The End of the Beginning
Part 1: The Parmesan Gambit
Verona, Guardia Nuova - 10 May 1848, Early Morning
Ferdinando di Savoia, Lieutenant of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Heir to the Throne and most recently acclaimed as Princeps Italiae, was already in his study, reading through the reports arrived from Friuli, via Venice, overnight. It was clear from the expression on his face that the news was good.
"My confidence in Henri d'Orleans was well placed, Camillo! He has perfectly managed the war on the Eastern Front, achieved all his objectives, and proved to be very good at delegating. I was nurturing a few worries about De Sonnaz: he's a good general, but at times he seemed to be affected by tunnel vision. I have to admit that I'm quite impressed by how well he managed the campaign in Lower Friuli, and the battle of Doberdo' Lake was impeccably handled."
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour and recently appointed First Secretary of the Italian Confederation, had already read the same reports: "De Sonnaz put up as good a performance as any, but I am quite convinced that the praise for his successes must be shared with Colonel Cavedalis: the intelligence his jaegers gathered allowed De Sonnaz to anticipate the Austrian moves, and I believe that even the tactics employed at Dobardo' Lake were suggested by Cavedalis, based on his knowledge of the land. No criticism intended, though, rather the contrary: De Sonnaz managed his task quite well, was smart enough to recognize and accept good advice, and never stopped and got sluggish. I share also your appreciation of General d'Orleans: he was good, very good I should say, at delegating, and also at managing the investment of Gorizia and the final battle. This time around he commanded from the rear, which will meet the approval of your sister for sure, as well as mine own, but I was truly impressed when he refused to continue what had become an unnecessary massacre of enemy troops, and offered Nugent a ceasefire and a chance to surrender: war is hell (1), but it doesn't mean that soldiers should behave like demons. On a lighter note, I am still the editor of "Il Risorgimento", which means I cannot but like a man who can turn out nifty sentences. "Gorizia è nostra, e conquistata con onore (2)" : this is going to be the first-page title in every Italian newspaper, and in most of the European ones as well."
The Count stopped for a sip of coffee, before continuing: "Then there is Federico Carlo, and his cavalry charges at Jamiano. You may remember what I told you on the day the Expeditionary Force left for Friuli. Federico Carlo may do something stupid, or he may die in the war or he may come back as a hero: in any case, he would provide us with an opportunity. It looks like that our wayward Duchino has come out of the war smelling of roses, which is the best outcome for everyone. He's going to be lionized as the hero of Jamiano, and his wounds on the field are more grist to the mill: trust newspapers to milk it to the last drop. With your permission, I will make some delicate inquiries, and see if the delegates of the Provisional Government of Cispadania are equally impressed by the news. It might offer a practical solution for Cispadania, avoiding either the Lombard and Tuscan appetites for annexation or the establishment of a republic: I do not see the former to be acceptable to Cispadanians, and I am pretty sure that a republican solution would not be supported by a majority of the voters either. The considerations I made for Lombardy are also valid for Cispadania and for the Romagne, and I don't need to remind you that Ruggero Settimo followed the same line of reasoning in Sicily: a successful insurrection and a parliamentary vote sanctioning the decadence of the former sovereign, followed by the establishment of a constitutional parliamentary regime negotiated with the democrat wing of the insurgents and the choice of a suitable monarch.
Over the last few months, the political chains imposed on Italy for over 30 years have been broken, Sicily has become independent, the Republic of Venice has been reborn and the Pope has fled Rome: the old balance has gone forever, but a new balance has to be found, and one which can be acceptable not only to the citizens of the various Italian states but also to the other European Powers. It's a fine conundrum to solve, but we must unravel it if we want to succeed, and be quick to do it."
Camillo Benso fell silent for a moment, looking a bit sheepish, then said: "I fear that I've been lecturing, Ferdinando. A bad habit of mine, for which I do apologize."
"No apologies required, Camillo. I am intrigued by your words, and I would appreciate it if you would unveil your master plan for me." Ferdinando smiled thinly "Because I am pretty sure that you have an ace or two up your sleeve."
"Very well. Let's start with our Italian Confederation. The first major change is that Austria has been kicked out of the peninsula: the start has come with the insurrections of Milan and Venice, but those have been followed by conventional war, fought by professional armies, although with the support of volunteer corps. The war has been short, barely seven weeks; there has been no great disruption, no major siege and casualties have been limited. More importantly, law and order have been immediately restored, without opposition, and the former Austrian territories in Northern Italy have been neatly rearranged, dispelling the fear that the kingdom of Sardinia was on a conquering spree. The restoration of the Most Serene Republic has been a brilliant coup, and can hardly be branded as a revolutionary act: I will be happy to argue that it can be seen as the proper and dutiful restoration of a state which was brutally canceled by the Corsican ogre 50 years ago. Lombardy has been set up as a separate kingdom, and the people of Lombardy have overwhelmingly supported this change.
Austria has to accept full responsibility for this outcome since it was caused by the myopic and repressive policies that they enforced for over 30 years in Lombardy-Venetia.
The second major change happened in the Papal States. The incapacity to address necessary reforms was already castigated by the Powers almost 20 years ago, but nothing was done to ameliorate the situation; then a new Pope was elected, proved unable or unwilling to push through real reforms reform, and ultimately his contradictory policies completely alienated the population, forcing him to flee Rome. There was no civil war in the Papal States, and even the insurrection of Rome lasted for a handful of days. I will add that the restoration of the Papal States in 1815 didn't find unanimous consent among the Powers, and ultimately happened mostly by default. I will never cry for the disappearance of such a medieval relic, but the political situation there is still formally unsettled, and we must work hard on that.
