Chapter Sixty-one
Extract from “The history of Modern Italy, volume six: the golden years of the first Kingdom, from Westphalia to the start of the second French Revolution”
With the treaty of Geneva, Europe finally returned to a period of general peace and slow recovery for all the continent, except for the skirmishes in the Ukrainian region between Russians and Turks over Crimea which later involved a more vast theatre, and the secessionist war in France which ended briefly with the subjugation of Brittany and the second sack of La Rochelle, with consequent emigration of many Huguenots and Puritans in Italy, North Germany, Scandinavia and British American colonies, especially Ashland (1) and then to the near colony of Lenapia (2), where they battled the ground not only to the local tribes but also to the Dutch, organized around the island of Manhattan where they found the city of New Amsterdam, the actual New York. These European colonists helped the British to get rid of the Dutch from North America, and later they obtained the permission to found a town in the interjection between Schuykill and Delaware river, which was named New Jerusalem (3), soon prospered thanks to its strategic position becoming soon the largest city in North America during XVII century, and so destined one day to become the capital of the Commonwealth of America.
The economical situation of Italy after the Frond of the Duchies gradually improved, thanks also by the reforms took during the chancellorate of Mazzarino, but the war and the revolt nevertheless created a new shift in the Italian society, culture, and industry. The further centralization of the kingdom had as one of the major consequences, aside for the rise of the Southern regions which we talked before, the increasing of the weight of Rome as capital of the Kingdom, so leading the city to a fast demographic growth and the construction of workshops and factories around it, and the repopulation of areas into the Aurelian walls which were inhabited for centuries. The growth of Rome favored also that of the port of Civitavecchia, and above all that of Naples as main harbor of the Royal fleet and point of arrival of the sea routes towards Ifrica and the Southern Mediterranean, aided by the fact Mazzarino in 1661 decided to recover the ancient Appian way by repairing the abandoned segments and enlarging the road. As parallel consequence, the interest for the ancient Roman ruins along the road grew, giving a new impulse about the studies about ancient Rome but also to the spoliation, often illegal, of the relics in the area. That despicable market ended (or however was drastically reduced) only after the discovery of the sites of Pompeii and Herculanus a century later, which convinced the government to declare all the objects of historical relevance founded in the territories of the Kingdom will become state properties, with high sanctions in case of illegal movements of them, especially if out of Italy. Those laws later were enforced by the Republican government, as consequence of the movement of part of the Italian art treasures towards France, and still today the Italian government is the most intransigent about the issue of the recover of art objects illegally moved out of the country.
The Tirrenian coast was highly favored by the economical growth, thanks to the revenues of the CCA and the trade of the goods coming from America and Africa, while the Padan plains still suffered because of the devastations of the last conflicts, and a great internal migration because of the relocation of the production and administrative centers was taking place. Venice was a clear example of that crisis, because its economy suffered an hard blow with the devastation of Murano and the transfer of the CCR in Palmanova, not counting the loss of the incomes coming from the former lands of the Republic and the emigration of part of the Patrician families in Rome. Also Mantova and Ferrara were unable to recover properly, while Genova saw its economic weight reduced mainly as consequence of the loss for the Doria of the governorate of Ifrica and the constant rise of the HQ of the CCA, Livorno; the war and the plague instead didn’t stop the recovery of Milan, too relevant and placed in a vital geographical position to fall in a condition of decline, while the cities of Emilia and Romagna, Parma and in particular Rimini, and in minor measure Bologna, were highly favored because of their loyalty to the crown during the Frond.
The cultural life of Italy, after the reign of the shy and reserved Cosimo II and the miseries of the war, returned to shine under the guidance of the Borbone dynasty, soon bringing to its apex the artistic age known as Baroque, which saw in Lorenzo Bernini his main actor. Rome in particular saw the rise of various monuments and infrastructures, because Gastone wished to give his capital a new “Imperial” profile, but also Cartagine, which was still a site in constant evolution, was affected by the cultural influxes coming from the Eternal City, and as consequence irradiated the rest of Ifrica as well.
