1.
First Italian War of Independence
–
The First Italian War of Independence was fought in 1848 and 1849 between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Empire. The war saw major battles at Custoza and Novara in which the Austrians under Joseph Radetzky attained victory, the war was part of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states, which generally saw the reactionary forces triumphant and many rebels forced into exile. In 1848 revolutionary riots broke out in parts of Europe, including numerous places in the Apennines. Charles Albert of Piedmont and Leopold II of Tuscany were forced to make concessions to the democrats, Charles II, Duke of Parma was ousted. Sicily, excepting Messina, revolted against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, there were also rebellions in the two capitals of the Austrian-controlled Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, Milan and Venice. With Vienna itself in revolt, the Austrian Empire was tottering, the Kingdom of Sardinia decided to exploit the apparently favorable moment. Sardinia declared war on Austria, in alliance with the Papal States and the Two Sicilies, the Piedmontese army was composed of two corps and a reserve division, for a total of 12,000 troops. Artillery and cavalry were the best units, on March 21 the Grand Duke of Tuscany also declared his entrance in the war against Austria, with a contingent of 6,700 men. The Papal Army had a similar sized force, backed by numerous volunteers, on March 25 the vanguard of the II Piedmontese Corps entered Milan. After an initial campaign, with the victories at Goito and Peschiera del Garda. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies also retired, but the general Guglielmo Pepe refused to return to Naples, in the revolutionary year of 1848, popular uprisings were springing up everywhere in Europe. Revolutionaries in many countries supported a revolution to establish constitutions and representative government in much of Europe, in every case the reactionary forced prevailed using military force. The French did not enter the First War for Italian Independence in 1848, at the Curtatone on May 29,1848, the Austrians attacked a combined force of Piedmontese and Tuscan troops. Although the Austrians won the battle, the resistance offered at Curtatone allowed the Piedmontese troops to regroup, the Piedmontese Army was defeated by Radetzky and the Austrians at Custoza on July 25,1848. The defeat of the Piedmontese at Custoza was followed up by the capture of Milan on August 6,1848, while not a total Austrian victory, the spirit of King Charles Albert and of his generals was all but broken. An armistice was signed on August 9,1848 between Austria and Sardinia at Vigevano, the Piedmontese Army retreated within the borders of the Kingdom of Sardinia. This armistice, however, lasted less than seven months, before Charles Albert denounced the truce on March 12,1849, the Austrian army took the military initiative in Lombardy and heavily defeated the Piedmontese at Novara on March 23,1849. The attempt to renew the war was a disaster and it resulted in another victory for Radetzky and the effective end of the First Italian War of Independence, all the rebellious provinces returned to Austrian rule
2.
Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states
–
The 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were organized revolts in the states of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian nationalists they sought to eliminate reactionary Austrian control, during this time period, Italy was not a unified country, and was divided into many states, which, in Northern Italy, were ruled by the Austrian Empire. A desire to be free from rule, and the conservative leadership of the Austrians. The revolution was led by the state of Piedmont, one of the four states where the Austrian leaders were forced to grant liberal rights, also, the uprisings in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, particularly in Milan, forced the Austrian General Radetzky to retreat to the Quadrilatero fortresses. King Charles Albert, who ruled Piedmont-Sardinia from 1831 to 1849 and he declared war on Austria and launched a full-out attack on the Quadrilateral. Lacking allies, Charles Albert was no match for the Austrian army and he was defeated at the Battle of Custoza, signed a truce, and withdrew his forces from Lombardy. Austria remained dominant in a divided Italy and the Revolution was lost, the economy was heavily based on agriculture. Farm products were subject to unstable prices due to competition. There were food riots all through 1840 to 1847, radical groups proliferated in Rome, on June 16,1846 Cardinal Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti, was chosen to the papacy as Pope Pius IX. He was considered a liberal and aroused the hopes of political liberals and he began numerous political and economic reforms. Most dramatically he immediately pardoned hundreds of prisoners, creating a sensation. He created a Council of State in order to share his power, as well as a council for Rome. These projects raised high hopes for greater influence in the papal government and for Italian unification. The reforms failed to any of the grave political and economic problems of the Papal States. Pius IX refused to lead an Italian war of liberation against Habsburg Austria, a violent uprising in Rome forced Pius to flee in November 1848. The failure of his modest liberal reforms turned him to the right, after witnessing the liberal friendly events that were occurring in Rome, the people of other states started to demand similar treatment. It commenced on 12 January in Sicily, were the people began to demand a Provisional Government, King Ferdinand II tried to resist these changes, however a full-fledged revolt erupted in Sicily, a revolt also erupted in Salerno and Naples. These revolts drove Ferdinand and his men out of Sicily, notwithstanding the events in Rome and Naples, the states still were under a conservative rule
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 also 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
4.
