Part 127

=Naples= (Ital. Napoli _nä´pō-lē´_).--The capital of the province of Naples has a lovely situation within the bend of Naples Bay, spreading from the foreshore back upon wooded hills and rising terraces, behind which lie the snow-clad Apennines. To the east lies the old town with its historic Via di Roma and narrow crowded thoroughfares; the newer portion to the west is more spaciously laid out, and much has been done in recent years over the whole city to improve the sanitation and water supply. The National Museum, rich in Pompeii relics, the University, the National Library, the Cathedral and the four mediæval gateways are the chief architectural features.

Large quantities of wine, olive-oil, chemicals, perfumery, etc., are exported, while woolen, silk, linen, glove and other factories carry on a good home trade.

Naples became incorporated in the kingdom of Italy in 1861 after the Bourbon dynasty had been swept away by Garibaldi.

POMPEII (pron. _Pom-pay’yee_), once a Greek seaport at the mouth of the Sarnus, is fifteen miles south of Naples; it fell into the possession of Rome about 80 B. C., and was converted into a watering-place, “the pleasure haunt of paganism.” The Romans erected many handsome public buildings, and their villas and theaters and baths were models of classic architecture and the scenes of unbounded luxury. The streets were narrow, provided with sidewalks, the walls often decorated with paintings, and the number of shops witnesses to the fashion and gaiety of the town. A terrible earthquake ruined it and drove out the inhabitants in A. D. 63; they returned and rebuilt it, however, in a tawdry and decadent style, and luxury and pleasure reigned as before till in A. D. 79 an eruption of Vesuvius buried everything in lava and ashes. The ruins were forgotten till accidentally discovered in 1748; since 1860 the city has been disinterred under the auspices of the Italian Government, and is now a favorite resort of tourists and archæologists.

HERCULANEUM, so called from the local worship of Hercules, was situated at the northwestern base of Mount Vesuvius, five miles east of Naples. In 63 A. D. it was seriously injured by a violent earthquake, and, in 79 A. D., buried, along with Pompeii and Stabiæ, by the memorable eruption of Vesuvius. In 1738 systematic excavations were commenced, the chief building explored being the theater, which has eighteen rows of stone seats, and could accommodate eight thousand persons; part of the Forum with a colonnade, two small temples, and a villa have also been discovered, and from these buildings many beautiful statues and remarkable paintings have been obtained.

In 1880 ruins of extensive baths were brought to light. Among the art-relics of Herculaneum, which far exceed in value and interest those found at Pompeii, are the statues of Eschines, Agrippina, the Sleeping Faun, the Six Actresses, Mercury, the group of the Satyr and the Goat, the busts of Plato, Scipio Africanus, Augustus, Seneca and Demosthenes--mostly now in the National Museum at Naples.

=Palermo= (_pä-ler’mō_), capital of the province of Palermo, Sicily, a seaport on the Bay of Palermo, at the foot of Monte Pellegrino, is picturesquely situated in the midst of a beautiful and fertile valley called the Golden Shell. It is a handsome town, with many public buildings and nearly three hundred churches in Moorish and Byzantine architecture, a university, art school, museum, and libraries.

The industries are unimportant, but a busy trade is done with Britain, France and the United States, exporting fruits, wine, sulphur, etc., and importing textiles, coal, machinery and grain.

=Sorrento= (_sōr-ren’tō_), a town in the province of Naples, beautifully situated on the Bay of Naples, sixteen miles south-southeast of Naples, is a favorite watering-place; was noted in antiquity for its wines; and was the birthplace of Tasso.

=Turin= (Ital. Torino _tō-re’nō_).--Capital of the province of Turin, Italy, is situated on the Po, near its junction with the Dora Riparia. It is regularly built, with many squares and broad streets; is the seat of important trade for northern Italy; has varied manufactures; and is rapidly growing. It contains a university, cathedral, castle (Palazzo Madama), royal palace (with the royal armory and library), Palazzo Carignano (former seat of Parliament, now containing collections in natural history), palace of the Academy of Sciences (with a museum of antiquities and picture-gallery), monument of Cavour, etc. Victor Emmanuel and Cavour were born there.

