1861-1870 - The Kingdom of Italy
In February 1861 Vittorio Emmanuele was proclaimed king of Italy at Turin. Europe tacitly assented to Italian independence. Only Rome and Venice now remained to be liberated. The difficulties under which new Italy labored 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 jieople of the north. The national parliament had to contend with brigandage encouraged by the clergy, with deeply-rooted antipathies of race, with the discontent 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. Therefore the business of the country had to be conducted by the Piedmontese. 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 ol emancipation and annexation had progressed too quickly. To add to ;he difficulty, Italy lost her greatest statesman at this juncture. On June 5, 1861, Cavour died with the words " A free church in a free state " upon his lips. The last months of his life had been given to planning the peaceable acquisition of Rome by treaty with the pope and Louis Napoleon.
What remains of Italian history between 1861 and 1870 may be briefly told. Ricasoli formed a conservative government after Cavour's death, and Rattazzi led the opposition. Garibaldi, who vowed never to rest till Rome and Venice had been liberated, headed the party of action. In 1862 he raised a volunteer army and invaded Sicily. Louis Napoleon regarded this as a menace to Rome, and ordered Rattazzi, who was now in power, to check his progress. Cialdini marched to Reggio, where the royal troops were defeated by the volunteers on September 28, 1862. Next day Garibaldi was attacked and l«aten at Aspromonte by General Pallavicini. He retired, wounded, to Caprera, whence he published his defense. The blame was seen to lie with Rattazzi, who had thought to follow Cavour's policy of masterly inaction without first settling with France.
The sympathy of Europe with Italy was so great after this disaster that in September, 1864, Louis Napoleon agreed to a gradual withdrawal of French troops from Rome, provided Italy respected what remained of the pope's temporal power. By the same convention F'lorence became the capital. This was a good step in advance toward the annexation of Rome. In 1S66 the Austro-Prussian war gave a new opportunity to the Italians. They entered into alliance with Prussia, and marched an army across the Mincio. The defeats ol Custozza, Monte Suello, and Lissa deprived the Italian troops of any claim to military or naval glory in this war. But the Prussian victory of Kdniggratz secured the main objects for which they fought. Venice, with the Quadrilateral, was joined to the Italian kingdom, while Austria kept her Istrian and Dalmatian provinces.
In accordance with the September convention, Louis Napoleon withdrew his garrison from Rome in 1866. This event inflamed the party of action. Mazzini called upon the people to seize the Eternal City, and Garibaldi in 1867 declared his resolve to take Rome or die. Rattazzi, who was again in power, once more attempted the policy which had failed him in 1862. He ignored the obligation which bound Vittorio Emmanuele to defend the papal frontiers, and he hoped that France would tolerate a volunteer invasion, fie was mistaken. Louis Napoleon interfered, and the Italian cabinet was forced to discountenance the further proceedings of the volunteers. Disturbances occurred in Rome, and Garibaldi gained a victory at Monte Rotondo. Meanwhile the king appealed to the Italians to preserve his honor, and the emperor sent a new garrison to Rome. Garibaldi's volunteers surrendered at Mentana. on the 4th of November, to the French and papal troops; md. while the general was retiring to Caprera, he was arrested by order of the Italian Government at Figline. But the end was now not distant.
When the victory of Sedan overthrew the French empire in September, 1870, Jules Havre declared the September convention to be at an end; Vittorio Emmanuele was released from his obligations, and on the 20th he entered Rome, which now became his capital. Pius IX was allowed to retain the Vatican with its dependencies, the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and Castel Gandolfo on the Alban hill. The state voted him a munificent income, and he was left in peace to play the part of a persecuted prisoner. Thus ended the emancipation of Italy; nor did the events of the following ten years alter the situation created by the king's occupation of Rome in 1870. Vittorio Emmanuele died and was succeeded by his son Umberto in 1878. Pius IX. died the same year, and was succeeded by Leo XIII.
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