11. AN UNEXPECTED OFFER
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11. AN UNEXPECTED OFFER
On April 27th, 1848 there was the first election of the Kingdom of Sardinia, in which 1.7% of the total population could vote and of those people 65% went to the polls and elected the first Sardinian government giving a large majority to the political exponents who will be renamed centuries after "Historic Right", monarchist conservatives but with some liberal ideas. The chamber elected Cesare Balbo as first prime minister because of his central role in negotiating the Lombard compromise.
The first act of the Balbo government was in fact to put to vote the annexation of the Duchy of Lombardy to the kingdom of Sardinia. After a full day of discussion spent evaluating the pros and cons of the annexation (the pros from the Historical Right, the cons from their rivals, the Historical Left), the decision was postponed to the 29th when it was approved by the majority before noon, making Lombardy is an integral part of Piedmont. The extension of the Albertine Statute to Lombardy made it necessary to organize elections also in the region to allow its inhabitants to enjoy the same rights as the Piedmontese and therefore a new Lombard election was inserted in mid-May.
La Scala Opera House, one of the cultural icons of Milan
Lombardy was a rich and populous region, Milan was the pride of Lombardy-Venetia: most of the northern heavy and metallurgical industry was concentrated there, with a highly developed textile sector and more organized agriculture than in Piedmont. The annexation of Lombardy made Piedmont the economic power of the peninsula even though it was still behind the Two Sicilies which, however, had a more agrarian economy than the North.
The news of Von Westmeath's defeat came quickly to Vienna, causing a panic attack to Ferdinand I who was now convinced that it was a matter of time before he lost his empire. The emperor had never been mentally healthy enough to rule the empire and this news only worsened his state of health, even leading him to propose abdication, which horrified Prince Schwarzenberg: Franz Joseph was too young and inexperienced to rule and would lead to the ruin of the empire while it was better to have a mad but under control emperor. The prince did not want to take brutal control of the empire but wanted to save it and could have done it better with an emperor unable to rule. In his study he had begun to receive British ambassadors who asked questions about the Italian question and its future. Until then he had stalled them, but now he could not take time anymore, with Von Westmeath defeated there was no more time to waste and sometimes to save the body it was necessary to cut a leg.
The Sardinian Navy sailed from Genoa, before the elections, to Venice: it had been decided to deploy naval forces to give a show of strength to the Austrian navy which lay on the bottom of the port of Pula or scattered throughout the Adriatic, to entice the Germans to remain in port and not to challenge the hodgepodge of sailing and steam ships that was traveling towards the Serenissima. The presence of a naval team in the Adriatic would have given Venice the protection on four sides that it needed and would have pushed it further and further into the orbit of Piedmont, to which it owed its safety.
The military situation in Italy had attracted the attention of the great powers of Great Britain and France who had mobilized to find a rapid resolution to the conflict that did not alter too much the balance of power within the European continent. The French constituent assembly was determined to be sensitive to the maintenance of the European order and not to be a revolutionary time bomb ready to explode like the First Republic, so they queued in good order to the British in their undertaking aimed at containing the revolutions of the 1848. After the victory of Cittadella it was obvious that the Austrians had been driven out of the peninsula and that the Piedmontese were the new masters of the North. The troops besieged in Mantua and Verona had the hours counted and the diplomats of the two powers were already at work in Turin and Vienna to organize a peace conference in London in the summer; in both courts these offerings found ears willing to listen to them and supporters who made efforts to make preparations for their respective delegations and to end the war.
Lord John Russell, British Prime Minister during the revolutions of 1849
Pope Pius IX had by now abandoned the idea of continuing the war: the idea of being against a Catholic power and of seeing the Italian order of the last forty years defeated only because of a revolution in Milan no longer seemed worthy of a war. He also knew that the population was in favor of a unification of the peninsula and opposed any proposal to withdraw or reduce support. The task of a pope, however, was not only to deal with souls but also that of his legitimate dominion in the earthly world and he could not compromise the unity of the papal state.
In Naples King Ferdinand had lost the revolutionary and reformist vigor that had characterized the last part of his reign. Sicily in revolt occupied much of its time and the war in the north was too far away to have serious repercussions on its reign. The Sicilian revolutionaries had decided to give their state a monarchical form and had thought of Ferdinand of Savoy as a possible king, finding support from the British and French for the proposal. The king was baffled: the Savoys had become the favorite Italian house by the great powers who had taken a more active attitude towards the Italian situation. If Ferdinando di Savoia had the support of the British, how could he hope to stop him, unless he had brought order back to Sicily. That was the thing to do. The king summoned his troops, ordering them to go down to Sicily.
Meanwhile in the north Carlo Alberto, Bava and De Sonnaz had advanced far beyond the Piave river encountering little enemy resistance. The great battles like Cittadella or Legnago would no longer happen during the campaign and now the objective of the advance was the Tagliamento behind which Von Westmeath had hidden, together with reinforcements finally arrived from Illyria, leaving a few thousand demoralized men to lead a rearguard action. Once they reached the Tagliamento, they would propose a truce to the Austrians and, if Minister Balbo was right, the war would soon end with the English interest on the Italian question, but there was another problem that disturbed Carlo Alberto: the other offer, the.crown of Sicily to his son Ferdinando, this was a great opportunity not to be missed and if he hadn't misunderstood it was supported by France and England. His son, however, did not want to leave the artillery, being convinced that it was his place as an officer and prince but, with the end of the war in sight, it was better to think of the future rather than the present. Sicily, however, was still formally part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which had sent a corps in support of the Piedmontese, an army that had failed to materialize when needed. Carlo Alberto did not want to do wrong to an ally, but this Sicilian situation seemed too big an opportunity to pass up, just like the Five Days.
