Garibaldi and the Unification of Italy.
[=Lack of Italian Unity=]
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 between a series of states, small
and large, hostile and peaceful, while its territory was made the
battlefield 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.
[=Italian Unity and Its Heroes=]
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 statesmen, Count
Cavour, and that of the man who reaped the benefit of their patriotic
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 has been at the basis of many
of the outbreaks that have taken place in Italy since 1820. 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 a member of the society.
[=Mazzini the Patriot=]
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 to-day 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.
[=Early Career of Garibaldi=]
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 defence, 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 Hunters of the Alps=]
The war of 1859 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 of 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 centre. The grand duke of Tuscany fled to Austria.
The duchess of Parma sought refuse 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 reigns if the people would permit. But the people would
not permit, and they were all annexed to Sardinia, which country was
greatly expanded as a result of the war.
[=Count Cavour the Brain of Italy=]
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.
[=Garibaldi's 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 unsafe native troops. This was the critical
interval which Mazzini and Garibaldi chose for their work.
[=Capture of Palermo=]
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, they gave occasion for demonstrations 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.
[=Messina is Taken=]
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.
[=Flight of Francis II. and Conquest 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--than 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
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 Army of the Pope=]
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 the
recruits to the holy army of the pope, and the exiled French General
Lamoricière 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 in Naples=]
At the beginning of September two Sardinian army corps, under Fanti
and Cialdini, marched to the borders of the states of the church.
Lamoricière 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.
[Illustration: GUISEPPE GARIBALDI.
VICTOR EMMANUEL.
GREAT ITALIAN PATRIOTS]
[Illustration: THE ZOUAVES CHARGING THE BARRICADES AT MENTANA
In 1876 Garibaldi made a final effort to take the city
of Rome, it being one of the cherished objects of his
life to make it the capital of United Italy. He would
have succeeded in capturing the famous city had not
the French come to the aid of the papal troops. The
allied forces were too strong, and he was defeated at
Mentana. The illustration shows the French Zouaves in
a dashing bayonet charge against the barricades of the
revolutionists.]
[=Garibaldi Yields His Conquests=]
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.
[=Capture of Gaeta=]
[=Victor Emmanuel Made King of Italy=]
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 defence 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 defence 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.
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.
[=Garibaldi's Expedition Against Rome=]
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.
[=Sent Back to Caprera=]
But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his way was barred by the
garrison of Messina he turned 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.
[=Florence the Capital of Italy=]
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
despite 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.
[=The War of 1866=]
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.
[=The Fleets in the Adriatic=]
But much the most memorable event of this brief war occurred on
the sea, in the most striking contest of ironclad ships between
the American civil war and the Japan-China contest. Both countries
concerned had fleets on the Adriatic. Italy was the strongest in naval
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,
Tegethoff, the Dewey 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. Tegethoff 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," signalled Tegethoff.
On came the fleets, firing steadily, the balls now beginning to tell.
"Ironclads will ram and sink the enemy," signalled Tegethoff. It was
the last order he gave until the battle was won.
[=The Sinking of the "Re d'Italia"=]
Soon the two lines of ironclads closed amid thick clouds of smoke.
Tegethoff, 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.
[=The "Palestro" is Blown Up=]
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 Tegethoff'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. Tegethoff 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.
[=Venetia Ceded to Italy=]
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, the solemn act
of homage being performed in the superb Place of St. Marks. 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.
[=Rome Becomes the Capital of Italy=]
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.