Tant
i
Auguri!
1 50 Ye ars of It alian Un i ty
By Martin Gani
Italy is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, but one
of Europe’s youngest nations. Although its history dates
back nearly 3,000 years, it was only 150 years ago that the
country was finally united under a central government.
Last year, on May 5, 2010, Italy’s president, Giorgio
Napolitano officially launched the nation’s year-long
birthday celebration from the seaside town of Quarto, near
Genoa. There, exactly 150 years ago to the day, Giuseppe
Garibaldi and his army of one thousand left by ship to
liberate Sicily and the rest of southern Italy from Spain.
“Qui si fa l’Italia o si muore,” (Here we either make Italy
or we die), was the great general’s rallying cry.
ONLY A GEOGRAPHIC EXPRESSON
Why did it take so long to unite Italy? The answer involves centuries of cruelty, oppression and exploitation of
Italy by foreign powers. After Rome fell in the 5th century
A.D., the peninsula was invaded and occupied for many
Giorgio Napolitano launching Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification in March 2010.
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19th century Italy before unification
LA SPADA: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882),
“the Sword,” wearing one of his red shirts.
centuries by the French, Spanish and Austrians as well as
the Catholic Church. “Italy is only a geographic expression,” scoffed the early 19th century Austrian statesman,
Klemens von Metternich. Sadly, he was right. The only independent Italian state was the Kingdom
of Sardinia, which included the northern regions of
Piedmont, Savoy, Nice and Liguria, under the rule of the
Italian House of Savoy, whose king, Vittorio Emanuele
II, later became the first king of a united Italy. His capital
was Turin, in Piedmont.
By 1859, Italy was made up of four separate states
either ruled or influenced by foreign powers. In the
South, the Bourbons of Spain ruled the Kingdom of The
Two Sicilies comprising Sicily, Naples and all of southern
Italy. In the center, the Papal States were governed by
the Catholic Church with support from France; while
the northern regions of Lombardy, the Veneto and the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany were under the oppressive
rule of Austria. WINTER
2011 5 ITALIAN AMERICA
IL RISORGIMENTO BEGINS
But the times were changing. Young Italians were
inspired by the writing of Giuseppe Mazzini, a political
philosopher who championed il Risorgimento as the unification of Italy was called. He and his followers participated
in numerous uprisings against Austria that forced them to
flee Italy under pain of death. ITALIAN
AMERICA
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2011 5
One of these rebels was a young military genius,
Giuseppe Garibaldi, who spent many years abroad,
liberating countries in South America before returning
to Italy in 1854 to continue the fight for reunification.
[Editor’s note: During part of his time in exile, Garibaldi
stayed with the Italian inventor Antonio Meucci in his home
on Staten Island, NY. Today, the house is a museum and
Italian cultural center, owned and operated by the Sons
of Italy Foundation. It is has many Garibaldi artifacts,
including one of his red shirts, and is on the U.S. Register of
Historic Places. See www.garibaldimeuccimuseum.org.]
A living flag of 3,000 Italians in Turin celebrated
Italy’s unification in March 2010.
The monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome
is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
When Garibaldi returned to Italy, he found the reunification movement already at a good point, thanks to
Camillo Benso, the Count of Cavour, who was King
Vittorio Emanuele’s prime minister. In 1859, Cavour
negotiated an agreement with Napoleon’s nephew and
then-emperor of France, Napoleon III, to oust the Austrians from Italy. His plan would unite Italy under one
flag and create a new super power in Europe.
In exchange for its support, France received the Savoy province and the city of Nice, ironically, Garibaldi’s
hometown. That year, the Austrians were defeated by
the Italian forces everywhere except the Veneto, which
they held till 1866. Garibaldi, the heroic military leader
was now called on to complete the job by driving Spain
from southern Italy.
