alternatehistory.com
Chapter 31 Rise of Italia
Chapter 31 Rise of Italia
"And now the damned Corsican has gone and proclaimed himself King of Italy. There isn't event an Italy in the first place."- Emperor Francis I 1805
"Some of my fellow bishops have asked me why I chose to become head of Italy. They think that I have don so for my personal gain but that's far from the truth. I only did so because it was my mission from God."- Pope Pius IX 1870
"Gui con i Bornobi (Down with the Bourbons)"- Rallying Cry of Sicilian revolutionaries 1846
What is quite the largest irony in Italian history is that before the 19th century the concept of Italy itself did not exist in the minds of the so called Italian people. While the rest of Europe may have referred to these people as Italians the truth was that the average "Italian" before the 1800's drew their national identity from their local duchy and kingdom rather than their residency on the Italian peninsula. If you asked a man from Naples in 1700 if he was Italian he would take that as an insult and proclaim himself as a Sicilian. Even back then during the days of the Roman Empire that many Italians like to draw inspiration from, the Roman Emperors never once saw themselves as Italians but as Romans first and foremost. The closest thing that could be considered near to the concept of Italy pre-19th century would be the existence of the Visigoths and the Kingdom of Lombardy, though even these didn't suffice as the Italian language proper did not even exist until its standardization by Tuscany in the Medieval era, which was then only used by nobles of Italian states with each region holding a very different dialect. So where did the concept of a united Italy come from then? To answer that question one must look back to the Napoleonic Wars where Italy's formation would arise much the same as the birth of modern Germany. In 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon personally created the Kingdom of Italy, a puppet state covering the Northern Italian territories upon which Napoleon would rule as monarch. The reason for this was not due to any desires to help Italian nationalism, but rather to create a nation that would add more troops to the Grand Armee and help consolidate Napoleon's conquests in the Mediterranean. These developments would have long unforeseen consequences as the people of Italy actually found loyalty to this new kingdom, while the spread of the Italian language through universal education would create the ideal of the Italian nation in the hearts of its people. After Waterloo the Italian nation would be partitioned among the Great Powers with the creation of Sardinia-Piedmont, Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia which would be annexed by the Austrian Empire. The people of Italy were against this partition and after decades of prevention of reform along with the deteriorating economic conditions of the peninsula, the people called for change and for Italy to be united into one nation once more. The key leaders of the Italian unification movement were divided between King Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont, Pope Pius IX of the Catholic Church and the Papal States, and Giuseppe Garibaldi and Mazzini who were two key advocates of unification under a Republican form of government. For many years the status quo was maintained as the reactionary governments of the Italian states would keep a tight control over its people along with assistance from Austria. This would all change in 1846 with the downfall of the French Bourbons which would spark an uprising against the other Bourbon branch in Sicily.
View attachment 292032
Flag of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Pope Pius IX, Father of the Italian Federation and the Holy Roman Empire
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, named for the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. was an Italian nation that comprised of the Southern half of the peninsula along with the island of Sicily. For many centuries the land was ruled by either the Austrians or the Spanish with the Hapsburg and then the Bourbons sitting upon the throne of Sicily. The Bourbons were overthrown after the War of the Coalition with Bonapartist puppet Joachim Murat coming to power as King of the Sicilies. Nine years later at the end of the war Murat was overthrown by a revolt from the poor class with Ferdinand I reinstalled as King of the two Sicilies. At first everything was alright within the country and peace reigned for the next twenty years. This would all come to an end with the policies of King Ferdinand II. Ferdinand while a liberal and patron of industrialization within Sicily, preferred to retain power strictly for the monarchy and in many senses was just as reactionary as the Tsar or Austrian Emperor. The nobility of the Sicilies had wanted for the Kingdom to have a constitution created with the king having his power limited and divided among the lower and noble class. The first example of Ferdinand's strict rule would be in 1837 when he violently suppressed a demonstration that had the intentions of forcing Ferdinand to adhere to a constitution. For the next nine years the government was in deadlock between liberals and conservatives while the general population was content with Sicily's progress and prosperity. This fragile peace came to a crashing halt in the immediate aftermath of the January Revolution where hundreds of thousands of people took to demonstrations within Naples and Palermo in order to demand greater democratic reforms and an clear division of authority between Naples and Sicily. Emboldened by the success of the Republicans against the French Bourbons, the Sicilians stormed the Capitol in Palermo and took control of the island's government, forcing King Ferdinand to flee to Naples where he created a provisional loyalist government. The nobles of the island of Sicily declared it's independence as the sole Kingdom of Sicily with Ruggero Settimo elected as President. In truth the newly formed Kingdom of Sicily had little power as the loyalist stronghold of Messina could not be conquered, thus preventing the island from being united, in addition a large portion of the military and population came from the Neapolitan branch of the Kingdom, causing many to stay loyal to the Bourbons. The Sicilian revolution however is not to be understood solely for its strategic and direct geopolitical consequences, rather for its effect on the rest of Italy by inspiring nationalism with its proclamations of unity, and encouraging other states to rise up in the calls for greater constitutional freedoms and liberation.
