State
after state had sent deputations to the Sardinian King during the war
asking for annexation to Piedmont, and some of them had provisional
governments with Piedmontese deputies at their head. The ministry
at Turin gave orders in pursuance of the terms of peace withdrawing
the royal commissioners, but the men in charge felt that they could
not abandon their posts and leave the people in a state bordering on
anarchy, and the people stated decisively that they would not allow
their fugitive Princes to return. So the Treaty of Villafranca was not
as effective as its makers had intended it to be.
The central Italian states proceeded to take affairs into their own
hands, and sent envoys to the different courts of Europe to represent
the true conditions in their respective cities and their ardent desire
for annexation to Piedmont. In Florence Ricasoli, in Modena Farini
took positive stands, and led in the calling of an Assembly of all the
smaller states, which resolved that they would become subjects of the
Sardinian King. Deputation after deputation came to the King at Turin,
composed of the best known men of the states, and besought him to accept
their allegiance. It was a difficult position for the King. He could not
refuse requests so ardently made, and which represented the dearest wish
of people he had so often declared he would protect, yet he could not
easily accept in view of the position of Austria and France. He welcomed
the envoys warmly, entertained them at his capital, and spoke to them
freely, assuring them of the warmth of his desires and asking them to
be patient only a little time longer. In November, 1859, the Powers saw
that a conference must meet to consider this problem of Italy. Piedmont
looked about for the man to speak her voice, and only one man was
thought of. The King had felt Cavour's anger deeply, and could hardly
find it in him to call him out of his retirement. He saw, however, that
any Congress would be useless without the great statesman, and so he
finally consented, and nominated him as first Sardinian plenipotentiary.
Although the King could bring himself to appoint Cavour, the Rattazzi
ministry were unwilling to have him act, and it seemed as though no
compromise could be effected. Cavour was asked to put his conditions of
acceptance in writing, and by chance happened to dictate them to Sir
James Hudson, the British Minister at Turin, with whom he was staying.
When the conditions were received by the cabinet the ministers did
not favor them, and La Marmora, discovering them to be in Sir James
Hudson's handwriting, was offended at what he chose to consider foreign
interference, and resigned. The cabinet, never very strong, could not
stand, and the King at once pocketed his last dislike, and summoned
Cavour to form a new ministry. This the Count consented to do.
The Pope was much alarmed at the condition of the Papal States and
began publicly to denounce Victor Emmanuel for encouraging both those
and the other states in their desire for annexation. The correspondence
between Pope and King was most remarkable, always dignified, and on the
King's part breathing the desire for reconciliation, but on the Pope's
indignant and alarming. The proposed European Congress did not meet, and
as month after month passed events showed that the central states would
have their way. At length these states took a formal vote in popular
assemblies, and declared unanimously for annexation with Piedmont. The
King could withstand them no longer, and the annexation was agreed to.
Immediately Pius IX. issued a bull of excommunication against Victor
Emmanuel, his ministers, soldiers, and subjects, and proclaimed him no
better than a sacrilegious robber. This act, formerly so terrifying, had
no effect, the people had made up their minds, and in the spring of 1860
the King received Farini, Dictator of Emilia, and Ricasoli, Dictator of
Tuscany, and accepted from them the allegiance of central Italy.
That France might take no untoward step at sight of a kingdom growing so
rapidly on her southern border Victor Emmanuel had to make the second
concession to Napoleon, and cede Savoy and Nice. It was a bitter step
for the head of the House of Savoy to take, but he felt that the need of
Italy required it of him, and, as with every other sacrifice that need
required of him, he met it resolutely. Not so Garibaldi, who saw his
birthplace given to a foreign Power; he never forgave Cavour that act,
and it widened the gulf already separating them.
The new Parliament met on April 2, 1860, numbering among its members the
greatest names of Piedmont, Lombardy, Tuscany, and Emilia. Ricasoli,
Farini, Capponi, Manzoni, Mamiani, Poerio, all had seats. The King, in
his speech from the throne, dwelt upon the accession of central Italy,
and briefly but with infinite pathos stated that he had made a treaty
for the reunion of Savoy and Nice to France. Then he called his hearers'
minds to the work that lay before them. "In turning our attention," he
concluded, "to the new ordering of affairs, not seeking in old parties
other than the memory of the services rendered to the common cause, we
invite all sincere opinions to a noble emulation that we may attain the
grand end of the greatness of the country. It is no longer the Italy
of the Romans, nor that of the Middle Ages; it must no longer be the
battle-field of ambitious foreigners, but it must be rather the Italy of
the Italians."
