After the drought, the flood.
69- For Whom the Bell Tolls
In the aftermath of the Battle of Cagliari and the total collapse of the Mediterranean League, Spain and Italy each tried to become the most powerful player in the Western Mediterranean. Each state had to devote considerable resources to secure their borders. Spain had several armies guarding Portugal, in the event the Allies repeated the Peninsular War. Italy had to leave troops guarding Sicily, especially after Napoleon V tried to take the island, as well as armies guarding the Alpine passes and the Gaulish border with France. However, the Italians had the benefit of the aid of Greece and Romania, particularly as fighting in the Balkans hadn’t gone beyond the skirmish level. The Italians also were able to purchase basically the entirety of the Turkish Army as mercenaries, which speaks to the economic stability of Italy despite the Collapse. Finally, the Italians were able to call upon the strength of Carlist supporters in Spain, who were greatly terrified of another day of Valens’s leadership.
Over the next few months, Spanish and Italian troops clashed amongst the plains of Provence and Occitania. The Spanish were steadily pushed back to the Pyrenees, mainly due to partisan activity, as the people of Occitania were generally unfavorable towards the restoration of the French monarchy. Valens finally gave the withdrawal order in early 1924, thus saving several Spanish armies from encirclement and destruction. At that time, the British struck, at Bilbao. The overwhelming Spanish victory at Bilbao was exactly what Valens needed to maintain his crumbling public support. However, it would not be enough, as Italian soldiers bloodily punched their way through the Pyrenees only five weeks after Bilbao. Despite their victory, large scale warfare didn’t erupt again until mid 1925, as both Italy and Spain were wracked with massive revolts. Once the scene calmed down, it was only a matter of time before Valencia itself fell, and with it Valen’s regime.
70- The Olympic Truces
As the European Civil War dragged on, many feared the complete dissolution of international practices developed over the previous centuries, one of which being the Olympic Games. In the summer of 1924, the Dutch government (1) began attempting to forge a kind of truce so that the games could continue, mainly so that the stadiums constructed in Amsterdam could be used, instead of rusting until the war ended. Thus, for two weeks in November in 1924, all Europe fell mostly silent, as the warring states sent their finest to compete. The Olympic Truce, as it was known, proved to be a major relief for all nations, as it provided a short respite from war and a major morale boost. However, despite the break, everyone’s thoughts were still on the war. The Germans began a crash course in panzer building, while the British used the time to raise money for more battleships. Of all the great powers in the world, only Spain and Italy declined to send athletes, as their countries were burning with revolts.
Inspired by the success of the first Olympic Truce, the main participants of the European Civil War turned it into international law. For three weeks every August during each Olympic year (1), all fighting in the would cease (or at least slow down), and every nation would compete in the least bloodily way possible, athletics. The 1928 Games in Stockholm, Sweden-Norway, was another resounding success, further cementing this concept. To this day, the Olympic Games have never been cancelled due to war.
(1)- As well as for three weeks in January for the Winter Games, developed after the European Civil War ended.
71- La Repúbrica de Zêna and the Savoyard Insurgency
Contrary to the propaganda, the war hadn’t lasted for six months. Dragging into its fourth year, with no real gain except for feasts for vultures, the common people of Europe were fed up, none more so than those in Italy and Spain. In the beginning, it had looked so bright, with the effects of the Collapse disguised by intense patriotism for the Roman Empire reborn, coupled with several astounding victories. Yet unlike the Romans, the modern Italians didn’t have much luck afterwards. The advance into France had stalled, reaching only as far up the Rhone as Vienne, just short of their objective of Lyon. And they hadn’t advanced any further. Resistance against the Italian troops by the common people of France began as soon as the border was crossed. Despite being attacked by, at one point, ten separate enemies, the leadership of the Third Republic was convinced that the Italians were the main threat, thus committing waves of dedicated soldiers in an effort to stop them and try to regain Provence. Although the fall of the Third Republic and the rise of the French Federation and the threat of Germany lessened the weight on the Italians, it went back to square one after Cagliari, once fighting broke out between them and the Spanish. Although the Italians did purchase huge numbers of mercenaries to supplement their troops, they did that at the expense of numerous other programs and agencies within the Italian government that saw almost all their funding dry up, all in the interest of the war. Even the Italian King, Victor Emmanuel III, was fed up with the fighting. Yet the explosion of revolt against the war began in an unlikely place: Genoa.