Palermo Uprising (Right). Flag used by the revolutionary Kingdom of Sicily (Left)
The tone of the Italian states in the aftermath of the Sicilian uprising was one of caution. One by one each of the Italian monarchs pledged to create a constitution for their respective nations in order to please the masses and prevent another largescale uprising in Palermo. The most vocal of these was Pope Pius IX who was actively working with Republicans in the Papal States in order to see the creation of an legislative branch that would be made up of elected officials to create laws and uphold the day to day affairs of the state. Pius also called upon a conference to take place within Rome on March 18th with invitations sent to all the prominent statesman and revolutionary leaders around Italy in order to work towards the creation of a hypothetical Italian Confederation in similarity to the German Confederation. The one kingdom where these changes where entirely rejected was the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. Austria had long feared the rise of revolutionary sentiment in its empire due to its multicultural status and the dangers that nationalism could bring upon for Austria proper who was a minority in its own empire. Under the rule of Chancellor Metternich, Austria was the head of the reactionary movement in a Holy Alliance with the states of Prussia and Russia. The revolutionary sentiment began on January 5th when citizens in Lombardy refused to pay taxes to their Austrian overlords. In response Austria tightened its rule on its Italian territories by banning the speaking of Italian in education and government practices, and sending tens of thousands of troops in order to quell dissidence. On March 17th the people of Venice rose up in rebellion against Austria and proclaimed the Republic of San Marco in order to regain Venice's independence that it had lost over forty years ago. When news of this reached Milan, the epicenter of revolutionary activity, the masses took to the streets in large numbers, being further encouraged by the resignation of Metternich earlier that week. The uprising which was later called the Five Days of Milan, was a short and brutal affair with riots taking place all over the city and intense hand to hand combat being underway in the midst of street barricades erected by the revolutionaries. The commanding Austrian General Joseph Radetzky von Radetz chose to withdraw from the city on the fifth day due to fears of encirclement and a siege by peasants from the countryside as well as a possible reinforcement from the Piedmontese Army, withdrawing into an area of fortresses known as the Quadrilatero which made up the cities of Verona, Legano, Mantua, and Peschier del Garda. The Revolutionaries had won the day, and in their hands Milan would become a symbol of unity and revolution throughout all of Italy.
Scene from the Five Days of Milan (Right). Italian defense of Venice against the Austrians (Left)
When word reached the Roman Conference on March 24th of the success of the Milanese in expelling the Austrians, as well as the uprising of Venice, the reaction was quite mixed. Many of the Republican revolutionaries such as the Giuseppe's were overjoyed and proclaimed that a war of liberation needed to be fought in order to free their brethren from Austrian tyranny. The Piedmontese under King Charles Albert secretly saw a chance to unify Italy under their rule if decisive action was taken quick enough. The neighboring Italian duchies expressed an urge for neutrality as they would be the first victims of a war with Austria. Pius advocated that while he supported the Italian people looking for independence he urged that caution and diplomacy be used first and foremost before thousands of lives were lost in a bloody conflict. Until then the talks had been going somewhat successful with the idea of an Italian Confederation gaining progress with support gaining from the statesman and discussion being conducted on how Italy could be united in further industrialization and a possible economic union. Now it looked as though these talks would fail with each side going their own separate way and taking action on their own. That is until one lone Austrian would change the fate of Italy. Johann Guggenheim was an radical Austrian preacher for the Lutheran Church who had gone under immense pressure from the Austrian government for his defiance and continued spread of Protestantism within Catholic Austria. In order to gain to strike a blow to the Catholic Church, Johann had traveled to Rome weeks previously in order to plan an assassination of Pope Pius IX, unaware of the ongoing troubles Austria was already having with Italy. On March 25th Johann had planned to shoot the Pope when he would be traveling through the streets of Rome in order to interact with the common masses, leaving him directly open to a possible assassin. What Johann did not know was that earlier that day Pius had invited Mazzini to travel with him through Rome in order to show him the effects of Pius's reforms as well as to discuss the correct course of action for the ongoing Lombardy crisis. When Johann went directly in front of the Pope and aimed his pistol at his holiness, Mazzini took action and jumped in front of Pius so that his life could be spared. Mazzini was hit directly in the rib cages while the nearby group of Roman peasants had converged upon Johann in an large and angry mob for trying to assassinate the Pope. Johann Guggenheim was beaten to death on the spot, his dream of assassinating the Pope being foiled by the actions of one lone Republican. Mazzini was rushed to a nearby Church where