GARIBALDI’S RED SHIRTS
So it was that on the morning of that fateful May 5th
in 1860, Garibaldi and about 1,000 volunteers, mainly
from northern Italy, boarded two ships, The Lombardo
and The Piemonte, and sailed to Sicily. Their uniform
was a simple red shirt, which gave them their name, le
camice rosse but they were also known simply as i Mille
(the Thousand). Six days later, on May 11th, they landed
at Marsala in Sicily and by the end of July, had conquered
the entire island.
King Vittorio
Emanuele II
(1820-1878),
the first king of
united Italy. WINTER 2011
6
By then, so many Sicilians had joined him that
Garibaldi’s troops swelled to 4,000 and became known
as l’esercito meridionale (the southern army). Garibaldi
then attacked Calabria, on the mainland and fought his
way up to Naples, which he conquered on September 7th
without firing a shot because the Bourbon king, Francis
II had pulled his army out of the city.
continued on page 28
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Tanti Auguri continued from page 5
Garibaldi and an army of now 24,000 men finally met the king’s forces at
Volturno, the bloodiest battle of the Risorgimento. It lasted one week. On
October 2, Garibaldi was victorious, thus completing the liberation of southern
Italy. A few weeks later, Garibaldi met with King Vittorio Emanuele II at Teano. “I salute the king of Italy,” Garibaldi famously said, giving the monarch
complete control of all the territory he and his army had conquered.
IL CUORE: Giuseppe
Mazzini (1805-1872), the
political thinker and “the
heart” of Italy’s reunification.
On March 17, 1861, the United Kingdom of Italy was declared in the spacious Piazza Castello of Turin. Several years later, on September 20, 1870,
Italian troops invaded Rome, which was still held by the Catholic Church. Pope Pius IX retreated to the Vatican where he declared himself “a prisoner.” Italy was at last united, but as Cavour’s mentor, the patriot, writer and artist
Massimo D’Azeglio noted, “We have created Italy. Now we must create the
Italians.”
TANTI AUGURI!
How is Italy celebrating its 150th anniversary of unification? The government will spend about $43 million to restore some 300 sites and monuments
defined as i luoghi della memoria (places of memory) related to Garibaldi and
il Risorgimento.
Commemorative ceremonies are planned all over Italy but most celebrations
are focused on Turin, Italy’s first capital city, beginning in March of 2011. Numerous exhibitions are also planned around four main themes of Italian
history, culture, art and food and wine – all are fitting tributes and reminders
of what Italy has given the world.
IL CERVELLO: Camillo Benso,
the Count of Cavour (1810-1861),
“the brain” who orchestrated the
politics of reunification.
Martin Gani is a free-lance writer in Como, Italy. Contact him at mgani@
tiscalinet.it
150 Years of Nat
ionhood
M i l estone s i n I t al y ’s Recen t Hi s t o r y
1870 After Italian troops took the Eternal City from the
Pope, Rome replaces Florence as Italy’s capital.
1943 Italy withdraws from the war, but becomes a
battleground between the Nazi and Allied forces.
1912 The United Kingdom of Italy, a constitutional
monarchy, introduced almost universal male suffrage
by increasing voters from 3 million to over 8 million.
1945 Italy is finally liberated by the Allies. While
escaping to Switzerland, Mussolini is captured and
executed by his fellow Italians on April 28.
1915 Italy enters World War I on the side of the Allies;
declares war on Austria-Hungary and later, Germany
in 1916.
1946 Italy allows women to vote for the first time in
its history. A national referendum transforms Italy from
a monarchy to a republic. The leader of the Christian
Democratic Party, Alcide De Gasperi forms the first
government of the Republic of Italy. The last king of Italy,
Umberto II, the grandson of King Vittorio Emanuele II,
is sent into exile with his family.
1919 Trentino-Alto Adige joins Italy and is today the
northernmost region of the country.
1922 In October, Benito Mussolini and his Fascist
followers march on Rome and seize power.
1939 Italy enters World War II on the side of Germany
and Japan.
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28 1967 Italy becomes a founding member of the European
Economic Community (The EEC).
1993 The EEC evolves into the 27-state European Union,
which includes Italy.
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