Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/470

452 ITALY united with Tuscany, and the reigning family of the former, after the death of Maria Louisa, obtained the duchy of Parma, according to the stipulations of the treaty of Vienna. Sicily rose in January, 1848, against the king of Naples, and declared its independence. The king, in order to reconcile his subjects, gave them a liberal constitution, which was soon broken. In upper Italy the French revolution of Feb- ruary became the signal for a popular rising against the Austrian rule. Radetzky, the com- mander of the Austrian army, was compelled to relinquish Lombardy and fall back on Verona. The king of Sardinia, Charles Albert, took the lead in the struggle, occupied Lom- bardy, and seemed in a fair way to conquer Venice ; but two brilliant victories of Radetzky turned the scale against the popular cause, and the Austrian rule was reestablished. Venice, however, held out; Rome (whence the pope had fled, Nov. 24) and the duchies were re- publicanized ; and, encouraged by the reverses of the Austrians in Hungary, the king of Sar- dinia once more ventured to measure swords with Radetzky. But in a brief campaign (March, 1849) ho was utterly routed, and the very existence of the Sardinian kingdom seemed to depend upon the good will of the Austrian general. The duchies were restored to their former rulers, and guarded by Austrian troops. Rome, after an obstinate defence under Gari- baldi and others, was restored to the pope by a French army of occupation. Venice sur- rendered in August, 1849. While in Naples, Modena, and the Papal States severe reaction- ary measures followed the overthrow of the popular movement, the new king of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel, fostered liberal institutions, and the Austrian government sought to recon- cile the people of Lombardy and Venetia by conferring upon them some material benefits, such as the construction of railroads, the im- provement of the port of Venice, reforms in the tariff and the postal system, &c. But all these efforts proved unavailing to overcome the antipathies of the people, and on Feb. 6, 1853, an insurrection broke out at Milan which was suppressed without great effort. In 1857 an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the king of Naples was made by a small band of re- publicans, led by Col. Pisacane ; and about the same time a republican insurrection occurred at Genoa. The fact that Pisacane had made his attempt on board a Sardinian steamer which he had forcibly taken possession of, and which was afterward seized by the Neapolitan government, gave rise to an acrimonious cor- respondence between Sardinia and Naples ; and in 1858 a war seemed imminent, but was averted by timely intercession. In conse- quence of Orsini's attempt on the life of the French emperor (Jan. 14, 1858), a special law against all " suspected individuals " was enact- ed in Sardinia, and this fact was considered as a significant symptom of the intimate relations existing between that kingdom and France. Austria at that time began to suspect the in- tentions of her neighbors, and by a series of liberal measures and promises endeavored to strengthen her foothold in Lombardy (July, 1858). Simultaneously she tried to form an Italian league; but, though Modena and Na- ples were willing to enter into all Austrian projects, the duchess regent of Parma, whose husband had been assassinated in 1854, and the grand duke of Tuscany declined. When, in August, 1858, it became known that Sardinia had ceded to Russia a locality suitable for a navy yard at Villafranca, and that Russia had sought to purchase the principality of Monaco and applied to the king of Naples "for the ces- sion of a naval depot at Brindisi, the opinion became general that a triple alliance against Austria, the soul of which was the Sardinian minister Cavour, was on the point of being con- cluded. This opinion obtained further strength when Prince Napoleon sought a matrimonial alliance with the daughter of the king of Sar- dinia. On New Year's day, 1859, a few words spoken by Napoleon III. to the Austrian am- bassador dispelled all doubts in regard to his hostile intentions. While the preparations for war on both sides were going on, the people of Italy became assured that it was not a change of foreign supremacy, but really the liberation and national organization of Italy, which the French emperor intended to accom- plish. Dreading the approach of a revolution, the king of Naples set free many prominent political prisoners. On April 21 the Austrian general Gyulai sent an ultimatum to the king of Sardinia, and crossed the Ticino in three columns, April 26-29. The duke of Modena, the duchess of Parma, and the grand duke of Tuscany, unable to make head against a pop- ular rising, quitted their states; the duke of Modena taking his political prisoners along with him, and transferring them to the dun- geons of the Austrian fortress of Verona. For nearly a month no open hostilities occurred, the Austrians contenting themselves with plun- dering the rich district of Lomellina. Their left wing having been defeated near Monte- hello (May 20), and the enemy being on the point of outflanking their right wing (bat- tles of Palestro, May 31 and June 1), they recrossed the Ticino and were routed in a great open battle near Magenta (June 4). The con- sequence of this defeat was the relinquishment by the Austrians of Milan and the entire N. W. portion of Lombardy, which in the mean time had been invaded by Garibaldi. Without risking a defence of the lines of the Adda and Oglio rivers, they retreated to the line of the Mincio. There, in the great battle of Solferino, they were defeated (June 24), but under circum- stances which made it appear doubtful whether the French would be able successfully to con- tend with them on the ground of their famous quadrilateral of fortresses. Considering this uncertainty, as well as the threatening atti- tude of Prussia, the French emperor suddenly