Turin was the ancient capital of the Taurini (whence the name); was captured by Hannibal in 218 B. C.; and has played an important part in the history of Europe. It figured prominently in the national movements of the nineteenth century, and was the capital of the kingdom of Italy 1859-1865.

=Venice= (_ven’is_ Ital. _Venezia_), capital of the province of Venice, is situated in the Laguns (lagoons) in a bay of the Adriatic. Now Venice covers more than seventy-two islets, or rather mud-banks, its foundations being piles (“time-petrified”) and stone. Through its two unequal portions winds for over two miles the Grand Canal, spanned by the Rialto Bridge (of stone) and two others (of iron), and into it flow one hundred and forty-six lesser canals, all bridged at frequent intervals. This vast network of waterway is patrolled by countless gondolas, while the pedestrian has his choice of innumerable lanes (calli). A railway viaduct, two and one-eighth miles long, connects Venice with the mainland.

The Piazza di San Marco, a square five hundred and seventy-six feet long and one hundred and eighty-five to two hundred and seventy feet wide, paved with gray trachyte and white Istrian marble, surrounded by time-stained marble palaces and St. Mark’s Church is the picturesque center of Venetian life, especially at evening, when the bands play, and the cafés are crowded by thousands. Flocks of fat pigeons have been fed here by the city daily for seven hundred years. Palaces enclose three sides and the palace arcades are occupied by cafés and bric-à-brac shops.

Of its public buildings the following are the principal: the Ducal Palace, standing on the site of a former official residence of the Doges, which was burned in 976. Besides its painted ceilings and walls there are many pictures by the Italian masters; the Academy of Fine Arts whose twenty rooms are filled with some of the finest works of the Old Masters. Its principal churches are St. Marco, St. Giorgio Maggiore, and Sta. Maria della Salute, are all most highly decorated with frescoes, mosaics, and carvings, besides containing many world-famed pictures. The Campanile of St. Marco has been rebuilt since its fall, on July 14, 1902, after standing a thousand years. The palaces of the nobility on the Grand Canal and other canals contain priceless collections of pictures. The Arsenal contains many models of the old Venetian ships, armor, collections of weapons, and spoils of war.

Venice was noted for its textile manufactures as early as the fifteenth century; the principal manufactures at the present time are tapestry, brocades, Venetian laces, wood carving, artistic wrought-iron work, jewelry, bronzes, machinery, and clocks, and at Murano glass and glass beads.

=Italian Seaports.=--The chief seaports of Italy after Genoa, “the Superb,” which is the busiest of all, are in order round the coast--Livorno, or Leghorn, the port of Tuscany and Florence; Civita Vecchia, the port of Latium; Naples, with Castellamare on the south side of its bay; Messina, on the Sicilian side of the Strait named after it, with one of the finest harbors in Europe, beside the eddy which was feared as the whirlpool of Charybdis in ancient times; Palermo, “la Felice,” in the vale of the Golden Shell, on the north coast of Sicily; Catania, on the east coast of the island. Coming round to the Adriatic coasts we reach the port of Brindisi, a notable point in the most direct route from western Europe to Egypt and the East. The most important line of railway in Italy, that leads from the plain of Lombardy all down the east side of the peninsula, has the port of Brindisi as its objective point. Farther north in the middle of this coast is Ancona, the port of the Marches. Lastly we come to Chioggia and Venice, the city of canals and bridges, described above.

HISTORY OF ITALY

The ancient history of Italy will be found under Rome. The modern history begins with 476 A. D., when Odoacer, chief of the Herulians, a German tribe who had invaded the country, was proclaimed king of Italy. After a reign of twelve years he and his followers were overpowered by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great. The Ostrogoths were in turn subdued by Byzantine troops, and Italy came under the dominion of the Eastern emperors, who ruled through an exarch residing at Ravenna.