How many patriots had voiced that cry "the Italy of the Italians"
through the long centuries when Goth and Vandal, Guelph and Ghibelline,
Pope and Emperor, France and Austria, had striven to gain the upper hand
in the Peninsula!
Soon after Parliament opened the King made a tour of his new
possessions, and was hailed in each city as deliverer. The joy of the
people in the thought that at last they had an Italian prince in place
of the fickle, foreign-bred Bourbons, was wonderful to behold: "At last
we are eleven million Italians!" was their proud cry. Florence received
the King with decorations of every fashion, arches of triumph, houses
draped with the tricolor and rich brocades, streets carpeted with
laurels, a rain of roses as he rode from the railway station to the
Palazzo Vecchio. The greatest men of Tuscany, poets, artists, musicians,
scholars, came to greet him, and with one accord proclaimed him the hero
who had brought to fruition the dreams of their lives. His visit to
Florence was a memorable one.
We must now glance for a moment at the remarkable events which General
Garibaldi was bringing to pass in Sicily and Calabria. The expedition
of the Thousand had started from Genoa, openly disavowed by that astute
diplomat Cavour, secretly encouraged by him. The hero of the magic Red
Shirt had swept over Sicily and crossed thence to the mainland. Men
of all classes were speeding from every part of Italy to fight under
such a glorious leader, the triumphal march from Reggio to Naples had
begun, and the troops of Francis II. of Naples were proving how very
little they had the interest of their sovereign's cause at heart. But
with Garibaldi in possession of Naples serious questions arose. The
victorious general wished to march immediately on Rome, and to hold the
dictatorship of southern Italy until he could unite it in one gift to
Victor Emmanuel. It was an heroic desire, worthy of its great inventor,
but Victor Emmanuel and Cavour both realized that a march on Rome at
that time meant the active intervention of French troops, and that a
prolonged dictatorship might give the republican element an opportunity
to change Garibaldi's plans and destroy the hope of national unity.
There were numbers of Mazzinians in Naples and Cavour feared their
influence over the great crusader. He appealed to Parliament, and it
voted for the immediate annexation of Naples and Sicily. Then the royal
army was sent at the double quick to meet Garibaldi before he should
start for Rome. When the army was well on its march Cavour gave this
note to the foreign ambassadors in explanation: "If we do not arrive
on the Volturno before Garibaldi arrives at Cattolica, the monarchy is
lost--Italy remains a prey to revolution."
The King led the royal army south and the progress through the Papal
States was one continual triumph; General Cialdini met the Papal army at
Castelfidardo and defeated them, soon after he took Ancona, and Victor
Emmanuel was in possession of Umbria, the Marches, and Perugia, all
taken as Cavour diplomatically explained, to save Italy from revolution.
Garibaldi generously acquiesced in the decision of the Parliament at
Turin, and prepared to surrender his conquests to the King. As Victor
Emmanuel started from Ancona on the last stage of his progress to Naples
he issued an address to the people of southern Italy, which concluded,
"My troops advance among you to maintain order; I do not come to impose
my will upon you, but to see that yours is respected. You will be able
to manifest it freely. That Providence which protects just causes will
guide the vote which you will place upon the urn. Whatever be the
gravity of the events which may arise, I await tranquilly the judgment
of civilized Europe and of history, because I have the consciousness of
having fulfilled my duty as King and as an Italian. In Europe my policy
perhaps will not be without effect in helping to reconcile the progress
of the people with the stability of the monarchy. In Italy I know that I
close the era of revolutions."
Outside of Naples the King at the head of his troops was met by
Garibaldi, riding with some of his red-shirted officers. Garibaldi
saluted Victor Emmanuel as "King of Italy," and the King thanked him
with simple words. Then they clasped hands and rode side by side towards
the capital, which the general was giving to the King. Each of the men
was then and always, even in the dismal days of Aspromonte and Mentana,
a warm admirer of the other. November 7, 1860, Victor Emmanuel entered
Naples, which was given over to triumphal acclamations of King and
general. They reigned side by side as popular idols for some days, and
then Garibaldi, refusing all gifts and honors, returned to his island of
Caprera, and Victor Emmanuel soon afterwards returned to his capital of
Turin.
The last strongholds of the Bourbons in Italy fell early in the new
year, and the nation lacked only Rome and Venetia for completion. A new
Parliament was called at Turin to mark the transition from the Kingdom
of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Italy. Representatives of all the new
provinces appeared, and Parliament was opened on February 18, 1861. The
King, in his speech from the throne, reviewed the great events of the
past year, and declared that the valor of the great mediæval cities of
Italy had been shown to survive in the sons of the modern kingdom. He
was proclaimed the sovereign by the title of Victor Emmanuel II., by the
Grace of God and by the will of the nation, King of Italy. He chose that
his predecessor of the same name should bear the title of the first
Victor Emmanuel, but he was only King of Sardinia, and this sovereign
was in fact Victor Emmanuel the First of Italy.
