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VICTOR EMMANUEL H
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See also:VICTOR See also:EMMANUEL H . (182o-1878), See also: Consequently he had to agree to the temporary Austrian occupation of the territory comprised within the Po, the Sesia and the See also:Ticino, and of See also:half the citadel of See also:Alessandria, to disband his Lombard, See also:Polish and Hungarian See also:volunteers, and to withdraw his See also:fleet from the Adriatic; but he secured an See also:amnesty for all the See also:Lombards compromised in the See also:recent revolution, having even threatened to go to war again if it were not granted. It was the See also:maintenance of the constitution in the See also:face of the overwhelming See also:tide of reaction that established his position as the See also:champion of Italian freedom and earned him the See also:sobriquet of Re Galantuomo (the honest king). But the task entrusted to him was a most difficult one: the See also:army disorganized, the See also:treasury empty, the See also:people despondent if not actively disloyal, and he himself reviled, misunderstood, and, like his father, accused of treachery. See also:Parliament having rejected the peace treaty, the king dissolved the See also:assembly; in the famous See also:proclamation from Moncalieri he appealed to the people's See also:loyalty, and the new Chamber ratified the treaty (9th of See also:January 185o). This same See also:year, See also:Cavour (q.v.) was appointed See also:minister of See also:agriculture in D'See also:Azeglio's See also:cabinet, and in 1852, after the fall of the latter, he became See also:prime minister, a See also:post which with brief interruptions he held until his See also:death.
In having Cavour as his See also:chief adviser Victor Emmanuel was
is the most See also:complete monograph on the subject.
most fortunate, and but for that statesman's astounding See also:diplomatic See also:genius the liberation of Italy would have been impossible. The years from 1850 to 1859 were devoted to restoring the shattered finances of Sardinia, reorganizing the army and modernizing the antiquated institutions of the See also:kingdom. Among other reforms the abolition of the See also:Toro ecclesiastico (privileged ecclesiastical courts) brought down a See also:storm of hostility from the See also: At the end of 1855, while the allied troops were still in the See also:East, Victor Emmanuel visited See also:Paris and See also:London, where he was warmly welcomed by the See also:emperor See also:Napoleon III. and Queen See also:Victoria, as well as by the peoples of the two countries. Victor Emmanuel's See also:object now was the See also:expulsion of the Austrians from Italy and the expansion of Piedmont into a See also:North Italian kingdom, but he did not regard the See also:idea of Italian unity as coming within the See also:sphere of See also:practical politics for the time being, although a See also:movement to that end was already beginning to gain ground. He was in communication with some of the conspirators, especially with La See also:Farina, the See also:leader of the Societd Nazionale, an association the object of which was to unite Italy under the king of Sardinia, and he even communicated with Mazzini and the republicans, both in Italy and abroad, whenever he thought that they could help in the expulsion of the Austrians from Italy. In 1859 Cavour's See also:diplomacy succeeded in See also:drawing Napoleon III. into an See also:alliance. against Austria, although the king had to agree to the cession of Savoy and possibly of See also:Nice and to the See also:marriage of his daughter Clothilde to Prince Napoleon. These conditions were very painful to him, for Savoy was the hereditary See also:home of his family, and he was greatly attached to Princess Clothilde and disliked the idea of marrying her to a See also:man who gave little promise of proving a See also:good See also:husband. But he was always ready to See also:sacrifice his own See also:personal feelings for the good of his See also:country. He had an interview with See also:Garibaldi and appointed him See also:commander of the newly raised volunteer See also:corps, the Cacciatori delle Alpi. Even then Napoleon would not decide on immediate hostilities, and it required all Cavour's genius to bring him to the point and See also:lead Austria into a See also:declaration of war (See also:April 1859). Although the Franco-Sardinian forces were successful in the field, Napoleon, fearing an attack by See also:Prussia and disliking the idea of a too powerful Italian kingdom on the frontiers of France, insisted on making peace with Austria, while See also:Venetia still remained to be freed. Victor Emmanuel, realizing that he could not continue the campaign alone, agreed most unwillingly to the See also:armistice of Villafranca. When Cavour heard the See also:news he hurried to the king's headquarters at Monzambano, and in violent, almost disrespectful See also:language implored him to continue the campaign at all hazards, relying on his own army and the revolutionary movement in the See also:rest of Italy. But the king on this occasion showed more See also:political insight than his great minister and saw that by adopting the heroic course proposed by the latter he ran the See also:risk of finding Napoleon on the See also:side of the enemy, whereas by waiting all might be gained. Cavour resigned See also:office, and by the peace of See also:Zurich (loth of See also:November 1859) Austria ceded See also:Lombardy to Piedmont but retained Venetia; the central Italian princes who had been deposed by the revolution were to be reinstated, and Italy formed into a See also:confederation of See also:independent states. But