Part 609

The siege of Venice, "reckoning from April 2, when the Assembly voted to resist at any cost, lasted 146 days; but the blockade by land began on June 18, 1848, when the Austrians first occupied Mestre. During the twenty-one weeks of actual siege, 900 Venetian troops were killed, and probably 7,000 or 8,000 were at different times on the sick-list. Of the Austrians, 1,200 were killed in engagements, 8,000 succumbed to fevers and cholera, and as many more were in the hospitals: 80,000 projectiles were fired from the Venetian batteries; from the Austrian, more than 120,000. During the seventeen months of her independence, Venice raised sixty million francs, exclusive of patriotic donations in plate and chattels. When Gorzkowsky came to examine the accounts of the defunct government he exclaimed, 'I did not believe that such Republican dogs were such honest men.' With the fate of Venice was quenched the last of the fires of liberty which the Revolution had kindled throughout Europe in 1848. Her people, whom the world had come to look down upon as degenerate,—mere trinket-makers and gondoliers,—had proved themselves second to none in heroism, superior to all in stability. At Venice, from first to last, we have had to record no excesses, no fickle changes, no slipping down of power from level to level till it sank in the mire of anarchy. She had her demagogues and her passions, but she would be the slave of neither; and in nothing did she show her character more worthily than in recognizing Manin and making him her leader. He repaid her trust by absolute fidelity. I can discover no public act of his to which you can impute any other motive than solicitude for her welfare. The common people loved him as a father, revered him as a patron saint; the upper classes, the soldiers, the politicians, whatever may have been the preferences of individuals or the ambition of cliques, felt that he was indispensable, and gave him wider and wider authority as danger increased. … The little lawyer, with the large, careworn face and blue eyes, had redeemed Venice from her long shame of decadence and servitude. But Europe would not suffer his work to stand; Europe preferred that Austria rather than freedom should rule at Venice. At daybreak on August 28 a mournful throng of the common people collected before Manin's house in Piazza San Paterniano. 'Here is our good father, poor dear fellow,' they were heard to say. 'He has endured so much for us. May God bless him!' They escorted him and his family to the shore, whence he embarked on the French ship Pluton, for he was among the forty prominent Venetians whom the Austrians condemned to banishment. At six o'clock the Pluton weighed anchor and passed through the winding channel of the lagune, out into the Adriatic. Long before the Austrian banners were hoisted that morning on the flagstaffs of St. Mark's, Venice, with her fair towers and glittering domes, had vanished forever from her Great Defender's sight. Outwardly, the Revolutionary Movement had failed; in France it had resulted in a spurious Republic, soon to become a tinsel Empire; elsewhere, there was not even a make-believe success to hide, if but for a while, the failure. In Italy, except in Piedmont, Reaction had full play. Bomba filled his Neapolitan and Sicilian prisons with political victims, and demonstrated again that the Bourbon government was a negation of God. Pius IX., having loitered at Naples with his Paragon of Virtue until April, 1850, returned to Rome, to be henceforth now the puppet and now the accomplice of Cardinal Antonelli in every scheme for oppressing his subjects, and for resisting Liberal tendencies. He held his temporal sovereignty through the kindness of the Bonapartist charlatan in France; it was fated that he should lose it forever when that charlatan lost his Empire. In Tuscany, Leopold thanked Austria for permitting him to rule over a people the intelligent part of which despised him. In Modena, the Duke was but an Austrian deputy sheriff. Lombardy and Venetia were again the prey of the double-beaked eagle of Hapsburg. Only in Piedmont did Constitutionalism and liberty survive to become, under an honest king and a wise minister, the ark of Italy's redemption."

_W. R. Thayer, The Dawn of Italian Independence, book 5, chapter 6 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN: _W. E. Gladstone, Gleanings of Past Years, volume 4, chapters 1-4._

_L. C. Farini, The Roman State from 1815 to 1850, books 2-7 (volumes 1-4)._

_H. Martin, Daniel Manin and Venice in 1848-49._

_G. Garibaldi, Autobiography, period 2 (volumes 1-2)._

_L. Mariotti, Italy in 1848_.

_E. A. V., Joseph Mazzini, chapters 4-5._

_The Chevalier O'Clery, History of the Italian Revolution, chapters 6-7._

ITALY: A. D. 1855. Sardinia in the alliance of the Crimean War against Russia.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1854-1856.