doctors were trying to save his life. Unfortunately by the time he came Mazzini had lost too much blood and was on the verge of death. His last words were directed to Pope Pius upon which he said, "Your holiness my time on Earth has come to pass but their is too much work that needs to be done. You must carry the torch and make sure all of Italia is united under one banner." Mazzini was given a funeral the next day being personally conducted by the Pope in Saint Peter's where over 200,000 Romans had gathered to pay their respects. In the viewpoint of the Italians, Johann was a lone assassin that was sent by Emperor Ferdinand in order to target the Pope and Mazzini so as to prevent Italian Unification. Johann had died before he was questioned so no one pointed to his religious reasoning for the assassination, instead pointing towards his Austrian heritage. Disgusted by the actions of Johann and encouraged by his earlier proclaimed vision from God about Italy, Pius called for the Italian states to band together in order to liberate Lombardy-Venetia from the tyranny of the Austrians. One by one each of the Italian states (including both the self-proclaimed Sicilian Kingdoms) joined together in a grand coalition called the "Italian League" with the aim of supporting the revolutionaries and unifying Italy together, war was declared by the League against the Austrian Empire on March 31st, the War of Lombard-Venetian Independence had begun. For Austria this was only the beginning of the what would come to be its darkest point in its history, as events within both Germany and Hungary would tear the Empire apart in revolution on all fronts.
View attachment 292034
Giuseppe Mazzini 1805-1846. Supporter of Republicanism and Martyr for the Italian Cause (Right). Map of Italian League (Red) against Austrian Lombardy-Venetia (Blue) (Left).
A/N: Next update will cover the German section which will have HUGE changes from OTL's developments. Here is a preview for the next chapters; Chapter 32 Divided Deustchland. Chapter 33 Hungry Hungary. Chapter 34 The Trail to the Oregon War.
"And now the damned Corsican has gone and proclaimed himself King of Italy. There isn't event an Italy in the first place."- Emperor Francis I 1805
"Some of my fellow bishops have asked me why I chose to become head of Italy. They think that I have don so for my personal gain but that's far from the truth. I only did so because it was my mission from God."- Pope Pius IX 1870
"Gui con i Bornobi (Down with the Bourbons)"- Rallying Cry of Sicilian revolutionaries 1846
What is quite the largest irony in Italian history is that before the 19th century the concept of Italy itself did not exist in the minds of the so called Italian people. While the rest of Europe may have referred to these people as Italians the truth was that the average "Italian" before the 1800's drew their national identity from their local duchy and kingdom rather than their residency on the Italian peninsula. If you asked a man from Naples in 1700 if he was Italian he would take that as an insult and proclaim himself as a Sicilian. Even back then during the days of the Roman Empire that many Italians like to draw inspiration from, the Roman Emperors never once saw themselves as Italians but as Romans first and foremost. The closest thing that could be considered near to the concept of Italy pre-19th century would be the existence of the Visigoths and the Kingdom of Lombardy, though even these didn't suffice as the Italian language proper did not even exist until its standardization by Tuscany in the Medieval era, which was then only used by nobles of Italian states with each region holding a very different dialect. So where did the concept of a united Italy come from then? To answer that question one must look back to the Napoleonic Wars where Italy's formation would arise much the same as the birth of modern Germany. In 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon personally created the Kingdom of Italy, a puppet state covering the Northern Italian territories upon which Napoleon would rule as monarch. The reason for this was not due to any desires to help Italian nationalism, but rather to create a nation that would add more troops to the Grand Armee and help consolidate Napoleon's conquests in the Mediterranean. These developments would have long unforeseen consequences as the people of Italy actually found loyalty to this new kingdom, while the spread of the Italian language through universal education would create the ideal of the Italian nation in the hearts of its people. After Waterloo the Italian nation would be partitioned among the Great Powers with the creation of Sardinia-Piedmont, Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia which would be annexed by the Austrian Empire. The people of Italy were against this partition and after decades of prevention of reform along with the deteriorating economic conditions of the peninsula, the people called for change and for Italy to be united into one nation once more. The key leaders of the Italian unification movement were divided between King Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont, Pope Pius IX of the Catholic Church and the Papal States, and Giuseppe Garibaldi and Mazzini who were two key advocates of unification under a Republican form of government. For many years the status quo was maintained as the reactionary governments of the Italian states would keep a tight control over its people along with assistance from Austria. This would all change in 1846 with the downfall of the French Bourbons which would spark an uprising against the other Bourbon branch in Sicily.