Also the immigration of part of the rich Venetian patricians to the capital contributed to enrich Rome with new palaces, and at the same time the surrounding countryside, because those families brought for Veneto the passion for the campaign estates. The fast spread of the estates in the Roman countryside bought great benefits, not only because of the increased agricultural output result of the intensive farming, but also for the start of the reclamation of the Pontine marsh, consequence of the rush of the Italian upper families to have their own estate near Rome. Of course, they were also disadvantages as well, such as the requisition of the lands of the local farmer families, in many situations scarcely refunded respect to the real value of the land; some of them remained to work for the new owners of the lands, but many were forced to emigrate in search of fortune in Rome. The criminality rating of the Eternal City started to rise aside with that of poverty, while the life standards started to decline, although more slowly respect to the other two great West European cities of the time, London and Paris, because of the rich quantity of water accessible to the population brought by the restored Roman aqueducts, the survival of the ancient Roman sewage (the Cloaca Maxima), the presence of a vast charity organization, and the fact into the Aurelian walls existed still abandoned sectors slowed the process of overcrowding.
Meanwhile, despite the presumed tolerance and respect of the local costumes, the westernization of Ifrica proceeded without halts of sort. The Italians in fact were determined, regardless of the issues with the Papacy, to make of the country a Catholic one, in order to demonstrate a Muslim region could be “recovered” as it happened for the Iberian peninsula almost two centuries ago. The Italian government made all the possible to reduce Islamic influence, even if the Inquisition was disbanded, with a series of restrictive measures, such as the denial to build new mosques (especially in the area of Cartagine, which in Rome’s opinion must be preserved as a Catholic city), the closure of many madrasas, and imposing additional taxes to everyone chose to remain Muslim. Any internal opposition was progressively reduced to impotence since the Algerians accepted to not support any attempt of rebellion in Ifrica, and to send away the rebel groups scattered on the borders.
Algeria after all was living a period of prosperity and peace since the rise of the Abdalwadite dynasty, which remained in cordial terms with Italy. The proper Algerian lands were united under a single banner, except for the city of Oran fallen in Italian hands during the Thirty Years war; The Algerians tolerated that occupation, because the presence of a Western European outpost in Algerian soil was beneficial for the country, thanks also to a less restrictive policy towards the Muslims adopted by the CCA, in charge of the administration of the city, while the end of Berber piracy increased the trade along all the Mediterranean. Of the rest of Maghreb, only Morocco continued to pursue a hostile stance against the Western European countries despite it was practically isolated, even by the Algerians which started to have dreams about the reconstruction of an united Maghreb...
Morocco in any way didn’t have the necessary forces to obstacle the European trade routes through the Gibraltar strait region, nevertheless in the Atlantic, so the ships of the CCA transited without problems, thanks also to the control of Alboran, where a small but well protected military harbor substituted the previous Spanish outpost. The trade company, which after the acquisition of the “Asiento” saw drastically rising its incomes, was soon forced to increase its fleet. The CCA navy constantly grew at the point that at the start of the revolutionary age it was almost the double of that of the Regia Flotta, because the government of Rome saw more opportune to give the protection of the growing colonial empire to the skilled captains of the company; however, the disparity of naval forces later was a determinant factor in the Oceanic colonial war, when the CCA refused to oblige the requests of the Italic Republic.
While the CCA continued to expand, the friend-rival CCR encountered problems to expand its commercial weight in Eastern Europe and Russia in particular, because of the growing tensions with the Ottoman Empire over Crimea but above all for the growing rivalry between the two Rurikovic-Medici brothers. Ivan didn’t approve the war started by Dimitri, because he believed the Empire wasn’t ready to sustain a new conflict shortly after that with Poland, and he was jealous over the fact he managed to conquer Azov, succeeding where other Tzars failed. Ivan neither approved the foundation of Ivangorod, because he saw or believed to see a sign of duplicity and treachery in his brother.
The situation started to precipitate when during 1655 Ivan decided to stop the reforms taken by Dimitri in Ukraine, while imposed the cost of the Crimean campaign to the same Ukrainians by raising their taxes, stated that “if the Cossaks wanted the Crimean lands, they must paid tribute for that.” Naturally the local population badly accepted the imposition, and petitioned Dimitri for searching a solution; to the requests of the prince to back down, the Tzar replied with an order of comparison in Moscow, while an army was appointed to prevent a further “emancipation” of Ukraine respect to the rest of the Empire.