Cavour decided to resign and so allow the new King the opportunity to
appoint a new Premier. The will of the King had occasionally clashed
with the will of the statesman, and the former now hesitated in the
matter of choosing his new Prime Minister. He conferred with the leaders
of the various provinces, and found them all in one accord, Cavour must
be the first minister of Italy. He was invited to form a new ministry,
and agreed to do so. Attacked at home by Garibaldi and those who wished
to take Rome by the sword, and vilified abroad by Papal emissaries, the
great Minister heeded neither party, but proceeded quietly to lay his
plans for the ultimate acquisition of Rome as the national capital. As
always, he believed in alternating audacity with patience, and believed
that this was the time for the exercise of the latter virtue.
Unfortunately for the course of Italian history, Cavour's labors to
induce the Catholic world to have faith in his belief that a free church
in a free state was best for civilization were brought to a close that
spring. He died June 6, 1861, having worked so hard in Parliament that
he had brought upon himself a violent fever. The King had visited him
on June 5, and the sick man had roused sufficiently to speak to him.
"Ah, Maestà!" murmured the man, to whom Victor Emmanuel represented the
central figure of his career. At Cavour's death Victor Emmanuel was
prostrated. "Better for Italy if it were I who had died!" he exclaimed,
with full consciousness that it had been Cavour who alone of all
Italians had possessed the greatness of intellect to raise the throne of
Piedmont to an equality among the Powers.
All Italians felt that their greatest guide was lost to them in Cavour's
death. Only at this time did they fully realize how monumental had been
his force of character, how simple and endearing his nature. For years
he had silently shouldered burdens of inestimable weight, and followed
his course in the face of attack both at home and abroad. Massimo
d'Azeglio wrote to Farini, "Poor Cavour. It is only now I know how much
I loved him. I am no longer good for anything, but I have prayed to
heaven for our country, and a gleam of comfort has come to me. If God
_will_ He _can_ save Italy even without Cavour." There were many men
in Italy who felt that only by miracle now could their fragile ship be
brought safely into port.
From the date of Cavour's death Victor Emmanuel gave more personal
concern to the foreign affairs of his country, he felt that his
responsibilities had tremendously increased. Ricasoli, who had been
dictator of Florence, became Prime Minister. England and France had
acknowledged the new Kingdom of Italy, and now Prussia and Russia did
likewise. A marriage was arranged between Victor Emmanuel's youngest
daughter Maria Pia and the King of Portugal, and the various countries
of Europe all turned with a new interest to the romantic history of the
fast-spreading House of Savoy.
The burdens that Cavour had borne so long soon proved too heavy for
his successor Ricasoli, and after nine months' service he resigned
his office. Rattazzi, Cavour's old ally in the early days of Victor
Emmanuel's reign, succeeded him as Prime Minister. He it was who now
had to face the increasing complications of the Roman question brought
about by the determination of Garibaldi and the ardent spirits of "Young
Italy" to take the Papal capital by storm. Cavour had been able, in
part at least, to prevent friction between the regular army and the
Garibaldians, and to guide the impulsive general. Whether he could have
prevented Garibaldi from embarking again from Sicily, this time headed
for Rome, no one can say. Rattazzi found the task beyond him.
In midsummer of 1862 Garibaldi and his volunteers crossed from Sicily
and took up their march through Calabria with the motto of their
endeavor, "Rome or death." The Italian government felt that the advance
must be stopped at all costs, or they would be involved in foreign
warfare. General Cialdini was sent to oppose Garibaldi, and did so
at Aspromonte, where, after a very short resistance, the volunteers
surrendered. Unfortunately Garibaldi was wounded in the foot, and the
illness that followed was long and trying both to the general and to
the Italian government. The wounded hero was lionized and acclaimed,
and treated more like a martyr than an insurgent. The King was bitterly
grieved at the tragedy of Aspromonte, and the necessity of taking
prisoner a man who had labored so valiantly for Italian freedom.
