Verona
Verona is a city on the Adige river in Veneto, with approximately 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third largest in northeast Italy, the metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 and has a population of 714,274 inhabitants. Three of Shakespeares plays are set in Verona and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and it is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy at all, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities many times over. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its structure and architecture. According to a theory that considers the geographical position of the city, Verona is short for Versus Romae which means In the direction of Rome because as italian people say All roads lead to Rome. The exclamation Vae Romae if understood in Latin means Alas Rome, in fact, to express distress or denounce a disgrace ancient Romans used the Latin interjection vae.
So, you explain the famous poem by William Shakespeare There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture. Hence-banished is banishd from the world, And worlds exile is death, the writer would express a Roman concept through its character named Romeo, a name that invokes Rome, according to which the city of Verona was a boundary between the Roman world and barbaric one. Verona was a place of passage and to horses, for those who wanted to go and had walked the Via Claudia Augusta. So the expression Vae Romae Alas Rome would indicate spirit of the place, another theory is that it is connected to the river. Vera was a name of the river Adige before the adoption of the current name, as in many similar instances in Europe the name of the town is formed with the addition of suffix -ona which means settlement over. The city was sometimes known as Welsch-Bern in German. The precise details of Veronas early history remain a mystery, one theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani.
With the conquest of the Valley of the Po the Veronese territory became Roman, Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and a municipium in 49 BC when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia. The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads, stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War, except for a day in 541. The defections that took place among the Byzantine generals with regard to the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city, in 552 Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when they were fully overthrown that the Goths surrendered it
Battle of Langensalza (1866)
The Battle of Langensalza was fought on 27 June 1866 near Bad Langensalza in what is now modern Germany, between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Prussians. The Hanoverians won the battle but were surrounded by a larger and reinforced Prussian army. This marked the demise of the Hanoverian Army and the annexation of Hanover into the kingdom of Prussia as it systematically unified Germany into the modern nation state. Many small German states existed prior to 1866, and, in anticipation of war, they allied themselves with either Austria or Prussia depending on their desires, most kingdoms surrounding Prussia allied with Austria in fear of losing their autonomy to the Prussian state. As a result, this geographically isolated Prussia, boxing it against the Baltic Sea, King George V of Hanover believed he could negotiate independently with the Austrians and Prussians, wasting time when he could have strengthened his forces by joining other German states. When he finally attempted to do so, it was too late, General von Falckenstein, recognizing the absence of an army to fight, marched unopposed into the Hanoverian capital, north of the marching Hanoverians.
The much larger Hanoverian force and artillery drove them back toward the actual city of Langensalza. Having a force more than twice the Prussian detachment’s size, Arentschildt severely routed Flies’ troops, out of options, King George and the Hanoverians pulled back to the East, further from their Bavarian allies. It wiped out Flies’ detachment of troops and could have allowed an avenue of escape for the Hanoverian army, at the same time, this battle provided just enough time for the northern and southern Prussian contingents to link up at the battle site, which ultimately forced Hanoverian surrender. The Prussians quickly overran Kassel and Saxony at the time they were attacking Hanover. Another long lasting result of the Battle of Langensalza is the use of the Red Cross by medical personnel, created by the First Geneva Convention in 1864, the Red Cross began an international humanitarian aid group. This organization, which would greatly expand in size, was originally very small. Involving just thirty trained volunteer nurses from Gotha, the first actual combat mission of the Red Cross occurred on the Prussian side at Langensalza, although Austria and Hanover were not involved at the time, in 1866 Prussia was a member of the Red Cross Convention.
Arden Bucholz and the German Wars, 1864-1871, dupuy, A Genius for War, The German Army and General Staff, 1807-1945. Heinrich Friedjung, The Struggle for Supremacy in Germany 1859-1866, The Refounding of the German Empire, 1848-1871. Geoffrey Wawro, The Austro-Prussian War, Austria’s War with Prussia, Bad Langensalza Official Site Site describing the Actions of the Red Cross John Breuilly, Austria and Germany 1806-1871. Der Krieg zwischen Österreich und Preussen, alexander Malet, The Overthrow of the Germanic Confederation by Prussia in 1866
Giovanni Fattori
Giovanni Fattori was an Italian artist, one of the leaders of the group known as the Macchiaioli. He was initially a painter of historical themes and military subjects, in his middle years, inspired by the Barbizon school, he became one of the leading Italian plein-airists, painting landscapes, rural scenes, and scenes of military life. After 1884, he devoted energy to etching. Fattori was born in modest circumstances in Livorno, the following year he moved to Florence where he first studied under Giuseppe Bezzuoli and, in the year, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. At that time, his energies were directed less toward the study of art than to reading the novels of such authors as Ugo Foscolo, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi. In 1848 he interrupted his studies and participated as a courier, distributing leaflets for the Partito dAzione, his family prevented him from joining the army. In 1850 he resumed his studies at the Accademia in Florence and he made it a habit to note all his observations in small notebooks that he always kept with him, illustrating with innumerable sketches.