ITALY: A. D. 1856-1859. Austro-Italy before Europe in the Congress of Paris. Alliance of France with Sardinia. War with Austria. Emancipation of Lombardy. Peace of Villa-franca.

"The year 1856 brought an armistice between the contending powers [in the Crimea—see RUSSIA: A. D. 1853-1854 to 1854-1856], followed by the Congress of Paris, which settled the terms of peace. At that Congress Count Cavour and the Marquis Villamarina represented their country side by side with the envoys of the great European States. The Prime Minister of Piedmont, while taking his part in the re-establishment of the general peace with a skill and tact which won him the favour of his brother plenipotentiaries, never lost sight of the further object he had in view, namely, that of laying before the Congress the condition of Italy. … His efforts were rewarded with success. {1864} On the 30th March, 1856, the treaty of peace was signed, and on the 8th April Count Walewski called the attention of the members of the Congress to the state of Italy. … Count Buol, the Austrian plenipotentiary, would not admit that the Congress had any right to deal with the Italian question at all; he declined courteously, but firmly, to discuss the matter. … But although Austria refused to entertain the question, the fact remained that the condition of Italy now stood condemned, not by revolutionary chiefs, nor by the rulers of Piedmont alone, but by the envoys of some of the leading powers of Europe speaking officially in the name of their respective sovereigns. It was in truth a great diplomatic victory for Italy. … No one in Europe was more thoroughly convinced than Napoleon III. that the discontent of Italy and the plots of a section of Italians had their origin in the despotism which annihilated all national life in the Peninsula with the single exception of Piedmont. He felt keenly, also, how false, was his own position at Rome. … France upheld the Pope as a temporal sovereign, but, nevertheless, the latter ruled in a manner which pleased Austria and which displeased France. … Count Cavour went privately to meet the French Emperor at Plombières in July, 1858. During that interview it was arranged that France should ally herself actively with Piedmont against Austria. … The first public indication of the attitude taken up by France with regard to Austria and Italy was given on the 1st January, 1859, when Napoleon III. received the diplomatic corps at the Tuileries. Addressing Baron Hubner, the Austrian Ambassador, the French Emperor said: 'I regret that the relations between us are bad; tell your sovereign, however, that my sentiments towards him are not changed.' … The ties which united France to Piedmont were strengthened by the marriage, in the end of January, 1859, of the Princess Clotilde, the eldest daughter of Victor Emmanuel, with Prince Napoleon, the first cousin of the French Emperor. … An agreement was made by which the Emperor Napoleon promised to give armed assistance to Piedmont if she were attacked by Austria. The result, in case the allies were successful, was to be the formation of a northern kingdom of Italy. … Both Austria and Piedmont increased their armaments and raised loans in preparation for war. Men of all ranks and conditions of life flocked to Turin from the other States of Italy to join the Piedmontese army, or enrol themselves among the volunteers of Garibaldi, who had hastened to offer his services to the king against Austria. … Meanwhile, diplomacy made continual efforts to avert war. … The idea of a European Congress was started. … Then came the proposition of a general disarmament by way of staying the warlike preparations, which were taking ever enlarged proportions. On the 18th April, 1859, the Cabinet of Turin agreed to the principle of disarmament at the special request of England and France, on the condition that Piedmont took her seat at the Congress. The Cabinet of Vienna had made no reply to this proposition. Then suddenly it addressed, on the 23rd April, an ultimatum to the Cabinet of Turin demanding the instant disarmament of Piedmont, to which a categorical reply was asked for within three days. At the expiration of the three days Count Cavour, who was delighted at this hasty step of his opponent, remitted to Baron Kellerberg, the Austrian envoy, a refusal to comply with the request made. War was now inevitable. Victor Emmanuel addressed a stirring proclamation to his army on the 27th April, and two days afterwards another to the people of his own kingdom and to the people of Italy. … On the 30th April some French troops arrived at Turin. On the 13th May Napoleon III. disembarked at Genoa. … Although the Austrian armies proceeded to cross the Ticino and invade the Piedmontese territory, they failed to make a decisive march on Turin. Had Count Giúlay, the Austrian commander, done so without hesitation, he might well have reached the capital of Piedmont before the French had arrived in sufficient force to enable the little Piedmontese army to arrest the invasion. As it was, the