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The revolution of 1848 in Italy
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In the Italian peninsula there were far-reaching developments
based to some extent on aspirations which had been definitely
stirring since shortly after the time of the election in June
1846, as Pope Pius IX, of a Cardinal who followed policies which
led to his being perceived as holding liberal views. Prior to his
demise in 1846 the previous Pope, Gregory XVI, backed by a sure
reliance on Prince Metternich's Austria for support, had been
responsible for establishing a pervasively repressive
administration where spies and informers could ensure that
liberals, nationalists, and intellectuals, were often harassed
and routinely subjected to punishments that were not actually within the laws. The more radical
amongst the population of the States of the Church, and indeed
the Italian Peninsula in general, for their part tending to be
involved in secret political or revolutionary societies such as
the Carbonari. By the authority of the incoming Pope there was a declaration, on July 17th 1846, of an amnesty. Amnesties, as such, were usually declared after Papal elections, (and indeed were traditional in association with changes of sovereign in several European states), but this amnesty was unusual in being extended to many sentenced for political crimes. As a result some two thousand persons convicted of offences deemed political were, after promising good behaviour, released from imprisonment or allowed to return from foreign exile. The Papal States, recently remarkable for political repression, now saw a degree of political freedom and a relaxation of previously strict censorship. Opinion amongst the informed public in the Italian peninsula had been stirred by several aspirational publications and notably so by one written by Vincenzo Gioberti entitled "On the Civil and Moral Primacy of the Italians". This work considered the past greatness of Italia and her present virtues, deemed that Italians were capable of resuming leadership of the civilised world, and looked to Sardinia-Piedmont and its army to stand up to the Austrian Empire. Pope Pius IX was familiar with the content of this publication that looked to the formation of a league of Italian rulers under the Papacy. The incoming Pope had in fact, prior to his election, brought copies of several such works to the Conclave of Cardinals at which he himself was somewhat unexpectedly elected Pope with the view of keenly recommending them to whosoever was returned to the Papal dignity. During his first few months in office Pope Pius followed progressive policies such as the promotion of railways, of gas-lighting, of an Agricultural Institute, and of some form of lay consultation in the administration of the States of the Church, all of which lent credibility, in many people's eyes, to such a role for his papacy. Other rulers in the Italian peninsula were affected by the changed times - in the city of Turin in Piedmont, from where Charles Albert King of Sardinia, ruled in Piedmont, Genoa, Sardinia, Nice and Savoy, there was an extension of press freedoms. Amongst the persons who involved themselves in press activity was a Count Camillo di Cavour, who had ownership links with a liberal leaning newspaper called Il Risorgimento (Resurrection) which demanded a Constitution, supported industrial development, and encouraged the speaking of "Tuscan" Italian rather than French or any of the many regional dialects then in everyday use in the Italian peninsula. On July 17th 1847, (the first anniversary of the papal amnesty), Field Marshal Radetzky, the Austrian commander in Lombardy, decided to very publicly reinforce the Austrian garrison in Ferrara, a town within the territories of the church. Although an Austrian garrison was present in the Citadel of Ferrara in line with the provisions of the treaties framed at the close of the Napoleonic Wars the public nature and the timing of this process of reinforcement was seen as provocative by Italian opinion. After the Austrians moved to secure several strategic points outside the Citadel "to protect their men from insult" Pope Pius personally protested to the European powers. This protest was welcomed and supported by many in the Italian Peninsula. In January 1848 there were 61 fatalities during so-called "tobacco riots" in Milan as people demonstrated against high taxes imposed by Lombardy's Austrian authorities who maintained a state monopoly on tobacco sales. On 12th January there was a rising in Palermo on the island of Sicily, then a notably populous city, and a principal seaport, against the absolutist King Ferdinand, with outcomes including a Sicilian declaration of independence and the awardance, by King Ferdinand, of a Constitution to his realms on the 29th of January. This was rejected by Sicily, as there was a powerful local movement supportive of an actual independence, but came into force in Naples. On the 17th of February Grand Duke Leopold II awarded a Constitution to Tuscany. On March 4th Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont issued a conservative constitutional document known as the Statuto which envisaged one of the two proposed legislative chambers being elected by persons who had an adequate level of literacy and also paid a certain amount in taxes. Whilst Pope Pius himself seemed to hope to somehow reconcile the Church and Liberalism without diminishing the Church's authority, the people increasing sought to gain the Church's support for democratic reforms and for Italian nationalism. On 14th March the States of the Church centred on Rome were awarded a Constitution, known as the Fundamental Statute, which had been drawn up by a commission of Cardinals. This constitution allowed for some participation of elected deputies in legislation. There were to be restrictions on voting rights. The Ministry of the States of the Church, previously exclusively clerical, now featured many lay persons. After mid-March there was serious civil turmoil over five days in Milan that led to the Austrian forces in Lombardy being withdrawn from that city towards the Alps to base themselves upon a formidable group of fortresses known as the Quadrilateral. In these times unrest in Parma and Modena caused their princely rulers to depart whilst a Venetian Republic was reborn under the leadership of a lawyer named Daniel Manin. On 23rd March Charles Albert, significantly motivated by the hope of acquisitions of territory to extend his realms, but also to some considerable extent fearing domestic unrest centred upon the traditionally radical seaport of Genoa that might have entailed a challenge to his continued rule if he did not join in with the challenge to Austrian influence, authorised the movement of his forces into Lombardy. Other armed contingents which it seemed might be used against the Austrian interest marched north from Naples, from Tuscany, and from Rome. On 29th April, however, Pope Pius in an Allocution addressed to the College of Cardinals expressed a policy that inherently compromised the role in which he had been cast by many as the potential figurehead of Italian nationalism. " ...Seeing that some at present desire that We too, along with the other princes of Italy and their subjects, should engage in war against the Austrians, We have thought it convenient to proclaim clearly and openly, in this our solemn Assembly, that such a measure is altogether alien from our counsels ...."
Many persons who had welcomed the Papacy's apparent support for Italian national aspirations were disappointed by this speech of Pope Pius. But, from a broader perspective, by adopting a non-partisan position Pope Pius avoided - (as Benedetto Croce has pointed out) - being "marked with the stamp of nationality and thus being deprived of a universal character as head of the Catholic Church above all national states." It happened that the forces of King Ferdinand of Naples, on 25th May, accomplished a counter revolution which returned Naples to his absolutist rule. This decisive move was precipitated by an attempted forceful overthrow of royal power in Naples. The Constitution awarded some weeks earlier was withdrawn and the local assembly suspended. The Neapolitan forces that had been sent north against Austria, during the more radical phase of recent developments, were now recalled.
Other Popular European History pages
The preparation of these pages was influenced to some degree by a particular "Philosophy
of History" as suggested by this quote from the famous Essay "History" by Ralph Waldo Emerson:-
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