The Great Powers and Italian Unification

In Naples itself all was confusion and contradiction in the Government.

Continuing Kingdom of Italy Established,
our selection from Italy from 1812 to 1878 by John Webb Probyn published in 1884. The selection is presented in 4.5 easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in Kingdom of Italy Established.

Time: 1860
Place: Italy

Victor Emmanuel sought to dissuade Garibaldi from an enterprise so full of danger as that of marching upon Naples against the wishes of the united cabinets of Continental Europe. The King desired that matters should proceed by negotiation, the basis of which should be that Neapolitans and Sicilians should be allowed to decide their future destinies for themselves. Garibaldi, who loved and trusted the honest King, replied that the actual state of Italy compelled him to disobey his majesty. “When,” said the noble-hearted patriot, “I shall have delivered the populations from the yoke that weighs them down, I will throw my sword at your feet, and will then obey you for the rest of my life.” In truth, Italians of all ranks were now so roused that neither Victor Emmanuel, Cavour, nor even Garibaldi himself could have stayed the movement.

The overpowering strength of foreign armies could alone have put it down. Circumstances, however, happily prevented so gross an abuse of mere force. For once Italians were allowed to do as they wished in their own country instead of being compelled by foreign powers to do as those powers commanded. Many things concurred to bring about this result. The French Emperor had just received Savoy and Nice; he had been spending the blood and treasure of France in giving the first blow to the old despotisms of Italy; how could he now fly in the face of his own principle of the national will in order to save the worst of those despotisms? He could not declare that Sicilians and Neapolitans should not dare have the opportunity of doing what he had at last permitted in Central Italy and profited by in Nice and Savoy. To have allowed Austria to do so would be to stultify himself in the eyes of Europe, to enrage Italians, and to lead France to ask what was the use of calling on her to make sacrifices for the overthrow of Austrian domination in the Peninsula if within a few months that domination was to be in a large measure restored.

Austria too had her own difficulties to encounter, and they were both numerous and complicated. Her military and priestly despotism had suffered defeat; her people disliked its rule and desired freer institutions; her finances were terribly disordered.

The Emperor was beginning to see the necessity of a change of system — a change by no means easy to effect — for the Hungarians were demanding the restoration of their ancient constitutional rights. Russia and Prussia contented themselves with protests which had, it may be, some diplomatic value, but were wholly without practical effect. England was favorable to the extension of Italian liberties, and France was her ally in Syria and in China. So it was that Garibaldi, having only to encounter the naval and military forces of Francis II, crossed the Straits of Messina, landed in Calabria, and marched on Reggio. On August 21st the town was occupied, and the citadel, with its commander and soldiers, capitulated. Another victory was gained on the 23rd., dispersing the forces of the Neapolitan Generals Melendez and Briganti. Some of their soldiers joined Garibaldi; the rest returned to their homes and increased both his real and his legendary fame by their account of his victories. The insurrection against the Bourbon dynasty was now rapidly spreading.

At Cosenza in Calabria, and at Potenza in the Basilicata, provisional governments were proclaimed and were hailing with delight the progress of Garibaldi. The forces of Francis were disappearing from those provinces and leaving the road to Naples unprotected. The fleet was as little to be counted on as the army.

In Naples itself all was confusion and contradiction in the Government. None of its members trusted the others or believed in the duration of the Bourbon dynasty. Years of corruption, tyranny, falsehood, and cruelty had undermined the whole system, and it fell before the storm as if by magic. Francis II determined to leave his capital. When he ordered the troops which still remained faithful to him to retreat upon Capua and Gaeta, two-thirds of the staff sent in their resignation, as did many of the officers of the Neapolitan fleet. The King addressed a protest to the foreign powers in which he declared he only quitted his capital to save it from the horrors of a siege. He issued a proclamation to his people in which he expressed his wishes for their happiness, and declared that when restored to his throne it would be all the more splendid from the institutions he had now irrevocably given. On September 6, 1860, he left the capital on board a steamer accompanied by two Spanish frigates, and was taken to Gaeta. On September 7th Garibaldi entered Naples at midday in an open carriage, accompanied by some of his staff. For long hours he received a welcome such as has seldom if ever been given to any other man. Again and again he had to appear on the balcony of the Palazzo d’Angri, where he had taken up his quarters, to receive the applause of the multitude. At eight o’clock that evening it was at length announced that, worn out with fatigue and emotion, he had retired to rest. A sudden quiet fell upon the vast crowds, and repeating to one another “Our father sleeps,” they dispersed to their homes, their right hands raised above their heads, with the first finger alone extended, a sign expressive of the cry reiterated again and again that day, “Italia Una!” (“One Italy”).

Giuseppe Garibaldi began here. John Webb Probyn began here.

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