opportunity was lost never to occur again. In the first engagements at Montebello and Palestro [May 20, 30 and 31] the advantage rested decidedly with the allies. … On the 4th June the French fought the battle of Magenta, which ended, though not without a hard struggle, in the defeat of the Austrians. On the 8th the Emperor Napoleon and King Victor Emmanuel entered Milan, where they were received with a welcome as sincere as it was enthusiastic. The rich Lombard capital hastened to recognise the king as its sovereign. While there he met in person, Garibaldi, who was in command of the volunteer corps, whose members had flocked from all parts of Italy to carry on under his command the war in the mountainous districts of the north against Austria. … The allied troops pursued their march onwards towards the River Mincio, upon whose banks two of the fortresses of the famous Quadrilateral are situated. On the 24th June they encountered the Austrian army at Solferino and San Martino. French, Piedmontese, and Austrians, fought with courage and determination. Nor was it until after ten or eleven hours of hard fighting that the allies forced their enemy to retreat and took possession of the positions he had occupied in the morning. While victory thus crowned the efforts of France and Piedmont in battle, events of no little importance were taking place in Italy. Ferdinand II. of Naples died on the 22nd May, just after he had received the news of the successes of the allies at Montebello and Palestro. He was succeeded by his son, Francis II. … Count Salmour was at once despatched by the Piedmontese Government … with the offer of a full and fair alliance between Turin and Naples. The offer was rejected. Francis determined to follow his father's example of absolutism at home while giving all his influence to Austria. Thus it was that the young Neapolitan king sowed, and as he sowed so he reaped. Leopold, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, had in April refused the proffered alliance of Piedmont. … Finally he left Florence and took refuge in the Austrian camp. A provisional Government was formed, which placed the Tuscan forces at the disposal of Victor Emmanuel. This change was effected in a few hours without bloodshed or violence. The Duchess of Parma went away to Switzerland with her young son, Duke Robert. Francis Duke of Modena betook himself, with what treasures he had time to lay his hands on, to the more congenial atmosphere of the head-quarters of the Austrian army. … 'The deputations which hastened from Tuscany, Parma, and Modena, to offer their allegiance to Victor Emmanuel, were received without difficulty. It was agreed that their complete annexation should be deferred until after the conclusion of peace. {1865} In the meanwhile the Piedmontese Government was to assume the responsibility of maintaining order and providing for military action. … The French and Piedmontese armies had won the battle of Solferino, and driven the enemy across the Mincio; their fleets were off the lagoons of Venice, and were even visible from the lofty Campanile of St. Mark. Italy was throbbing with a movement of national life daily gathering volume and force. Europe was impatiently expecting the next move. It took the unexpected form of an armistice, which the Emperor of the French proposed, on his sole responsibility, to the Emperor Francis Joseph on the 8th July. On the 12th the preliminaries of peace were signed at Villafranca. Victor Emmanuel was opposed to this act of his ally, but was unable to prevent it. The Italians were bitterly disappointed, and their anger was only too faithfully represented by Cavour himself. He hastened to the headquarters of the king, denounced in vehement language the whole proceeding, advised his majesty not to sign the armistice, not to accept Lombardy [see below], and to withdraw his troops from the Mincio to the Ticino. But Victor Emmanuel, though sympathising with the feelings of Italy and of his Minister, took a wiser and more judicious course than the one thus recommended. He accepted Cavour's resignation and signed the armistice, appending to his signature these words:—'J'accepte pour ce qui me concerne.' He reserved his liberty of action for the future and refused to pledge himself to anything more than a cessation of hostilities."

_J. W. Probyn, Italy from 1815 to 1890, chapters 9-10._

ALSO IN: _C. Bossoli, The War in Italy._

_C. de Mazade, Life of Count Cavour, chapters 2-5._

_C. Arrivabene, Italy under Victor Emmanuel, chapters 1-13 (volume 1)._

_C. Adams, Great Campaigns, 1796-1870, pages 271-340._

_L. Kossuth, Memories of My Exile._

_Countess E. M. Cesaresco, Italian Characters in the Epoch of Unification._

[Image: Two maps of Italy, A. D. 1815 to 1859, and 1861.]

ITALY: A. D. 1859-1861. The Treaty of Zurich and its practical negation. Annexation of Central Italy to Sardinia by Plebiscite. Revolution in Sicily and Naples. Garibaldi's great campaign of liberation. The Sardinian army in the Papal States. The new Kingdom of Italy proclaimed.