THE LOMBARDS.--In 568 the Lombards (Langobardi), a German people originally from the Elbe, led by their king, Alboin, conquered the Po basin, and founded a kingdom which had its capital at Pavia. The kingdom of the Lombards included Upper Italy, Tuscany and Umbria, with some outlying districts. But on the northeast coast, the inhabitants of the lagoons still retained their independence, and in 697 elected their first doge, and founded the republic of Venice.

Ravenna, the seat of the exarch, with Romagna, Rimini, Ancona, and other maritime cities on the Adriatic, and almost all the coasts of Lower Italy, remained unconquered, together with Sicily and Rome. The slight dependence of this part of Italy on the court of Byzantium disappeared almost entirely in the beginning of the eighth century.

RISE OF PAPAL POWER.--The power of the pope, though at first recognized only as a kind of paternal authority of the bishop, grew steadily in these troubled times, especially in the struggle against the Lombard kings. In consideration of the aid expected against King Astolphus, Pope Stephen III. (754) not only anointed the king of the Franks, Pepin, but appointed him patrician or governor of Rome. In return Pepin presented the exarchate of Ravenna, with the five maritime cities, to the pope, thus laying the foundation of the temporal power of the Holy See. At the invitation of Pope Hadrian I. Charlemagne made war upon Desiderius, the king of the Lombards, took him prisoner in his capital, Pavia (774), and united his empire with the Frankish monarchy. Italy, with the exception of the duchy of Benevento and the republics of Lower Italy, thus became a constituent part of the Frankish monarchy, and the imperial crown of the West was bestowed on Charlemagne (800).

PORT OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.--On the breaking up of the Carlovingian empire, Italy became a separate kingdom, and the scene of strife between Teutonic invaders. At length Otto the Great was crowned emperor at Rome (961), and the year after became emperor of what was henceforth known as the Holy Roman Empire.

During the following centuries the towns and districts of North and Middle Italy gradually made themselves independent of the empire, and either formed themselves into separate republics or fell under the power of princes bearing various titles. A large part of Middle Italy at the same time was under the dominion of the popes, including the territory granted by Pepin, which was afterwards enlarged on several occasions.

VICISSITUDES OF SOUTHERN ITALY.--In southern Italy there were in the time of Charlemagne several independent states. In the ninth century this part of the peninsula, as well as Sicily, was overrun by Saracens, and in the eleventh century by Normans, who ultimately founded a kingdom which embraced both Lower Italy and Sicily, and which though it more than once changed masters, continued to exist as an undivided kingdom till 1282. In that year Sicily freed herself from the oppression of the then rulers, the French, by the aid of Pedro of Aragon, and remained separate till 1435. It was again separate from 1458 to 1504, when both divisions were united with the crown of Spain. With Spain the kingdom remained till 1713, when Naples and Sicily were divided by the Treaty of Utrecht, the former being given to Austria, the latter to the Duke of Savoy. In 1720 they were again united under Austria, but in 1734 were conquered from Austria and passed under the dominion of a separate dynasty belonging to the Spanish house of Bourbon.

MEDIÆVAL ITALY.--The history of mediæval Italy is much taken up with the party quarrels of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, and the quarrels and rivalries of the free republics of Middle and Upper Italy. In Tuscany the party of the Guelfs formed themselves into a league for the maintenance of the national freedom under the leadership of Florence; only Pisa and Arezzo remained attached to the Ghibelline cause. In Lombardy it was different, Milan, Novara, Lodi, Vercelli, Asti, and Cremona formed a Guelf confederacy, while the Ghibelline league comprised Verona, Mantua, Treviso, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio, Modena, and Brescia. Commercial rivalry impelled the maritime republics to mutual wars. At Meloria the Genoese annihilated (1284) the navy of the Pisans, and completed their dominion of the sea by a victory over the Venetians at Curzola (1298.)

