ur and the French were all ready to strike, it was not hard
to find an excuse for a war. Austria declared war on Sardinia, and, as
had been arranged, France rushed to the aid of the Italians. Austria
was speedily beaten, but no sooner was the war finished than the
French emperor repented of his bargain. He was afraid that it would
make trouble for him with his Catholic subjects if the Italians were
allowed to take all the northern half of the peninsula, including the
pope's lands, into their kingdom. Accordingly, the Sardinians received
only Lombardy in return for Savoy and Nice, which they gave to France,
and the Austrians kept the county of Venetia. A fire once kindled,
however, is hard to put out. No sooner did the people of the other
states of northern Italy see the success of Sardinia, than, one after
another, they revolted against their Austrian princes and voted to
join the new kingdom of Italy. In this way, Parma, Modena, Tuscany,
and part of the "States of the Church" were added. All of this
happened in the year 1859.
These "States of the Church" came to be formed in the following way:
The father of the great king of the Franks, Charlemagne, who had been
crowned western emperor by the pope in the year 800, had rescued
northern Italy from the rule of the Lombards. He had made the pope
lord of a stretch of territory extending across Italy from the
Adriatic Sea to the Mediterranean. The inhabitants of this country had
no ruler but the pope. They paid their taxes to him, and acknowledged
him as their feudal lord. It was part of this territory which revolted
and joined the new kingdom of Italy.
You will remember the name of Garibaldi, the Italian patriot, who with
Mazzini had been stirring up trouble for the Austrians. They finally
pursued him so closely that he had to leave Italy. He came to America
and set up a fruit store in New York City, where there were quite a
number of his countrymen. By 1854, he had made a great deal of money
in the fruit business, but had not forgotten his beloved country, and
was anxious to be rich only in order that he might free Italy from the
Austrians. He sold out his business in New York, and taking all his
money, sailed for Italy. When the war of 1859 broke out, he
volunteered, and fought throughout the campaign.
But the compromising terms of peace galled him, and he was not
satisfied with a country only half free. In the region around Genoa,
he enrolled a thousand men to go o
|