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inaugurated on December 2, 1852,
the day of Louis Napoleon's coro–
nation. He styles himself Napoleon
111, Emperor of the French. (Napo–
leon 11 , the young son of Napoleon
1, had died in 1832.)
A major concern of his reign will
be the threatened emergence of a
uni fied German nation . The stage
is being set for a titanic clash of
ambitions that will rock Europe to
its very foundations!
House of Savoy
Meanwhi le, in ltaly, a crucial series
of events is taking place.
The Congress of Vienna had
again divided ltaly into numerous
states. Most of the península is now
dominated by Austria. Only the
Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont is
free of Austrian influence.
In 1849, Víctor Emmanuel
li
comes to the Sardinian throne. He
is head of the House of Savoy. Dur–
ing the 18th century, this dynasty
had acquired the rulership of the
island of Sardinia and territories in
northern ltaly, centered on the
region of Piedmont. The capital of
the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont
is the city of Turin.
A g rowing movement is now
under way for Italian freedom and
unification. lt is called the
Risorgi–
mento
("resurgence"). Víctor Ero–
manuel is an ardent supporter of
the cause of ltalian independence.
In 1852, Count di Cavour (1810-
1861) becomes prime minister of
Sardinia-Piedmont. He is a descen–
dant of one of the ancient noble fam–
ilies of Piedmont. Like his king, di
Cavour is devoted to the cause of
ejecting Austria from ltalian affairs
and bringing about the unification of
ltaly under the House of Savoy.
Garibaldi 's Red Shirts
In July 1858, di Cavour meets with
N apoleon 111 , Emperor of the
French . They agree to provoke
Austria into war.
The war comes in 1859. The Fran–
co-ltalian coalition succeed s in
breaking the power of Austria in the
ltalian península. But at the last
moment , Napoleon 111 deserts the
ltalians and concludes a treaty with
the Austrians. He wants Italy liber–
ated from Austria, but does not want
the península united under Savoy.
Despite this setback, the move-
12
ment for Italian unification contin–
ues. Another figure now enters the
picture: Giuseppe Garibaldi ( 1807-
1882).
Years earlier, Garibaldi had
joined Young Italy, a movement
for Italian liberty and unification
organized by the revolutionist Giu–
seppe Mazzini. Now Garibaldi
decides that the best road to unity
líes in his working with Víctor
Emmanuel and d i Cavour.
In May 1860, with the support of
di Cavour, Garibaldi leads a 1,000-
man volunteer guerrilla army from
Genoa in a spectacular invasion of
Sicily, then ruled by the king of
Naples. This is the famous Expedi–
tion of the Thousand. Garibaldi's
men are ciad in scarlet shirts, and are
popularly dubbed the Red Shirts.
Sicily is taken after three months
of fighting. Garibaldi then moves
against Naples. That city falls on
September 7, 1860.
Sicily and Naples have been con–
quered! Garibaldi is a national
hero. Garibaldi hands his conquests
over to Víctor Emmanuel. Other
ltalian states declare by plebiscite
for union with Sardinia-Piedmont.
On March 17, 1861, Víctor
Emmanuel II is proclaimed the
first king of ltaly. Most of ltaly is
united under the House of Savoy!
But the unification of the penín–
sula is by no means complete.
Rome Holds Out
Not included in the new kingdom
is the Papal possession of Rome.
Emperor Napoleon 1 had taken
the Papal States-territory in cen–
tral ltaly ruled by the Papacy–
from the Pope in 1809. They were
restored to the Pontiff by the Con–
gress of Vienna in 1815.
Now, the Papal States (or States
of the Church) are seized by the
armies of Víctor Emmanuel and
annexed to Italy. The Church's
temporal power is shattered! Only
Rome-garrisoned by French
troops-remains under Papal sov–
ereignty. France considers herself
the protector of the Papacy.
Garibaldi still dreams of Rome as
the capital ofthe new united Italy. In
1862, he raises a force to capture
Rome and annex it to the Italian
kingdom. But Víctor Emmanuel,
desirous of avoiding a conflict with
France, orders his own forces to stop
Garibaldi. Four years later Garibaldi
tries again, but is defeated by Papal
and French forces.
The time is not yet ripe for the
conquest of Rome.
Enter Bismarck
Now the focus shifts to Germany.
In Prussia, Otto von Bismarck
becomes prime minister and minis–
ter of foreign affairs in the autumn
of 1862. He serves under King
William (Wilhelm) I, who acceded
to the Prussian throne in 1861.
Bismarck was born in 1815, the
year of Napoleon's final defeat at
Waterloo. He is a political genius,
ultraconservative in viewpoint.
From 1859 to 1862, he served as
Prussian ambassador to Russia.
Bismarck's chief ambition is to
unify Germany under Prussian
leadership and exclude Austria
from German politics. During a
sl;1.0rt stay in London in the
~ummer
of 1862, he astonishes British
statesmen by bluntly declaring that
when he will become Prussian
prime minister, his first move "will
be to reorganize the army .with or
without the help of the Diet. As
soon as the army shall have been
brought into such a condition as to
inspire respect,
J
shall seize the
first pretext to declare war on Aus–
tria, dissolve the German Diet, sub–
due the minor states, and give
national unity to Germany under
Prussian leadership."
Wit hin nine years he will fulfill
this program.
lron Chancellor
At the very start of bis office, Bis–
marck stuns tbe world by declaring
to the Ways and Means Committee
of the Prussian Diet: "The great
questions of our day cannot be
solved by speeches and majority
votes, but by blood and iron." He is
thereafter popularly known as the
Iron Chancellor.
Bismarck expands the Prussian
military as the long-standing hostil–
ity between Prussia and Austria
nears the breaking point.
In 1866, the question of the lead–
ership of Germany is finally fought
out. In June, Bismarck picks a quar–
rel with Austria over the possession
of Schleswig-Holstein, a territory at
the base of the Jutland península,
bordering Denmark. Thus begins
The
PLAIN TRUTH