It is almost a given that the former Papal States will give birth to two new states: one in the former Legations in the north, and one in Lazio, Umbria, and Marche. It makes sense, since there is no economic reason to keep the former borders, and there is deep lingering resentment in the Legations: they will not accept to continue being governed from Rome. Luckily, it seems that the Provisional Government in Rome will not oppose a "velvet divorce": we will know better when the delegations from Rome and Bologna will arrive in Verona in a few days, but their arrival means that both will apply to join the Confederation. It's too early to know for sure which kind of government will be installed, but I predict that the state centered in Rome will be a republic: I will not bore you by giving all the very obvious reasons for which I'm in favor of this solution, even if I am certainly not a republican. On the other hand, the assembly recently held in Imola appears to be more inclined towards a monarchy, although there is also a vocal minority advocating for a republic. At least this is what Marquis D'Azeglio has reported, and he should certainly know what's happening there.
The problem is that finding a suitable candidate for the throne is far from easy, the more so since it is almost sure two monarchs will be required: Cispadanian political attitudes are quite similar. There are just two potential candidates: your own cousin, Prince Eugenio di Savoia Carignano, and our errant-but-hopefully-reformed Duchino, Ferdinando Carlo di Borbone Parma.
You have certainly realized that I cannot consider as an acceptable candidate the former Duke of Modena, or the second son of Granduca Leopoldo di Toscana or any member of the Borbone branch currently on the throne in Naples.
Francesco di Austria-Este has always been a willing pawn of Austria, in deeds as well as in thoughts, and has also been consistently intriguing with the most reactionary figures on the continent (3); as they say, the apple falls close to the tree, and his father too was a champion of reaction and sent to death many patriots after the insurrection of 1831.
The second son of your uncle is barely nine years old, and I don't want to inflict a very long regency on anyone, in particular a regency masterminded by Grand Duke Leopoldo.
None of the close relations of king Ferdinando II of Naples stands really out, and as a matter of fact, all the past attempts to find any of them a place on a throne, even as Prince Consort, has consistently failed: even leaving aside the awkwardness of negotiating a deal with Ferdinando II of Naples, a horse spurned by all previous potential buyers cannot be a good bargain."
"A cogent presentation, Camillo. The problem of the decadence of the Pope from Temporal Power is not going away soon, but it doesn't need to be addressed in the immediate: let us see what the Roman delegation suggests.
I do agree completely with your reasoning in discarding some potential candidates for the thrones of Romagne or Cispadania. My own cousin should be eminently acceptable to either polity: in his forties, happily married to an Imperial Princess who has given him four children, a long and outstanding career in the Sardinian Navy as well as a significant administrative experience since the king appointed him as Lieutenant of the Kingdom when the war started.
Now tell me why you consider Ferdinando Carlo equally suitable to ascend a throne. His passion for the army was never counterbalanced by an equal interest in studying and understanding our world, an as Thukydides wrote: The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Although Ferdinando certainly embodied a rare ideal of warrior-scholar, and Ferdinando Carlo might be easily regarded as a true fighting fool, this wasn't an unexpected question, and Camillo was up to the challenge.
"First of all, I believe that the Duchino may not be truly intellectually gifted, but at the same time he's certainly courageous and of good heart. Second, he (and his father too) always resented the heavy-handed Austrian interference in the affairs of Parma. Note that his father did not abandon immediately the duchy after the insurrection, and tried to find a way to appease the insurgents, leaving for Florence, and not Vienna, only when this last-ditch attempt failed; Ferdinando Carlo decided to join your troops at Goito, bringing 500 lancers with him, and this should certainly be counted in his favor. He missed the battle of Goito, but fought in Friuli, and not only avoided doing anything stupid but also gave good proof of himself at the charge of Jamiano. He's come out of the battle smelling of roses, as I said, and his wounds are also good to further burnish his hero's halo.
Last, but certainly not least, he has certainly a valid claim on the throne of Parma, and our propagandists can easily parlay this into a claim on both the Cispadanian Duchies: a side benefit of this is that we will show Europe that we are making an effort to provide continuity of rule, even if I might say under different management.
Obviously, once the necessary spadework has been done, his father will need to abdicate, but I don't think this will be a major issue: Carlo II has always shown little interest in ruling, and there were rumors he was going to abdicate earlier this year, before the insurrections. There is just a little speck on the résumé of the Duchino: his wife is the sister of the Comte de Chambord, the Bourbon pretender to the French crown, and I understand that she shares in full her brother's reactionary and ultra-catholic beliefs. The marriage was purely dynastic, sponsored by Austria, and there is not much place for love in it, even if she has already produced a daughter and is again heavily pregnant. A little speck, I said: a female consort would not be allowed to openly express political disagreements with her husband, and if she does... there are "possibilities". Federico Carlo will never be a scholar-warrior, but we scarcely need such a mythical figure in today's Cispadania. Does this answer your question?"
"Even in this mad 1848, I was certainly not anticipating using Ferdinando Carlo as the key to solving a political problem.
You have succeeded in turning a sow's ear into a silk purse, Camillo: let's call it the Parmesan Gambit!" Ferdinando replied, laughing aloud.
Camillo thought it was good to see his Prince benefitting from genuine laughter: it did not happen often enough.
Footnotes
- "War is hell" is attributed to IOTL Gen. William T. Sherman, during the American Civil War
- "Gorizia is ours, and fairly won". IOTL Gen. William T. Sherman telegraphed to Washington on 3 September 1864: "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won"
- The elder sister of Francesco V of Austria-Este married the Comte de Chambord on 7 November 1846, while his younger sister Maria Beatrice married the Carlist Pretender to the Spanish crown, Juan Carlos of Bourbon-Spain, on 6 February 1847. These marriages created some scandal, since the brides' father, Francesco IV of Austria-Este, had died on 21 January 1846, and the mourning period was not respected.
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