Carlo Cattaneo
–
Carlo Cattaneo was an Italian philosopher and writer, famous for his role in the Five Days of Milan on March 1849, when he led the city council during the rebellion. Cattaneo was born in Milan, he died in Castagnola, close to Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, a republican in his convictions, during his youth he had taken part in the Carbonari movement in Lombardy. He devoted himself to the study of philosophy, hoping to regenerate the Italian people by withdrawing them from romanticism and rhetoric, in this period, Cattaneo met philosopher Giandomenico Romagnosi and he was especially attracted by Romagnosis emphasis on practical solutions and interdisciplinary work. Developing some intuitions coming from his mentor, Cattaneo expounded his ideas in a review founded by him in Milan in 1839 and he resided at the Palazzo Gavazzi from 1840 until 1848. When the revolution of 1848 broke out, he threw himself heart and soul into the fray and he was second to none in self-sacrifice and heroic resolution. But, Cattaneo replied, The enemy having furnished us with munitions thus far, twenty-four hours of victuals and twenty-four hours of hunger will be many more hours than we shall need. This evening, if the plans we have just arranged should succeed, at any rate, even though we should lack bread, it is better to die of hunger than on the gallows. On the expulsion of the Austrians the question arose as to the government of Milan. Now we shall be our own masters, we shall fight a war, we shall chase the Austrians out of Italy. He strongly opposed Cavour for his views, and for the cession of Nice. In 1860 Garibaldi summoned him to Naples to take part in the government of the Neapolitan provinces, after the union of Italy he was frequently asked to stand for parliament, but always refused because he could not conscientiously take the oath of allegiance to the monarchy. In 1868 the pressure of friends overcame his resistance, and he agreed to stand, but at the last moment he drew back, still unable to take the oath, and returned to Lugano, where he died in 1869
5.
Republic of San Marco
–
The Republic of San Marco, an Italian revolutionary state, existed for 17 months in 1848–1849. Based on the Venetian Lagoon, it extended into most of Venetia, or the Terraferma territory of the Venetian Republic, suppressed 51 years earlier in the French Revolutionary Wars. After declaring independence from the Habsburg Austrian Empire, the later joined the Kingdom of Sardinia in an attempt, led by the latter. But the First Italian War of Independence ended in the defeat of Sardinia and this was confirmed by the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Austrian rule, after realising that mutually-agreeable home rule would not be possible, exploited Venetian resources, economically and politically, favouring Trieste as the imperial seaport. Across Italy, discomfort with foreign domination and with absolute monarchy had led to all Italian states becoming parliamentary monarchies with much of the led by Pope Pius IX. Heavy-handed policing in response to a boycott of state monopolies in Austrian-held Milan led to the popular expulsion of the Austrian garrison in the city for five days in March 1848. Shortly after, the news of revolt in Vienna spreading to Venice lead the city to revolt against the Austrian rule, two days previously, Daniele Manin entered the Venetian Arsenal with a number of public-spirited Venetians, in a direct challenge to Austrian rule. As the Arsenalotti detested the Austrian overseers and the Italians in Austrian military service were pro-Venetian, Manin and his supporters moved about at will, believing that the timing was favourable, Manin led his followers out of the compound with the cry Viva San Marco. —the motto of the defunct Republic of Venice, Venetians, if not Austrian officials, accepted this to mean restoration of the old republic. Unfortunately, however, Manin did not have the qualities that might have led to enduring independence. King Charles Albert of Sardinia had occupied Milan and other Austrian territories with his army, despite enthusiastic support for Sardinia by the revolutionaries, the Austrians started to regain ground. But the Austrian government was distracted by the Vienna Uprising, the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, so Radetzky was instructed to seek a truce, an order he ignored. While Austria was pressed on every front, the Italians allowed her time to regroup and to reconquer Venice, the Austrian fleet was atationed in the formerly-Venetian port of Pola, in Istria. Despite Venice having much sympathy there, they made no effort to seize the fleet, similarly, had the Venetians encouraged the desertion of Lombard-Venetian soldiers from the Austrian army, such trained and disciplined troops might have bolstered the Venetian army. The Venetian revolutionaries also failed to incorporate the terra ferma into the lagoon-based republic effectively, while revolutionary reform generated some popular support for the new régime, the revolutionaries recruited few troops there. Mainlanders were mistrustful of Venetian power, probably as a result of old assumptions about the earlier Mariner Republic and this combined with destructive foraging and other damage, which might have been avoided had the revolutionaries recruited across terra ferma. While most of the middle and upper classes supported the fight for independence
6.