this See also:solution was most unacceptable to Italian public See also:opinion, and both the king and Cavour deter-See also:mined to assist the people in preventing its realization, andconsequently entered into See also:secret relations with the revolutionary governments of See also:Tuscany, the duchies and of Romagna. As a result of the events of 1859-6o, those provinces were all annexed to Piedmont, and when Garibaldi decided on the Sicilian expedition Victor Emmanuel assisted him in various ways. He had considerable See also:influence with Garibaldi, who, although in theory a republican, was greatly attached to the See also:bluff soldier-king, and on several occasions restrained him from too foolhardy courses. When Garibaldi having conquered See also:Sicily was determined to invade the mainland possessions of See also:Francis II. of See also:Naples, Victor Emmanuel foreseeing See also:international difficulties wrote to the chief of the red shirts asking him not to See also:cross the Straits; but Garibaldi, although acting throughout in the name of His See also:Majesty, refused to obey and continued his victorious march, for he knew that the king's See also:letter was dictated by diplomatic considerations rather than by his own personal See also:desire. Then, on Cavour's See also:advice, King Victor decided to participate himself in the occupation of Neapolitan territory, lest Garibaldi's entourage should proclaim the See also:republic or create anarchy. When he accepted the See also:annexation of Romagna offered by the inhabitants themselves the See also:pope excommunicated him, but. although a devout See also:Catholic, he continued in his course undeterred by ecclesiastical thunders, and led his army in See also:person through the Papal States; occupying the See also:Marches and See also:Umbria, to Naples. On the 29th of See also:October he met Garibaldi, who handed over his conquests to the king. The whole See also:peninsula, except See also:Rome and See also:Venice, was now annexed to Piedmont, and on the 18th of See also:February 1861 the parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king of See also:united Italy. The next few years were occupied with preparations for the liberation of Venice, and the king corresponded with Mazzini, See also:Klapka, Tiirr and other conspirators against Austria in Venetia itself, See also:Hungary, See also:Poland and elsewhere, keeping his activity secret even from his own ministers. The alliance with Prussia and the war with Austria of 1866, although See also:fortune did not favour Italian arms, added Venetia to his dominions. The See also:Roman question yet remained unsolved, for Napoleon, although he had assisted Piedmont in 1859 and had reluctantly consented to the annexation of the central and See also:southern provinces, and of part of the Papal States, would not permit Rome to be occupied, and maintained a See also:French See also:garrison there to protect the pope. When war with Prussia appeared imminent he tried to obtain Italian assistance, and Victor Emmanuel was very anxious to See also:fly to the assistance of the man who had helped him to expel the Austrians from Italy, but he could not do so unless Napoleon gave him a See also:free See also:hand in Rome. This the emperor would not do until it was too See also:late. Even after the first French defeats the chivalrous king, in spite of the advice of his more prudent councillors, wished to go to the See also:rescue, and asked See also:Thiers, the French representative who was imploring him for help, if with 1oo,000 Italian troops France could be saved, but Thiers could give no such undertaking and Italy remained neutral. On the loth of See also:September 1870, the. French troops having been withdrawn, the Italian army entered Rome, and on the and of July 1871 Victor Emmanuel made his See also:solemn entry into the Eternal See also:City, which then be-came the See also:capital of Italy.
The pope refused to recognize the new kingdom even before the occupation of Rome, and the latter event rendered relations between church and See also:state for many years extremely delicate. The king himself was anxious to be reconciled with the Vatican; but the pope, or rather his entourage, rejected all overtures, and the two sovereigns dwelt side by side in Rome until death without ever See also:meeting. Victor Emmanuel devoted himself to his duties as a constitutional king with great conscientiousness, but he took more interest in See also:foreign than. in domestic politics and contributed not a little to improving Italy's inter-See also:national position. In 1873 he visited the emperor Francis See also:Joseph at See also:Vienna and the emperor See also: Bluff, hearty, good-natured and See also:simple in his habits, yet he always had a high idea of his own kingly dignity, and his really statesmanlike qualities often surprised foreign diplomats, who were deceived by his homely exterior. As a soldier he was very brave, but he did not show great qualities as a military leader in the campaign of 1866. He was a keen sportsman and would spend many days at a time pursuing See also:chamois or steinbock in the Alpine fastnesses of Piedmont with nothing but See also:bread and See also:cheese to eat. He always used the See also:dialect of Piedmont when conversing with natives of that country, and he had a vast fund of humorous anecdotes and See also:proverbs with which to illustrate his arguments. He had a great weakness for See also:female society, and kept several mistresses; one of them, the beautiful See also:Rosa Vercellone, he created Countess Mirafiori e Fontanafredda and married morganatically in 1869; she See also:bore him one son. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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