.

NAPOLEON III.

IN ITALY

(A.D. 1859)

JOHN WEBB PROBYN

HE ties which united France to Pied

TH

Clotilde.

mont were strengthened by the marriage, in the end of January, 1859, of the Princess Clotilde, the eldest daughter of Victor Emmanuel, with Prince Napoleon, the first cousin of the French Emperor. Nor was Princess the surmise unfounded that the marriage was accompanied with distinct political stipulations between the two Governments; for an agreement was made by which the Emperor Napoleon promised to give armed assistance to Piedmont if she were attacked by Austria. The result, in case the allies were successful, was to be the formation of a northern kingdom of Italy, described as one possessed of about eleven millions of inhabitants. This agreement was not made public, but was signed on the 18th of January, 1859, by Prince Napoleon and General (afterward Marshal) Neil, on the part of the Emperor of the French, and by Cavour and General Lamarmora, on the part of Victor Emmanuel. Both

Austria and

prepare

for war.

Austria and Piedmont increased their armaments and raised loans in preparation for war. Men of all ranks and conditions of life flocked Piedmont to Turin from the other States of Italy to join the Piedmontese army or enrol themselves among the volunteers of Garibaldi, who had hastened to offer his services to the King against Austria. Instead of the confusion and division which marked and marred the uprising of Italy in 1848, there were now to be seen union and devotion under the command of that Italian prince who had, ever since he mounted the throne of Piedmont on the field of Novara, remained faithful to the constitutional liberties of his own people, and opened his country as a refuge to all Italians driven into exile for the cause of liberty. Meanwhile, diplomacy made continual efforts to avert war by endeavoring to find some solution of the difficulties and differences to which the Italian problem gave rise. In vain did other Powers seek to bring the views of the Cabinets of Vienna and Turin into agreement by means of various compromises. The gulf separating these two governments was far too wide to be thus bridged over. Then the idea of a European Congress was started. Questions at once arose as to whether Piedmont was to have a seat at the Congress, and if Piedmont, whether the other Italian States were to be admitted; again, were they to have a full or only a consultative voice in the ar

Diplomacy's futile

efforts.

rangements made?

Innumerable were the

disarma

proposed.

points of discussion which arose between Paris, London, Turin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Berlin, not to mention the views expressed by the various little courts of the Italian peninsula. Then came the proposition of a general General disarmament, by way of staying the warlike ment preparations which were taking over enlarged proportions. On the 18th of April, 1859, the Cabinet of Turin agreed to the principle of disarmament at the special request of England and France on the condition that Piedmont took her seat at the Congress. The Cabinet of Vienna had made no reply to this proposition. Then suddenly it addressed, on the 23d of April, an ultimatum to the Cabinet of Turin demanding the instant disarmament of Piedmont, to which a categorical reply was asked for within three days. At the expiration of the three days, Count Ca- Cavour's vour, who was delighted at this hasty step of refusal. his opponent, remitted to Baron Kellerberg, the Austrian envoy, a refusal to comply with the request made. War was now inevitable. Victor Emmanuel addressed a stirring proclamation to his army on the 27th of April, and two days afterward another to the people of his own kingdom and to the people of Italy. When he left his capital to put himself at the head of his troops he was accompanied by the earnest goodwill of his own subjects and of the vast majority of Italians. The Em

5-Vol. 7

peror of the French, who had promised to aid Piedmont if Austria were the first to take an aggressive step, was faithful to his engagement. On the 30th of April, some French troops arrived at Turin. On the 13th of Napoleon May, Napoleon III. disembarked at Genoa, where an enthusiastic welcome was given him by the immense concourse of people assembled to witness his meeting with Victor Emmanuel, who came to receive his powerful ally.

arrives

in Italy.

During the diplomatic campaign, which lasted through the first four months of 1859, Count Cavour, and those who represented his sovereign abroad, played their difficult game with consummate skill; yielding whenever circumstances made it necessary to do so, however hazardous it might be; standing firm just at the moment when such a course approved itself to some, if not all, the great Powers; losing no occasion to further the cause of Piedmont, never losing sight of the end at which they aimed-that not only of securing the influence of Piedmont, but of advancing the cause of constitutional freedom, which she championed, throughout Italy, so far as circumstances permitted. The desAustria's potic rulers of Austria, baffled and annoyed, at last lost patience and sent that ultimatum to Turin which gave Count Cavour the opportunity of refusing their demands with dignity, while enabling him at once to claim the

false step.

Her

assistance which the Emperor of the French had promised if Austria were the first to take a step which made war inevitable. The real difficulty of Austria rose from her ultradespotic system, which had received its crowning touch in the concordat concluded with the Papal See in 1855-a concordat to which no former ruler of Austria would have consented, so greatly did it fetter and restrict the impe- difficulties. rial power. The Italian subjects of Austria hated her rule, as did the subjects of those Italian princes whom she upheld. Hungary had never ceased to desire the restoration of her ancient constitutional rights. The freedom and order of Piedmont only increased the dislike felt by Italians to Austria, and so enhanced her difficulties. The Government of Vienna thought to cut the Gordian knot of its perplexities by war. It had just committed, by its precipitate ultimatum, a diplomatic blunder which its able adversary availed himself of without delay. It now went on to Her commit a military blunder; for, although the blunder. Austrian armies proceeded to cross the Ticino and invade the Piedmontese territory, they failed to make a decisive march on Turin. Had Count Giúlay, the Austrian commander, done so without hesitation, he might well have reached the capital of Piedmont before the French had arrived in sufficient force to enable the little Piedmontese army to arrest the invasion. As it was, the opportunity was lost

military