Ivan’s moves however irritated further the Ukrainians, while the Cossacks saw the chance to liberate their country from Moscow’s joke; in fact, the peoples of Ukraine still resented to be liberated from the Mongolian and the Polish joke by the “Novogorodians” (as the Russians were often called in spite) which claimed to be the descendants of the Kievan Rus, and also the fact Moscow was privileged to Kiev as capital of the Empire irritated the Ukrainians quite much.
However, between the same Ukrainians there was indecision about the future constitutional asset of the country, in case of successful secession from Russia. While the Cossacks were determined to proclaim a republic, the Ukrainian upper classes wished to revive the Principate of Kiev or even better proclaim the restoration of the Empire of the Kievan Rus. Dimitri, despite highly respected the Cossacks, however wasn’t obviously interested in the Republican option, especially when Ivan declared him a traitor and relinquished all his rights over the Russian throne; at the same time, he refused to claim a lesser title respect to that of Emperor, and even the term “Prince” was too reductive and open to possible bad interpretations. So, after a year of transition, the 29th May (anniversary of the fall of Constantinople) of 1656 Dimitri convinced the Patriarch of Kiev to crown him “Basileios” of Ukraine, launching a double challenge not only to the Russians but also to the Ottomans, which saw in that title a menace over Constantinople. The proclamation was generally accepted by the Ukrainians, even by the Cossacks despite they felt somewhat betrayed. Anyway, the Prince managed to keep united the various factions with the promise of the institution of a legislative assembly (Duma) in Kiev, modeled on the basis of the Italian Senate, while to the Cossacks were granted positions of prestige in the Ukrainian army in development.
The Italian influence over Ukraine was strong since the start of the uprising, for various reasons. First of all, Ukraine was viewed as a possible ally against the Turks, so the government in Rome had all the interest to reinforce the new country; Dimitri was half Italian and through his mother was in contact with the merchants of the CCR, which accepted with some reluctance to help the Ukrainians fearing the Russian government decided as retaliation to expel the company from the Empire. It was however an unreasonable fear, because Ivan needed the shipments of the CCR to supply his soldiers, considering the weak condition the Russian proper armies were after the conflict with Poland, so the Tzar in the end didn’t take countermeasures. As consequence, the CCR served both Ukrainians and Russians, gaining good revenues from the growing conflict.
In fact, Dimitri had still to face also the Turks in Crimea, because the Sublime Porte refused to sign a truce of sort and to recognize the loss of Azov/Ivangorod (renamed shortly Dimitrigorod after the independence), but still hesitant to mobilize their full forces still weakened after the period of the internal turmoil and the conflicts with Italy and Persia. Also, the Ottomans hesitated to send more soldiers in Crimea fearing a surprise attack from the same Italians or from the Austrians, which looked with attention to the events in Eastern Europe hoping for a Turk defeat in order to strike in the Balkans and retrieve Hungary and maybe obtaining something more.
In any case, the Ukrainians soon demonstrated to be capable to resist the Russian intervention, but Dimitri failed to obtain on the ground a decisive victory capable to convince Ivan to let Ukraine go, also for the necessity to cover the Western regions from a possiible Polish or Turk attack, so the rebellion slowly went towards a long war of attrition. Nevertheless, in the next years Dimitri obtained the recognition of the Ukrainian independence from the main Western European nations; only Poland and Sweden still refused to not grant their blessing, the first for fear and the second to not jeopardize the relations with Russia.
The Ottoman Empire so opted for a strategy of containment and waiting, enforcing the blockade in the Black Sea and closing the borders with Ukraine, and to strike after the Russians retrieved most of the rebel region. The blockade on Ukraine wasn’t ineffective, because also the Poles blockaded the accesses to Podolia, fearing an Ukrainian resurgence but also hoping with the fall of Ukraine to retrieve part of the lost lands. Nevertheless, the CCR continued at best of its capacities to supply the new nation, until the “Leuce Incident” of 1662 opened the path for a new conflict…
(1) OTL Virginia.
(2) Approximately OTL Pennsylvania. The British in this TL adopted for part of their British colonies names from native American peoples.
(3) OTL Philadelphia.
A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, but for many reasons of personal nature I delayed to update since now. I'm however sorry also to say that probably still for personal reasons I can't update the TL as for my others for an undefinite admount of time, maybe even more long of the last. In the meanwhile, enjoy this new chapter.