View attachment 292032
Flag of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Pope Pius IX, Father of the Italian Federation and the Holy Roman Empire
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, named for the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. was an Italian nation that comprised of the Southern half of the peninsula along with the island of Sicily. For many centuries the land was ruled by either the Austrians or the Spanish with the Hapsburg and then the Bourbons sitting upon the throne of Sicily. The Bourbons were overthrown after the War of the Coalition with Bonapartist puppet Joachim Murat coming to power as King of the Sicilies. Nine years later at the end of the war Murat was overthrown by a revolt from the poor class with Ferdinand I reinstalled as King of the two Sicilies. At first everything was alright within the country and peace reigned for the next twenty years. This would all come to an end with the policies of King Ferdinand II. Ferdinand while a liberal and patron of industrialization within Sicily, preferred to retain power strictly for the monarchy and in many senses was just as reactionary as the Tsar or Austrian Emperor. The nobility of the Sicilies had wanted for the Kingdom to have a constitution created with the king having his power limited and divided among the lower and noble class. The first example of Ferdinand's strict rule would be in 1837 when he violently suppressed a demonstration that had the intentions of forcing Ferdinand to adhere to a constitution. For the next nine years the government was in deadlock between liberals and conservatives while the general population was content with Sicily's progress and prosperity. This fragile peace came to a crashing halt in the immediate aftermath of the January Revolution where hundreds of thousands of people took to demonstrations within Naples and Palermo in order to demand greater democratic reforms and an clear division of authority between Naples and Sicily. Emboldened by the success of the Republicans against the French Bourbons, the Sicilians stormed the Capitol in Palermo and took control of the island's government, forcing King Ferdinand to flee to Naples where he created a provisional loyalist government. The nobles of the island of Sicily declared it's independence as the sole Kingdom of Sicily with Ruggero Settimo elected as President. In truth the newly formed Kingdom of Sicily had little power as the loyalist stronghold of Messina could not be conquered, thus preventing the island from being united, in addition a large portion of the military and population came from the Neapolitan branch of the Kingdom, causing many to stay loyal to the Bourbons. The Sicilian revolution however is not to be understood solely for its strategic and direct geopolitical consequences, rather for its effect on the rest of Italy by inspiring nationalism with its proclamations of unity, and encouraging other states to rise up in the calls for greater constitutional freedoms and liberation.
Palermo Uprising (Right). Flag used by the revolutionary Kingdom of Sicily (Left)
The tone of the Italian states in the aftermath of the Sicilian uprising was one of caution. One by one each of the Italian monarchs pledged to create a constitution for their respective nations in order to please the masses and prevent another largescale uprising in Palermo. The most vocal of these was Pope Pius IX who was actively working with Republicans in the Papal States in order to see the creation of an legislative branch that would be made up of elected officials to create laws and uphold the day to day affairs of the state. Pius also called upon a conference to take place within Rome on March 18th with invitations sent to all the prominent statesman and revolutionary leaders around Italy in order to work towards the creation of a hypothetical Italian Confederation in similarity to the German Confederation. The one kingdom where these changes where entirely rejected was the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. Austria had long feared the rise of revolutionary sentiment in its empire due to its multicultural status and the dangers that nationalism could bring upon for Austria proper who was a minority in its own empire. Under the rule of Chancellor Metternich, Austria was the head of the reactionary movement in a Holy Alliance with the states of Prussia and Russia. The revolutionary sentiment began on January 5th when citizens in Lombardy refused to pay taxes to their Austrian overlords. In response Austria tightened its rule on its Italian territories by banning the speaking of Italian in education and government practices, and sending tens of thousands of troops in order to quell dissidence. On March 17th the people of Venice rose up in rebellion against Austria and proclaimed the Republic of San Marco in order to regain Venice's independence that it had lost over forty years ago. When news of this reached Milan, the epicenter of revolutionary activity, the masses took to the streets in large numbers, being further encouraged by the resignation of Metternich earlier that week. The uprising which was later called the Five Days of Milan, was a short and brutal affair with riots taking place all over the city and intense hand to hand combat being underway in the midst of street barricades erected by the revolutionaries. The commanding Austrian General Joseph Radetzky von Radetz chose to withdraw from the city on the fifth day due to fears of encirclement and a siege by peasants from the countryside as well as a possible reinforcement from the Piedmontese Army, withdrawing into an area of fortresses known as the Quadrilatero which made up the cities of Verona, Legano, Mantua, and Peschier del Garda. The Revolutionaries had won the day, and in their hands Milan would become a symbol of unity and revolution throughout all of Italy.