On April 27th, 1848 there was the first election of the Kingdom of Sardinia, in which 1.7% of the total population could vote and of those people 65% went to the polls and elected the first Sardinian government giving a large majority to the political exponents who will be renamed centuries after "Historic Right", monarchist conservatives but with some liberal ideas. The chamber elected Cesare Balbo as first prime minister because of his central role in negotiating the Lombard compromise.
The first act of the Balbo government was in fact to put to vote the annexation of the Duchy of Lombardy to the kingdom of Sardinia. After a full day of discussion spent evaluating the pros and cons of the annexation (the pros from the Historical Right, the cons from their rivals, the Historical Left), the decision was postponed to the 29th when it was approved by the majority before noon, making Lombardy is an integral part of Piedmont. The extension of the Albertine Statute to Lombardy made it necessary to organize elections also in the region to allow its inhabitants to enjoy the same rights as the Piedmontese and therefore a new Lombard election was inserted in mid-May.
La Scala Opera House, one of the cultural icons of Milan
Lombardy was a rich and populous region, Milan was the pride of Lombardy-Venetia: most of the northern heavy and metallurgical industry was concentrated there, with a highly developed textile sector and more organized agriculture than in Piedmont. The annexation of Lombardy made Piedmont the economic power of the peninsula even though it was still behind the Two Sicilies which, however, had a more agrarian economy than the North.
The news of Von Westmeath's defeat came quickly to Vienna, causing a panic attack to Ferdinand I who was now convinced that it was a matter of time before he lost his empire. The emperor had never been mentally healthy enough to rule the empire and this news only worsened his state of health, even leading him to propose abdication, which horrified Prince Schwarzenberg: Franz Joseph was too young and inexperienced to rule and would lead to the ruin of the empire while it was better to have a mad but under control emperor. The prince did not want to take brutal control of the empire but wanted to save it and could have done it better with an emperor unable to rule. In his study he had begun to receive British ambassadors who asked questions about the Italian question and its future. Until then he had stalled them, but now he could not take time anymore, with Von Westmeath defeated there was no more time to waste and sometimes to save the body it was necessary to cut a leg.
The Sardinian Navy sailed from Genoa, before the elections, to Venice: it had been decided to deploy naval forces to give a show of strength to the Austrian navy which lay on the bottom of the port of Pula or scattered throughout the Adriatic, to entice the Germans to remain in port and not to challenge the hodgepodge of sailing and steam ships that was traveling towards the Serenissima. The presence of a naval team in the Adriatic would have given Venice the protection on four sides that it needed and would have pushed it further and further into the orbit of Piedmont, to which it owed its safety.
The military situation in Italy had attracted the attention of the great powers of Great Britain and France who had mobilized to find a rapid resolution to the conflict that did not alter too much the balance of power within the European continent. The French constituent assembly was determined to be sensitive to the maintenance of the European order and not to be a revolutionary time bomb ready to explode like the First Republic, so they queued in good order to the British in their undertaking aimed at containing the revolutions of the 1848. After the victory of Cittadella it was obvious that the Austrians had been driven out of the peninsula and that the Piedmontese were the new masters of the North. The troops besieged in Mantua and Verona had the hours counted and the diplomats of the two powers were already at work in Turin and Vienna to organize a peace conference in London in the summer; in both courts these offerings found ears willing to listen to them and supporters who made efforts to make preparations for their respective delegations and to end the war.
Lord John Russell, British Prime Minister during the revolutions of 1849
Pope Pius IX had by now abandoned the idea of continuing the war: the idea of being against a Catholic power and of seeing the Italian order of the last forty years defeated only because of a revolution in Milan no longer seemed worthy of a war. He also knew that the population was in favor of a unification of the peninsula and opposed any proposal to withdraw or reduce support. The task of a pope, however, was not only to deal with souls but also that of his legitimate dominion in the earthly world and he could not compromise the unity of the papal state.
In Naples King Ferdinand had lost the revolutionary and reformist vigor that had characterized the last part of his reign. Sicily in revolt occupied much of its time and the war in the north was too far away to have serious repercussions on its reign. The Sicilian revolutionaries had decided to give their state a monarchical form and had thought of Ferdinand of Savoy as a possible king, finding support from the British and French for the proposal. The king was baffled: the Savoys had become the favorite Italian house by the great powers who had taken a more active attitude towards the Italian situation. If Ferdinando di Savoia had the support of the British, how could he hope to stop him, unless he had brought order back to Sicily. That was the thing to do. The king summoned his troops, ordering them to go down to Sicily.
Meanwhile in the north Carlo Alberto, Bava and De Sonnaz had advanced far beyond the Piave river encountering little enemy resistance. The great battles like Cittadella or Legnago would no longer happen during the campaign and now the objective of the advance was the Tagliamento behind which Von Westmeath had hidden, together with reinforcements finally arrived from Illyria, leaving a few thousand demoralized men to lead a rearguard action. Once they reached the Tagliamento, they would propose a truce to the Austrians and, if Minister Balbo was right, the war would soon end with the English interest on the Italian question, but there was another problem that disturbed Carlo Alberto: the other offer, the.crown of Sicily to his son Ferdinando, this was a great opportunity not to be missed and if he hadn't misunderstood it was supported by France and England. His son, however, did not want to leave the artillery, being convinced that it was his place as an officer and prince but, with the end of the war in sight, it was better to think of the future rather than the present. Sicily, however, was still formally part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which had sent a corps in support of the Piedmontese, an army that had failed to materialize when needed. Carlo Alberto did not want to do wrong to an ally, but this Sicilian situation seemed too big an opportunity to pass up, just like the Five Days.
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