Victor Emmanuel II
(1820-1878)
The impression wrought by his death was that of an expiation, a sacrifice to the fatherland; his remains were brought to Genoa on the Piedmontese war vessel Monzambano. His body was worshipped as that of a martyr and saint, and thousands followed it to its grave on the lovely summit of Superga, eastward of Turin.
Besides his rare patience and courage, Charles Albert possessed no prominent intellectual qualities; if in the one sense he was a brave soldier, he also proved himself a very indifferent general. As a prince he had good intentions, but was wanting in all application, desire for instruction, and in determination to such a point that cunning and dissimulation were indispensable to him. Nevertheless he was a man, and the great dangers, the deep suffering which he had to undergo for a cause also borne by the noblest of the people, conciliated and glorified his memory; thus he left his successor and his state a very promising but weighty legacy.[h]
The young king Victor Emmanuel concluded a truce March 26th, 1849, with the victorious field marshal, but this aroused so much disfavour throughout the country that the chamber of deputies refused to ratify it and a revolt broke out in Genoa. Not until the treaty had been cancelled and the revolt put down by force, did the people succumb to the inevitable. The new chambers later confirmed the peace with Austria, which placed a great burden of debt on the country to pay for the expenses of the war. From that time the Sardinian kingdom advanced on the way of liberal reform and healthy internal development.
VENICE FAILS TO ACQUIRE FREEDOM
Only Venice, on account of the unconquerable security of its position, was able to resist the Austrian besieging army for months longer and to defy all attacks and attempts at conquest. Not until all hope of a happy outcome of the war had disappeared, after the defeat of the insurgents in all places, and not until the city had been reduced to a state of greatest misery through distractions within, and the enemy without, did Venice surrender to the Austrians under treaty. On August 30th, 1849, the field marshal made his triumphal entry into the city of lagoons. Manin, who had borne the greatest part in the heroic defence of Venice, fled to France, where, rejecting all proffered aid, he supported himself as an instructor in languages. The former dictator of Venice and the former prisoner of Spielberg, Pallavicino Trivulzio were the founders and creators of the Italian national union, in which the republicans and constitutionalists, in the fifties, rallied around the cross of Savoy for the liberation and union of the fatherland. Manin was not to live to see the day of Italy’s independence. He died on September 22nd, 1857. Ten years later his ashes were transported to Venice and buried in his liberated native city.
After the fall of Milan and Venice the double eagle spread its wings once more over the kingdom of Lombardy and Venice; in middle and upper Italy the banners of the legitimate rulers were once more erected and the Italian tricolours had a place only in Sardinia. Pius IX proclaimed his deep repentance for his sins of liberalism. However much foolhardiness and blind passion the Italian revolution may have brought to light, one point cannot be denied—the honour of the nation was rescued. For centuries the object of the scorn and contempt of other nations, the Italians showed that they also knew how to bear arms; and although this time also it was no less their own lack of order than the military superiority of their opponents which caused their surrender, yet by this uprisal the hope was awakened and strengthened that for them also the day would dawn, upon which national unity and legal freedom would lay the foundation of a happier and more worthy popular life.