INFLUENCES OF NAPOLEON.--Up till the time of the Napoleonic wars Italy remained subject to foreign domination, or split up into separate republics and principalities. The different states were bandied to and fro by the changes and intrigues of war and diplomacy between Austria, Spain and the House of Savoy. During the career of Napoleon numerous changes took place in the map of Italy, and according to an act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the country was parcelled out among the following states:--(1) The Kingdom of Sardinia, consisting of the island of Sardinia, Savoy, and Piedmont, to which the Genoese territory was now added. (2) Austria, which received the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia, these having already been acquired by her either before or during the time of Napoleon. (3) The Duchy of Modena. (4) The Duchy of Parma. (5) The Grandduchy of Tuscany. (6) The Duchy of Lucca. (7) The States of the Church. (8) The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. (9) The Republic of San Marino. (10) The Principality of Monaco.

STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENT NATIONALITY.--The desire for union and independence had long existed in the hearts of the Italian people, and the governments at Naples, Rome, Lombardy, and other centers of tyranny were in continual conflict with secret political societies. The leading spirit in these agitations in the second quarter was Giuseppe Mazzini.

The year of revolutions, 1848, opened with a street massacre by the Austrians in Milan, on January 2. In February, 1849, the French Republic was declared, and then in Italy the party of Mazzini was for a moment supreme, when Charles Albert abdicated in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel. Meanwhile the pope had been driven from Rome, and a Roman republic had been established under Mazzini and Garibaldi, the leader of the volunteer bands of Italian patriots. Rome was, however, captured by the French, who came to the aid of the pope (July, 1849), who resumed his power in April, 1850, under the protection of the French, and the old absolutism was restored. Similar attempts at revolution in Sicily and Naples were also crushed, but the secret societies of the patriots continued their operations.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRESENT KINGDOM.--In 1859, after the war of the French and Sardinians against Austria, the latter power was compelled to cede Lombardy to Sardinia, and in the same year Romagna, Modena, Parma, and Piacenza were annexed to that kingdom, which was, however, obliged to cede the provinces of Savoy and Nice to France. In the south the Sicilians revolted, and supported by a thousand volunteers, with whom Garibaldi sailed from Genoa to their aid, overthrew the Bourbon government in Sicily. Garibaldi was proclaimed dictator in the name of Victor Emmanuel. In August Garibaldi crossed to Naples, defeated the royal army there, drove Francis II. to Gaeta, and entered the capital on the 7th September. Sardinia intervened and completed the revolution, when Garibaldi, handing over his conquests to the royal troops, retired to Caprera. A plebiscite confirmed the union with Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed king of Italy, thus suddenly united almost in Mazzini’s phrase, “from the Alps to the sea.”

Only Venice and the Papal State now remained to be joined to the new kingdom. To obtain Venice, Italy joined Prussia in her war against Austria in 1866; and though the Italians were beaten on land at Custozza and on sea at Lissa, the triumph of Prussia was so complete that, by the peace of Prague, Venice was surrendered to Italy.

CONQUEST OF THE PAPAL STATES.--Rome was less easy to secure, because of the opposition of Roman Catholic opinion throughout Europe. French soldiers had protected the pope ever since 1849. In 1862 Garibaldi prepared to make a dash on the Papal States, but the government felt obliged to stop him. He was surrounded on Mount Aspromonte and taken prisoner. The withdrawal of the French troops from Rome (1864) was only procured by a promise to respect the Papal States, and by the transference of the capital from Turin to Florence.

In spite of the prohibition of the government, Garibaldi made another attempt on Rome in 1867; but Napoleon sent more French troops, and Garibaldi was defeated at Mentana, and had to withdraw. It was not till the fall of the French Empire in 1871 that the Italian government could act freely. As Pius IX. refused to give up the temporal power, the Italian government took the capital by force, and Pius withdrew to the Vatican, where he remained in voluntary confinement, a course followed by his successor, Leo XIII. (1878-1903), and by the present Pope, Pius X.