Some of his etchings were based on these observations. Fattoris development to maturity as a painter was unusually slow and his first paintings, few of which survive, date from the early 1850s. They include portraits and a few historical scenes influenced by Bezzuoli—often scenes from Medieval or Renaissance history, in 1851 he participated in the Promotrice fiorentina with the painting Ildegonda, inspired by the short novel by Tommaso Grossi. In 1853–54 he studied realism, together with the Turin artist Andrea Gastaldi and he probably painted his first landscapes in Gastaldis company. Around 1857 Enrico Pollastrini, another pupil of Giuseppe Bezzuoli, introduced him to the style of Ingres and this had some impact on Fattoris historical paintings. One of his best historical themes was Maria Stuarda, painted between 1858 and 1860, based on his reading of Walter Scott. In 1859 Fattori met Roman landscape painter Giovanni Costa, whose example influenced him to join his colleagues, in 1859 he won the competition for a patriotic battle scene, organized by the Concorso Ricasoli with his painting Dopo la battaglia di Magenta.
The financial reward allowed him to marry Settimia Vannucci in July 1859, during the period 1861–67 he stayed mainly at Livorno, to nurse his wife who had contracted tuberculosis. During this period he painted peasantry, themes from life and some portraits, such as the portrait of Argia. In these works he demonstrated his mastery of technique, natural light and shade with their contrasting areas of broad colour. In 1864 he submitted four more works to the Promotrice fiorentina, in his landscape painting La Rotonda di Palmieri, geometrical simplicity and colour have become a structural part of the painting
Third Italian War of Independence
The Third Italian War of Independence was a conflict which paralleled the Austro-Prussian War, and was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire. Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy had been crowned King of Italy on March 17,1861, but did not control Venetia and the much reduced Papal States. The situation of the Irredente was a source of tension in the domestic politics of the newly created Kingdom. The first attempt to seize Rome was orchestrated by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1862, confident in the Kings neutrality, he set sail from Genoa to Palermo. Collecting 1,200 volunteers, he sailed from Catania and landed at Melito, in Calabria, on August 24 to reach Mount Aspromonte, the Piedmontese General Enrico Cialdini, sent a division under Colonel Pallavicino to stop the volunteer army. Garibaldi himself was wounded in the battle, and taken prisoner along with his men. The increasing discord between Austria and Prussia over the German Question turned into war in 1866, offering Italy an occasion to capture Venetia.
On April 8,1866 the Italian government signed an alliance with Prussia. Italian armies, led by General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, were to engage the Austrians on the southern front, taking advantage of their perceived naval superiority, the Italians planned to threaten the Dalmatian coast and seize Trieste. There were disputes among the chain of command as former enemies were now serving alongside one another, Prussia opened hostilities on 16 June 1866 by attacking several German states allied with Austria. Three days later, Italy declared war on Austria, starting operations on 23 June. La Marmora moved first through Mantua and Peschiera del Garda, but was defeated at the Battle of Custoza on 24 June and retreated disorderly back across the Mincio river. Cialdini, on the hand, did not act offensively for the first part of the war, conducting only several shows of force and failed to besiege the Austrian fortress of Borgoforte. Following the defeat at Custoza, the Italians reorganized in preparation for a presumed Austrian counter-offensive, the Austrians took this opportunity to raid Valtellina and Val Camonica.
The course of the war, was to turn in Italys favour thanks to Prussian victories in Bohemia, the Austrians were compelled to redeploy one of their three army corps from Italy to Vienna. The remaining Austrian forces in the theatre concentrated their defenses around Trentino, the situation was embarrassing for Italy, as its forces had been beaten back in the only battle to date. Garibaldis volunteers, reinforced by a division of infantry, were to advance into Trentino, with the eventual objective of capturing the provinces capital. Cialdini crossed the Po on 8 July, advancing to Udine on 22 July without encountering the Austrian army, in the meantime, Garibaldis volunteers had advanced from Brescia in the direction of Trento in the Invasion of Trentino, winning the battle of Bezzecca on 21 July
Trentino
Trentino, officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the countrys far north. Trentino is, along with South Tyrol, one of the two provinces making up the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which is designated a region under the constitution. The province is divided into 178 comuni and its capital is the city of Trento. The province covers an area of more than 6,000 km2, Trentino is renowned for its mountains, such as the Dolomites, which are part of the Alps. The province is known as Trentino. The name derives from Trento, the city of the province. Originally, the term was used by the population only to refer to the city. In its wider sense, Trentino was first used around 1848 in an article by a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly, since the new 1972 autonomous status, the administrative name of the province is Autonomous Province of Trento. The history of Trentino begins in the mid-Stone Age, the valleys of what is now Trentino were already inhabited by man, the main settlements being in the valley of the Adige River, thanks to its milder climate.
