It was not until August 6, 1849, that a treaty of peace between Piedmont and Austria was finally settled; by its terms the Piedmontese had to pay a war indemnity of 75,000,000 francs. The National Parliament, however, hesitated to ratify the treaty, and the King was obliged to dissolve Parliament and make a personal appeal to the country. The result was satisfactory and the treaty received the necessary ratification. Piedmont was not in a condition to renew hostilities with so powerful a foe as Austria, and for the moment had to play a waiting game. In the meantime the King, in spite of the reactionary spirit which was abroad, honourably maintained the liberties of the country, and in the courageous appeal to his people he gave a pledge of his intentions.
'The liberties of the country run no risk of being imperilled through the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, for they are protected by the venerated memory of my father, King Charles Albert; they are entrusted to the honour of the House of Savoy; they are guarded by the solemnity of my own oath: who would dare to have any fear for them?'
The liberty which was now firmly rooted in Piedmont gave umbrage to the other states of Italy, especially in Naples, where Ferdinand II established a tyranny. It was at this time that Mr. Gladstone, after having visited Naples, published his famous letters to Lord Aberdeen summing up the position as 'The negation of God created into a system of government.' Under the influence of Cavour, Piedmont became the centre of the movement for Italian unity and Garibaldi took for his watchword, 'Italy and Victor Emmanuel.'
Every endeavour was made by the leaders of the Italian movement to interest Europe in their cause. Much had been done in this direction at the Paris Congress of 1856. Piedmont had taken part in the Crimean War by contributing 15,000 men to the allied army. Napoleon was known to be sympathetic to the Italian cause, and in 1859, on Austria calling on Piedmont to disarm, war was declared.
The successes of Magenta and Solferino, as far as Northern Italy was concerned, gave Lombardy to Piedmont, but left Austria in the possession of Venice. Napoleon, who was by no means a whole-hearted supporter of Italian Unity, had designs of his own, and therefore did not press the campaign to its ultimate conclusion which, as Cavour had hoped, should have been the total exclusion of Austria from Italian territory. A great step, however, had been gained, and Victor Emmanuel showed his accustomed wisdom in accepting the position for what it was worth and waiting on events. This course was soon to be justified. Cavour did not live to see the success of his policy. He died in 1861, five years before the war between Germany and Austria, in which Italy took a part against her ancient foe, gave the opportunity of freeing the Peninsula from Austrian rule. On the outbreak of the war attempts were made through the mediation of Napoleon to sever Italy from her alliance with Germany, Austria offering to voluntarily cede Venice. Victor Emmanuel, however, wisely stood firm to his alliance, and the war ended in the complete discomfiture of Austria, and Sadowa must rank with Magenta and Solferino as one of the decisive battles in the Liberation of Italy. By the Peace of Prague Venetia was ceded through Napoleon to Italy, and on November 7, 1866, Victor Emmanuel made his entry into the city as King.
Rome was still a difficulty; there the Pope, supported by French bayonets, held out for his temporal powers against free Italy which wanted Rome for its capital, and Garibaldi's expedition of 1867 was a failure. 'In the name of the French Government, we declare that Italy shall never take possession of Rome,' were the brave words of the President of the French Ministry on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War.
In 1870, after his first defeat, Napoleon failed to secure the help of Italy, and Rome being denuded of foreign troops fell an easy prey to the army of the King. Thus it was through the agency of Prussia that Italy secured Liberty. The statecraft of Cavour and the patience and self-control of Victor Emmanuel gained what the impetuous bravery of Garibaldi and the revolutionary efforts of Mazzini could never have realised. Each, however, had done his part. The spirit of a people to accomplish great things must be aroused to create the energy which the master-hand must hold in check.
The force must be there, ready to propel the State when times are ripe. The discontent which showed itself at Genoa after the battle of Novara, the ideals which animated the thousand who sailed with Garibaldi to free Sicily, were both of them valuable assets to the nation.
That there were men who for their own ends took advantage of the situation cannot be doubted, and the revolutionaries in Genoa were of this kind. The ruin they might have brought on the city of Genoa and the difficulties they would have put in the way of Victor Emmanuel had they been successful are easily imagined.