DIFFICULTIES OF CONSOLIDATION.--The consolidation of Italy, since the formation of the kingdom, has been slow and difficult owing to the great social differences between northern and southern Italy. The nation, too, has been ambitious to be recognized as one of the great powers of Europe, which involves a vast outlay in expenditure.

In 1878 Victor Emmanuel died, and was succeeded by Humbert I.; Pius IX. being succeeded by Leo XIII. in the same year. Humbert’s reign was marked by electoral reform and foreign colonization. Somaliland, along the northeast coast of Africa, was acquired between 1880 and 1890, and the dependency of Eritrea was founded in 1882. Italy’s claims to a protectorate over Abyssinia led to war, which ended in an Italian defeat at Adowa, 1896, and the restoration of all land to Abyssinia by the treaty of Adis Abeba.

In 1883 Italy entered the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria, largely owing to her distrust of France. In 1900 King Humbert was assassinated by an anarchist, and was succeeded by his only son, Victor Emmanuel III. At the beginning of the new century more friendly relations were secured with France, the Triple Alliance being still maintained.

In the recent dissensions in Morocco (1906-1911) the government gave its support to France against Germany, while France acquiesced in Italian ambitions in Tripoli.

In September, 1911, war broke out between Italy and Turkey in connection with the rights and privileges of Italian subjects in Tripoli. In November of the same year the Italian government formally proclaimed the annexation of Tripoli and Cyrenaica, which was ratified by Turkey in the treaty of Ouchy in October, 1912. In the Balkan war (1912-1913) Italy’s sympathies were naturally with the allies against her recent enemies; the royal family, moreover, is connected with that of Montenegro, Queen Elena of Italy being the daughter of King Nicholas of Montenegro.

In May, 1915, Italy renounced the Triple Alliance and entered the European war on the side of Great Britain and France. War was declared upon Austria-Hungary, and Italian forces dispatched to the Trentino. No formal declaration of war was made against Germany until Aug. 27, 1916, subsequently, Italy requisitioned the German steamers interned in Italian ports.

Early in 1917, an important war conference was held in Rome by representatives of the Entente allies.

=Books of Reference.=--Gregorovius’s _History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages_; Sismondi’s _History of the Italian Republics_; Symonds’ _Age of the Despots_; Burckhardt’s _Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy_; Creighton’s _History of the Papacy During the Reformation_; Ranke’s _History of the Popes_ and his _Latin and Teutonic Nations_; King’s _A History of Italian Unity_; Stillman’s _The Union of Italy_; Orsi’s _Modern Italy_.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Austria-Hungary belongs to the Germanic group of European states, because the dominant race is German. The Germans, however, do not form so much as a third of its varied population.

The usual name given to this great empire is Austria, a Latinized form of the German _Oesterreich_, meaning “Eastern Kingdom.”

Since 1867 the empire is composed of a union of two states under one emperor, but administratively distinct. The one is Austria, or Cisleithania (“on this side the Leitha,” a tributary of the Danube); the other, Hungary and the lands of the Hungarian crown, or Transleithania. The present article deals with the empire as a whole.

=Location and Extent.=--The Austrian dominions form geographically a compact territory with a circumference of about five thousand three hundred and fifty miles. The total area is greater than that of any other European state save Russia, and is nearly twice the area of Great Britain. The body of the empire lies in the interior of Europe, though it has about one thousand miles of sea-coast on the Adriatic. Austria borders on Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, Russia, Roumania, Servia and Montenegro. With the sanction of the Berlin Congress of 1878, the small territory of Spizza, on the Montenegrin frontier and formerly Turkish, was incorporated with Dalmatia. The Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thenceforward occupied and administered by Austria, were annexed by proclamation in 1908, and are now a part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

=Surface Features.=--Austria-Hungary has been termed the “Empire of the Danube,” since it lies for the most part within the basin of that river, and embraces the whole of its upper plain, which lies at an elevation of about three hundred feet above the sea. But it is also, next to Switzerland, by far the most mountainous land in Europe, no less than four-fifths of its area being more than six thousand feet above the sea-level.