The Genoese city council, angry at the Italian government for continually neglecting to realize the full economic repercussions of the Collapse, took matters into their own hands when the local military governor refused to commit troops to defend the docks from a small Algerian naval raid, arguing that “it is the duty of the navy to protect against attacks from the sea, not the army”, completely ignoring the loss of the fleet at Cagliari. Stirred up by Alessandro Terranova, the leader of the banned Ligurian Independence Party, the council denounced the verdict of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which had granted Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia. They then proclaimed the Republic of Genoa reborn, La Repúbrica de Zêna, and immediately sent envoys to the Allies, asking for peace and recognition.
The repercussions were immediate. Italian troops swept into Liguria, and besieged the city. With antiquated defenses, Genoa capitulated almost instantly, especially once the military commander promised not to press charges of treason on the rebels only if they surrendered immediately. However, Francesco Marazi, one of the high ranking military generals basically in control of Italy, quickly countered that, and ordered all of the ringleaders of the Genoese secession to be detained. Although many thought that with this, the notion of rebellion within Italy was doomed. The dramatic escape of Alessandro Terranova completely changed that. After asking his guards if he could be brought to the roof to stargaze, Alessandro conveniently slipped away, free climbing down the side of the four story building he was held in. After using his characteristic charisma to bluff his way past guards on the port, he managed to hide himself in a barrel and sneak aboard a fishing boat leaving that morning, thus reaching Savona three hours after his escape. There, he proclaimed, using the radio, the creation of the Democratic Republic of Italy.
For the next seven months, Alessandro was chased across Savoy and the Piedmont by ever increasing armies, all the time raising the common people to arms. However, when his Grand Army of the Italian Republic was shattered in battle outside of Cuneo, his movement collapsed. He agreed to meet with Marazi alone in the foothills of the Alps, and while there is no record of the legendary conversation, the end is agreed upon: only Marazi walked away alive.
72- La Serenissima and the Po Uprising
Inspired by the efforts of Alessandro Terranova, the city council of Venice also declared independence, basing their claim off of the referendum after the Third Italian War for Independence, which transferred control of Venetia from France to Italy. They elected a new Doge, Marco Carranore, and implored the people of the Terra Firma to resist the “militarist and centralist government” (1). Almost immediately, there was a response. And based on Venice’s strategic location on an island in a lagoon, the military retaliation didn’t quite succeed as planned. With the loss of their navy at Cagliari and the defection of the Austrian Navy to the Yugoslavs, it proved quite easy for the Venetians to resupply. At the request of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, the Venetians were granted membership in the Danzig Pact, essentially joining the Allies (2). All throughout the Po Valley, resistance ranged from outright fighting to civil disobedience. Yet not all were tied directly to the Venetians. In Ravenna, a new Excharate was founded, claiming sovereignty over all of Central Italy. Ferrara, Mantua, Verona, Modena, and Padua declared new duchies and republics, raising flags not seen in centuries. Military units defected en masse to protect their hometowns. But it was not enough.
Filippo Capiri, the Minister of War, launched a coup soon after the Venetian Declaration and deposed the Prime Minister, along with most of the other ministers. He and his supporters hashed out a new constitution, making Italy a de facto and de jure military dictatorship. He then waged a massive propaganda campaign, slandering anyone who dared complain against his regime. At the same time, he offered amnesty to the rebellious cities, but only if they surrendered within two weeks of his announcement. Only a few followed through, causing Capiri to react with vengeance. The Razing of Ravenna was the result. A thirty-six hour long bombardment followed by the largest air raid ever seen on the planet caused a firestorm that engulfed two thirds of the city. The number of civilian casualties is still unknown.
In the aftermath, Capiri repeated his announcement for amnesty, which almost all of the rebelling cities agreed with. Rebel held territory had been decisively rolled back to just after Venice’s secession. Capiri marched with his forces and encamped on the shores of the Venetian Lagoon, where La Serenissima was in chaos. Marco Carranore was soon sent over in chains, after the Venetian council quailed when Capiri threatened to destroy Venice just like Ravenna. With the exception of Carranore and Ravenna, almost all the rebels managed to get away cleanly and alive. However Italy would still be simmering at the edge long after the war ended.
(1)- Centralist comes from a major law passed, which declared a uniform Italian language and any attempt to promote regionalism based on unique language was to be outlawed, ostensibly for the good of the nation.
(2)- The “Allies” consist of the Danzig Pact, the Coalition of Free American States, and the “New Entente” between Britain, the French Federation, Brittany, and Hanover.