Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/512

Lombard cam paign of 1859. 490 I not work Italian independence without the help of one of the great powers against Austria. He therefore determined to rely on Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who had expressed his willingness to afford substantial assistance at the proper moment. Between the years 1856 and 1859 it was Cavour s one endeavour to maintain the French emperor in this resolve, and at the same time to drive the Austrians into a seasonable declaration of war. The situation was delicate and dangerous in the extreme ; and in January 1858 the minister s combinations were seriously imperilled by Felice Orsini s attempt on Napoleon s life. It was only by passing a bill which defined the crime of political assassination that he regained the emperor s confidence. Later in the year, Cavour met Napoleon at Plombieres, where the preliminaries to a Franco-Italian alliance for war against Austria were settled. The cabinet of Vienna, harassed by repeated memorials on the subject of their tyranny in Lombardy, complained to Europe that Piedmont was a standing menace to Italian peace, withdrew its minister from Turin, and demanded the disarmament of the Sardinian kingdom. Louis Napoleon now prepared himself for war. On the 1st of January 1859 Vittorio Emmanuele opened parliament with a speech which declared the coming struggle : " We are not insensible to the cry of suffering that rises to us from so many parts of Italy." The words Grido di dolore were understood to be the watchword of the war. In the early summer of 1 359 the French crossed the Alps. The puppets of Parma, Tuscany, and Modena fled, as usual, before the gathering storm, this time never to return. The battles of Magenta (June 4) and Solferino (June 24) opened Lombardy to the French and Sardinian troops, as far as the Quadri lateral of fortresses protecting Venice. There Louis Napoleon sheathed his sword. He met the emperor Francis Joseph at Villa Franca, and, without consulting his allies, agreed to an armistice. At Plombieres he had declared that he meant to free Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic. But now he agreed upon the Mincio as the future boundary between Sardinia and Austria. Venice was not to be liberated. Terrible was the disappointment of the Pied- montese, who had made vast sacrifices for this campaign, and who felt that their king had been insulted. Yet Louis Napoleon was incapable of more. He knew himself to be no general, and he had good reason to be certain that, if he pushed Austria too far, Prussia would take up arms and carry war to France upon the Rhine. Moreover, the gain to Italy proved greater than at first appeared, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna declared thei r determination to join the kingdom. In March I860 the annexation of Central Italy to Sardinia was effected, and approved by the French emperor. It now appeared that, according to a hitherto secret understanding with Cavour, Louis Napoleon was to take Savoy and Nice as the price of his assistance. This sacrifice of their ancient home, the cradle of their dynasty, the house of Savoy made to the Italian cause. But it was long before the Italians forgave Cavour. He had to bear reproaches from all quarters, especially from Garibaldi, who was never tired of repeating, " That man has made me a foreigner in my own house." The same month which witnessed the annexation of Central Italy saw the outburst of a revolution in the south. Bomba was dead ; but his son Francis II., by continued acts of cruelty to state prisoners, and by cowardly oppres sion of his subjects, had merited the nickname of Bombino. Refugees from Naples spread the tale of Bourbon tyranny all over Europe. Even London trembled with rage at Poerio s sufferings. The insurrection broke out at Paler mo, Messina, and Catania. Garibaldi determined to support it. On the 5th of May he set out from Genoa with his [HISTORY. volunteers, the famous Mille, each of whom became for Italy a hero. Cavour knew of the expedition and secretly favoured it, though he openly expressed the regret of the Sardinian Government to Europe. It was his policy to wait and see what happened, trusting that the gain of the venture would accrue to the new kingdom. Garibaldi landed at Marsala, and proclaimed himself dictator in the name of Vittorio Emmanuele, king of Italy. The conquest of Sicily was the matter of a few days. In August the general crossed to Spartivento, defeated the royal army, drove Francis II. to Gaeta, and entered Naples on the 7th of September. There Mazzini joined him, and the diffi culties of the situation began to disclose themselves. Garibaldi had no capacity for administration ; yet he was unwilling to resign his dictatorship. He had proclaimed Vittorio Emmanuele ; yet he lent an ear to the republicans, who hated Piedmont. Moreover, he hardly concealed his intention of marching on Rome. Had he taken this step, success would have involved reactionary interference on the part of Europe, while failure might have involved the loss of Lower Italy. Meanwhile the natives of the Two Sicilies were slow to accept annexation. They dispensed with the Bourbons gladly ; but they were ready to fulfil the pro phecy of Bomba, that " whosoever turned the Bourbons out would have enough to do in Lower Italy for the next century." Anarchy began to reign, and the Bourbon party lifted up its head again at Gaeta, In these circumstances, Cavour, after ascertaining that he had the sanction of Napoleon, resolved on sending troops into the papal states. This seemed the only means of preventing Garibaldi s march on Rome, and securing his acquisitions for United Italy. General Cialdini accordingly occupied Urbino and Perugia, defeated the pope s general, Lamoriciere, at Cas- telfidardo, joined Garibaldi, and helped him to gain a vic tory over the Bourbon troops on the Volturno. On the 2d of October Cavour defined the situation for the parlia ment at Turin : " Garibaldi wishes to perpetuate the revo lution ; we wish to terminate it." Soon after this, Vittorio Emmanuele himself entered the Abruzzi. Gari baldi, with the loyalty which never deserted him, resigned his dictatorship, and returned to Caprera. In November Cavour was able to write to Berlin : " We are Italy ; we work in her name ; but at the same time it is our policy to moderate the national movement and maintain the mon archical principle." In February 1861 Gaeta fell, after a resistance ennobled Pro< by the courage of Francesco s German consort. The king- mat. dom was annexed by plebiscite, and Vittorio Emmanuele was *. proclaimed king of Italy at Turin. Europe tacitly assented to Italian independence. Only Rome and Venice now re mained to be liberated. The difficulties under which new Italy laboured were enormously increased by the annexation of the Two Sicilies. Ever since the Norman Conquest they had formed a province apart. Temperament, custom, and tradition separated the inhabitants, as far as it was possible, from the sober people of the north. The national parlia ment had to contend with brigandage encouraged by the clergy, with deeply-rooted antipathies of race, with the dis content of disbanded officials, and with the multitudinous obstacles which a demoralized society offers to strict government. Upper Italy alone was educated for political existence. Elsewhere the bad government of centuries had made the people permanently hostile to the state, while corruption rendered them untrustworthy as agents. There fore the business of the country had to be conducted by the Piedrnontese. Yet this important fact was neglected in the composition of the parliament, where a due preponderance had not been secured for the colleges of Northern Italy. It was impossible not to own that the work of emancipa tion and annexation had progressed too quickly. To add