The Rattazzi Ministry could not withstand the loss of popular support
after Aspromonte, and resigned. Farini, who had been dictator of Emilia
in the days following the last Austrian war, succeeded Rattazzi as
Premier, but he in turn was soon forced by ill-health to surrender
the control. Minghetti then became Prime Minister. Meantime the Roman
question was as far from being settled as ever; Napoleon, protesting
that he was the friend of Italian independence, yet in the same
breath insisting on the temporal dominion of the Pope, proving an
insurmountable obstacle. Fortunately for Italy the time was to come
when Napoleon's attention would be wholly directed elsewhere. In these
days of indecision and waiting Victor Emmanuel traveled extensively
through all parts of the kingdom, and was everywhere greeted with the
warmest evidence of gratitude and affection. Italians were not used to a
sovereign who was glad to meet all classes of his people, and not afraid
to hear their views of his government. His fearlessness, his devotion,
his bonhomie all endeared him to the people, and the Rè Galantuomo
became indeed a very honest king to all men who had only known Austrian
and clerical governors.
Victor Emmanuel expected that Venice would be added to the Kingdom of
Italy before Rome was, but the immediate annexation of neither seemed
probable. The French government became gradually more conciliatory,
but the changes were very gradual. Napoleon foresaw that Rome must
inevitably become Italy's capital, and the French minister, Druyn de
Lhuys, said, "Of course in the end you will go to Rome. But it is
important that between our evacuation and your going there, such an
interval of time elapse as to prevent people establishing any connection
between the two facts; France must not have any responsibility."
Napoleon proposed that the Italian capital be moved from Turin to a
southern and more central city, and the Minghetti Ministry accepted
the suggestion and proposed to the King that the seat of government
be transferred to Florence. The thought of leaving Turin, for so many
centuries the home of his family, caused Victor Emmanuel the greatest
distress. "You know I am a true Turinese," he said, "and no one can
understand what a wrench it is to my heart to think that I must abandon
this city where I have so many affections, where there is such a feeling
of fidelity to my family, where the bones of my fathers and all my dear
ones repose." It appeared, however, that the change must be made if the
advantages of the new agreement with France, according to which the
French troops were to evacuate Rome in two years, were to be obtained.
"Since the cession of Savoy and Nice," said the King, "no public event
has cost me such bitter regret. If I were not persuaded that this
sacrifice is necessary to the unity of Italy I would refuse."
Turin, when it heard of the determination of the government, gave itself
over to consternation of the wildest type. The Minghetti Ministry had
to resign, and even the beloved King was not spared open demonstration
of his people's disapproval. He summoned General La Marmora to become
Premier, and the new minister carried the change through in spite of
Turinese disapproval. The change was made early in 1865, and Florence
welcomed the King with every tribute of honor. It was some time,
however, before Victor Emmanuel could forget the injustice done him by
the people of his own city, although they later proved their regret for
their unkind treatment by asking forgiveness and celebrating his visits
to them with unwonted joy.
Early in 1866 the King's third son, Otto, Duke of Monferrat, who had
long been an invalid, died, and at very nearly the same time died that
remarkable man, Massimo d'Azeglio. From the days of his early youth the
King had relied on the counsels and wise judgment of this man, who was
alternately artist, poet, statesman, soldier, and who had the gift of
making friends to a greater degree than any Italian in public life. He
had sacrificed his own interests time and again at the request of his
King or of Cavour, he had traveled throughout Italy studying conditions
in the days of Charles Albert, and recording them in his books, he had
been honored by almost all the sovereigns of Europe as a man of the
noblest character and highest talents. His death was a great loss to
Italy.
The clouds of war were gathering abroad in that same year. Prussia
and Austria were quarreling, and the Italian government concluded an
alliance with Prussia on April 8, 1866. Austria, realizing that she
would have sufficient difficulty in holding her own against Prussia
without having to guard against her southern neighbor also, made
overtures through Napoleon agreeing to cede Venetia to Italy if that
country would dissolve its alliance with Prussia. The temptation was
strong, but the King and his Prime Minister refused to break their
engagements, and on June 20, 1866, declared war against Austria. Victor
Emmanuel appointed his cousin Regent, and took command of his troops.
The two young Princes, Humbert and Amadeus, went with him.
On that same field of Custozza, where the Italians had lost in 1849,
the armies met, and after a long and bloody battle the army of Italy
was again worsted. At the same time the Italian fleet was beaten at
Lissa in the Adriatic. Even Garibaldi's volunteers in the Lakes were not
meeting with their former successes, and the campaign would have been
disastrous to Italian hopes had not their ally, Prussia, forced Austria
to immediate terms by the two great victories of Königgratz and Sadowa.
An armistice followed, and Napoleon, to whom Austria ceded Venetia, gave
that province to Italy with the approval of Prussia. The Italians were
dejected by their losses, but at least Venice was finally free from the
foreigner.