In the early Middle Ages, this area was included within the Kingdom of Italy, in 1027, the Bishopric of Trent was established as a State of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Conrad II. It was a territory, roughly corresponding to the present-day Trentino. The Council of Trent, held in three sessions from 1545 to 1563, with the first at Trento, was one of the important councils in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. It was an articulation of Roman Catholic doctrine in response to the Protestant Reformation, and specified doctrine on salvation, the sacraments, after the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, the bishopric was secularized and absorbed into the Austrian County of Tyrol. It was governed by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the region was the location of heavy fighting during World War I, as it was directly on the front lines between Austria-Hungary and Italy. Trentino remained a part of Austria-Hungary until after the end of the war in 1919, since this treaty, Trentino enjoys considerable autonomy from the Italian central government in Rome.
It has its own elected government and legislative assembly, in 1996, the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino was formed between the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino. The boundaries of the association correspond to the old County of Tyrol, the aim is to promote regional peace and cooperation in many areas. The regions assemblies meet together as one on various occasions and have set up a liaison office to the European Union in Brussels
Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora
Alfonso Ferrero, Cavaliere La Marmora was an Italian general and statesman. His older brothers include soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora and Alessandro La Marmora, born in Turin, he entered the Sardinian army in 1823, and was a captain in March 1848, when he gained distinction and the rank of major at the siege of Peschiera. On 5 August 1848 he liberated Charles Albert of Sardinia from a mob in Milan. After suppressing the revolt of Genoa in 1849, he assumed in November 1849 the portfolio of war. He took part in the war of 1859 against Austria, in April 1866 La Marmora concluded an alliance with Prussia against Austria-Hungary, and, on the outbreak of the Third Italian War of Independence in June, took command of an army corps. He is largely credited of the hesitant conduct of the first phases of the Italian invasion and he died in Florence on 5 January 1878. La Marmoras writings include Un episodio di risorgimento italiano and Il segreto di stato nel governo costituzionale
Battle of Nachod
The Battle of Nachod on 27 June 1866 was the first major action of the Austro-Prussian War. The advance guard of General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetzs 5th Corps occupied some high ground near Nachod as part of a Prussian advance into Bohemia from Silesia, elements of the Austrian 6th Corps under General Von Ramming came on the scene and attacked the Prussians but were repulsed. As more Austrians arrived, they were ordered into attacks which proved costly and unsuccessful. Finally, the badly mauled Austrians retreated from the field, the Prussian infantry enjoyed a technical advantage in having the needle gun, a breech-loading rifle that could be fired and loaded from a prone position. Consequently, the Austrian infantry, which were equipped with muzzle-loading rifles. The Prussian Second Army, invading Bohemia, had to split up in order to negotiate the passes of the Riesen Mountains, General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetzs 5th Corps was nearly caught as it emerged from a gully by the village of Nachod, Bohemia.
The King’s Grenadiers were in the guard, and raced forward, first to occupy some woods outside the gully’s opening. To counter the danger of the Prussians flanking his army, during the evening June 26, benedeks orders were only received by Ramming at 1,30 AM on June 27. The first Austrian troops started up at 3,30 AM and it was now that the superiority of Prussian equipment made itself felt. Their new breech-loading needle guns enabled them to three shots to the Austrians’ muzzle-loaders one. The Prussian cavalry now rode forward along the road to stop the Austrians reaching Vysokov, the King’s Grenadiers now came down the slope over the bodies of Herwegh’s men and occupied Wenzelsberg. At 10,45 AM a new Austrian brigade arrived and a struggle ensued over the churchyard. The grenadiers were out of it but held on to most of the village for two hours while the rest of the 9th Division arrived. A third Austrian brigade appeared, and this time it had orders to take Vysokov. Though the fighting continued, the result was now not in doubt, Steinmetz elected not to follow up the Austrians but decided to concentrate his scattered units at the heights.
The Prussian firepower goaded the Austrians into courageous but costly bayonet charges, their officers lost control, and five, Von Steinmetz was hailed as the “Lion of Nachod, ” and Bismarck found for the first time in his life that he was popular. Strategically, Rammings loss meant the Austrians lost control of one of the passes giving entry into Bohemia and it meant that Glabenz Corps was left in the air at Trautenau, and ultimately meant that the Prussian army could advance towards a union with the other Prussian armies. Http, //usacac. army. mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/cannae/maps_41_60. pdf See Map 45 Courtesy of US Combined Arms Center Geoffrey Wawro, überarbeitete Auflage, Militärverlag der deutschen demokratischen Republik, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-327-00222-3
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was an empire in Central Europe created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804. It was an empire and one of Europes great powers. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and it was the third most populous after Russia and France, as well as the largest and strongest country in the German Confederation. Proclaimed in response to the First French Empire, it overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution in 1806. The Ausgleich of 1867 elevated Hungarys status and it became a separate entity from the Empire entirely, joining with it in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt, on 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors.
In 1804 the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria. In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, to safeguard his dynastys imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Hungarys affairs remained administered by its own institutions as they had been beforehand, thus under the new arrangements no Imperial institutions were involved in its internal government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805, on 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers, Napoleons army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 6 December 1805, the French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire.
On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France, the Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleons German allies at the expense of defeated Austria. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg, Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and this confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him
Kingdom of Italy
The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders.
Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king.
However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
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Kingdom of Italy
Austrian Empire