Scene from the Five Days of Milan (Right). Italian defense of Venice against the Austrians (Left)
When word reached the Roman Conference on March 24th of the success of the Milanese in expelling the Austrians, as well as the uprising of Venice, the reaction was quite mixed. Many of the Republican revolutionaries such as the Giuseppe's were overjoyed and proclaimed that a war of liberation needed to be fought in order to free their brethren from Austrian tyranny. The Piedmontese under King Charles Albert secretly saw a chance to unify Italy under their rule if decisive action was taken quick enough. The neighboring Italian duchies expressed an urge for neutrality as they would be the first victims of a war with Austria. Pius advocated that while he supported the Italian people looking for independence he urged that caution and diplomacy be used first and foremost before thousands of lives were lost in a bloody conflict. Until then the talks had been going somewhat successful with the idea of an Italian Confederation gaining progress with support gaining from the statesman and discussion being conducted on how Italy could be united in further industrialization and a possible economic union. Now it looked as though these talks would fail with each side going their own separate way and taking action on their own. That is until one lone Austrian would change the fate of Italy. Johann Guggenheim was an radical Austrian preacher for the Lutheran Church who had gone under immense pressure from the Austrian government for his defiance and continued spread of Protestantism within Catholic Austria. In order to gain to strike a blow to the Catholic Church, Johann had traveled to Rome weeks previously in order to plan an assassination of Pope Pius IX, unaware of the ongoing troubles Austria was already having with Italy. On March 25th Johann had planned to shoot the Pope when he would be traveling through the streets of Rome in order to interact with the common masses, leaving him directly open to a possible assassin. What Johann did not know was that earlier that day Pius had invited Mazzini to travel with him through Rome in order to show him the effects of Pius's reforms as well as to discuss the correct course of action for the ongoing Lombardy crisis. When Johann went directly in front of the Pope and aimed his pistol at his holiness, Mazzini took action and jumped in front of Pius so that his life could be spared. Mazzini was hit directly in the rib cages while the nearby group of Roman peasants had converged upon Johann in an large and angry mob for trying to assassinate the Pope. Johann Guggenheim was beaten to death on the spot, his dream of assassinating the Pope being foiled by the actions of one lone Republican. Mazzini was rushed to a nearby Church where doctors were trying to save his life. Unfortunately by the time he came Mazzini had lost too much blood and was on the verge of death. His last words were directed to Pope Pius upon which he said, "Your holiness my time on Earth has come to pass but their is too much work that needs to be done. You must carry the torch and make sure all of Italia is united under one banner." Mazzini was given a funeral the next day being personally conducted by the Pope in Saint Peter's where over 200,000 Romans had gathered to pay their respects. In the viewpoint of the Italians, Johann was a lone assassin that was sent by Emperor Ferdinand in order to target the Pope and Mazzini so as to prevent Italian Unification. Johann had died before he was questioned so no one pointed to his religious reasoning for the assassination, instead pointing towards his Austrian heritage. Disgusted by the actions of Johann and encouraged by his earlier proclaimed vision from God about Italy, Pius called for the Italian states to band together in order to liberate Lombardy-Venetia from the tyranny of the Austrians. One by one each of the Italian states (including both the self-proclaimed Sicilian Kingdoms) joined together in a grand coalition called the "Italian League" with the aim of supporting the revolutionaries and unifying Italy together, war was declared by the League against the Austrian Empire on March 31st, the War of Lombard-Venetian Independence had begun. For Austria this was only the beginning of the what would come to be its darkest point in its history, as events within both Germany and Hungary would tear the Empire apart in revolution on all fronts.
View attachment 292034Giuseppe Mazzini 1805-1846. Supporter of Republicanism and Martyr for the Italian Cause (Right). Map of Italian League (Red) against Austrian Lombardy-Venetia (Blue) (Left).
A/N: Next update will cover the German section which will have HUGE changes from OTL's developments. Here is a preview for the next chapters; Chapter 32 Divided Deustchland. Chapter 33 Hungry Hungary. Chapter 34 The Trail to the Oregon War.
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 2.4k