Roman Republic (19th century)
–
The Roman Republic was a state declared on February 9,1849, when the government of Papal States was temporarily replaced by a republican government due to Pope Pius IXs flight to Gaeta. The republic was led by Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini, together they formed a triumvirate, a reflection of a form of government seen in the ancient Roman Republic. These religious freedoms were quite different from the situation under the preceding government, the Constitution of the Roman Republic was the first in the world to abolish capital punishment in its constitutional law. On November 15,1848, Pellegrino Rossi, the Minister of Justice of the Papal government, was assassinated. The following day, the liberals of Rome filled the streets, where various groups demanded a government, social reforms. On the night of November 24, Pope Pius IX left Rome disguised as an ordinary priest, and went out of the state to Gaeta, a fortress in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Because not only you and your family are dear to Our heart, We repeat they did not know Our thinking, the government issued some liberal reforms which Pius IX rejected and when securely established in Gaeta he designed a new government. A delegation was created by the High Council established by the Pope and the mayor of Rome and this delegation was composed of the mayor himself, Prince Tommaso Corsini, three priests – Rezzi, Mertel and Arrighi – Marchese Paolucci de Calboli, doctor Fusconi and lawyer Rossi. However, they were stopped at the boundary at Terracina. The Pope, informed of this, refused to speak to them, in Rome a Costituente Romana was formed,29 November. Without a local government in Rome, for the first time in history, the Costituenti decided to schedule direct and universal elections on the following 21 January 1849. Since the pope had forbidden Catholics to vote at those elections, in each and every part of the Papal States more than 50% of the potential voters went to the polls. The voters were not asked to express themselves on the parties, the aristocracy was represented with a prince, six marquises, fifteen counts and three other nobles. The new assembly was dominated by the bourgeoisie, the affluent, professionals, the Constitutional Assembly convened on February 8 and proclaimed the Roman Republic after midnight on February 9. According to Jasper Ridley, When the name of Carlo Luciano Bonaparte and that a Roman Republic was a foretaste of wider expectations was expressed in the acclamation of Giuseppe Mazzini as a Roman citizen. Among the first acts of the Republic was the proclamation of the right of the Pope to continue his role as head of the Roman Church, the Triumvirate passed popular legislation to eliminate burdensome taxes and to give work to the unemployed. There the legion rose to about 1000 and gained discipline and organization, the Pope asked for military help from Catholic countries. Mazzini won friends among the poor by confiscating some of the Churchs large landholdings and he inaugurated prison and insane asylum reforms, freedom of the press, and secular education, but shied away from the Right to Work, having seen this measure fail in France
7.
Battle of Solferino
–
It was the last major battle in world history where all the armies were under the personal command of their monarchs. Perhaps 300,000 soldiers fought in the important battle, the largest since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, there were about 130,000 Austrian troops and a combined total of 140,000 French and allied Piedmontese troops. After the battle, the Austrian Emperor refrained from further direct command of the army, the battle led the Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant to write his book, A Memory of Solferino. Although he did not witness the battle, he toured the following the battle and was greatly moved by what he saw. Horrified by the suffering of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield, Dunant set about a process led to the Geneva Conventions. The Battle of Solferino was an engagement in the Second Italian War of Independence. The wars geopolitical context was the nationalist struggle to unify Italy, the battle took place near the villages of Solferino and San Martino, Italy, south of Lake Garda between Milan and Verona. The confrontation was between the Austrians, on one side, and the French and Piedmontese forces, who opposed their advance, in the morning of 23 June, after the arrival of emperor Franz Joseph, the Austrian army changed direction to counterattack along the river Chiese. At the same time, Napoleon III ordered his troops to advance, while the Piedmontese fought the Austrian right wing near San Martino, the French battled to the south of them near Solferino against the main Austrian corps. The French army at Solferino, personally led by Napoleon III, was divided in four Corps plus the Imperial Guard, many of its men and generals were veterans of the French conquest of Algeria and the Crimean War, but its commander-in-chief had no military experience of note. The Sardinian army had four divisions on the field, according to the allied battle plan formulated on 24 June, the Franco-Sardinian army moved east to deploy along the right river banks of the Mincio. The French were to occupy the villages of Solferino, Cavriana, Guidizzolo and Medole with, respectively, the 1st Corps, 2nd Corps, 3rd Corps, the four Sardinian divisions were to take Pozzolengo. After marching a few kilometers, the allies came into contact with the Austrian troops, the battle started at Medole around 4 am. Marching towards Guidizzolo, the 4th Corps encountered an Austrian infantry regiment of the Austrian 1st Army, general Niel immediately decided to engage the enemy and deployed his forces east of Medole. This move prevented the three corps of the Austrian 1st Army from aiding their comrades of the 2nd Army near Solferino, the French forces were numerically inferior to the Austrians. The 4th Corps contained three divisions under de Luzy, Vinoy and Failly and a cavalry brigade. Niel, holding a line of 5 kilometres in length, was able to stop the Austrian assaults on his position by ably warding off attacks. After 15 hours of combat the Austrians retreated, both sides having lost in total nearly 15,000 men, around 4,30 am the advance guard of the 1st Corps came into contact with the Austrian V Corps under Stadion near Castiglione delle Stiviere
8.
Lombardy
–
Lombardy is one of the twenty administrative regions of Italy, in the northwest of the country, with an area of 23,844 square kilometres. Milan, Lombardys capital, is the second-largest city and the largest metropolitan area in Italy, the word Lombardy comes from Lombard, which in turn is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus, derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz, equivalent to long beard. Some sources derive the second element instead from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz, Lombardy referred during the early Middle Ages to the entire territory of Italy ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who conquered much of the Italian peninsula beginning in the 6th century. During the late Middle Ages, the term shifted meaning and was used to identify the whole of Northern Italy, with a surface of 23,861 km2, Lombardy is the 4th largest region of Italy. It is bordered by Switzerland and by the Italian regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished in the Lombardy region, mountains, hills and plains – the latter being divided in Alta and Bassa. Inconsistent with the three distinctions above made is the subregion of Oltrepò Pavese, formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po River. The mighty Po river marks the border of the region for a length of about 210 km. In its progress it receives the waters of the Ticino River, the other streams which contribute to the great river are, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio. The numerous lakes of Lombardy, all of glacial origin, lie in the northern highlands, from west to east these are Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, then Lake Garda, the largest in Italy. A minor mountainous area, the Oltrepò Pavese, lies south of the Po, in the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original environment remains. The most commons trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow, in the area of the foothills lakes, however, grow olive trees, cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolias, azaleas, acacias. Numerous species of flora in the Prealpine area include some kinds of saxifrage, the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflowers. The highlands are characterized by the vegetation of the whole range of the Italian Alps. At a lower levels oak woods or broadleafed trees grow, on the slopes beech trees grow at the lowest limits. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summital zone, Lombardy has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. In addition, there is a seasonal temperature variation. A peculiarity of the climate is the thick fog that covers the plains between October and February. In the Alpine foothills, characterised by an Oceanic climate, numerous lakes exercise a mitigating influence, in the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental
9.
Italian unification
–
The process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to both Italian politics and Italian historiography, for short period is one of the most contested. Italian nationalism was based among intellectuals and political activists, often operating from exile, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman province of Italy remained united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and later disputed between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. Following conquest by the Frankish Empire, the title of King of Italy merged with the office of Holy Roman Emperor. However, the emperor was a foreigner who had little concern for the governance of Italy as a state, as a result. This situation persisted through the Renaissance but began to deteriorate with the rise of modern nation-states in the modern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then became the site of proxy wars between the powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and France. Harbingers of national unity appeared in the treaty of the Italic League, in 1454, leading Renaissance Italian writers Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini expressed opposition to foreign domination. Petrarch stated that the ancient valour in Italian hearts is not yet dead in Italia Mia, Niccolò Machiavelli later quoted four verses from Italia Mia in The Prince, which looked forward to a political leader who would unite Italy to free her from the barbarians. I am an Italian, he explained, the French Republic spread republican principles, and the institutions of republican governments promoted citizenship over the rule of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and other dynasties. The reaction against any outside control challenged Napoleons choice of rulers, as Napoleons reign began to fail, the rulers he had installed tried to keep their thrones further feeding nationalistic sentiments. After Napoleon fell, the Congress of Vienna restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian states under leadership of the Pope in his 1842 book, Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians. Pope Pius IX at first appeared interested but he turned reactionary, Giuseppe Mazzini and Carlo Cattaneo wanted the unification of Italy under a federal republic. That proved too extreme for most nationalists, the middle position was proposed by Cesare Balbo as a confederation of separate Italian states led by Piedmont. One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari, a political discussion group formed in Southern Italy early in the 19th century. After 1815, Freemasonry in Italy was repressed and discredited due to its French connections, a void was left that the Carbonari filled with a movement that closely resembled Freemasonry but with a commitment to Italian nationalism and no association with Napoleon and his government. The response came from middle class professionals and business men and some intellectuals, the Carbonari disowned Napoleon but nevertheless were inspired by the principles of the French Revolution regarding liberty, equality and fraternity. They developed their own rituals, and were strongly anticlerical, the Carbonari movement spread across Italy
.jpg)
Milanese rebels[1]
Austrian Empire[2]
.svg){kind=small}
_-_Monumento_alle_5_giornate,_(1895)_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto.jpg)
