A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year Part 45

[Sidenote: Fall of Milan]

[Sidenote: Truce of Vigevano]

The republic of St. Mark sought shelter under the royal aegis of Piedmont.

Manin, the liberator of Venice, resigned his presidency and went into retirement. Charles Albert now moved on Mantua, leaving half his army at Peschiera and further north. Radetzky instantly threw himself on the weakly guarded centre of the long Sardinian line. Charles Albert sought too late to rejoin his northern detachments. At Custozza, on July 25, he suffered a signal defeat. While he was thrown back over the Mincio the northern divisions were also overcome. Charles Albert retreated to Milan closely followed by Radetzky. He declared himself unable to hold the city. The people rose against him. On the night of August 5, he escaped with difficulty, protected by General La Marmora and a few guards. Milan capitulated on the following day. When the Austrians made their triumphant entry, half of the population left their homes to emigrate to Piedmont and Switzerland. On August 9, an armistice was arranged at Vigevano. Venice refused to accept it, and detaching itself once more from Sardinia, restored Manin to power. Garibaldi with his volunteers likewise held aloof and carried the fight into the northern mountains. From there he was eventually dislodged by D'Aspre and crossed the frontier into Switzerland.

[Sidenote: Raffet's battle scenes]

The picturesque scenes of the revolutionary struggle in Italy have been perpetuated by Denis-Auguste-Marie Raffet, a pupil of Charlot and of Gros, who had already distinguished himself by his lithographs of the brief Belgian war of 1832, and by his Russian and Oriental sketches made while travelling with Prince Demidov. The motley uniforms of the volunteers of Garibaldi, the Swiss Papal Guards and the Austrian, Piedmontese and French troops, as well as the picturesque costumes of the Italian peasantry, afforded a great scope for Raffet's brush. One of the most characteristic specimens of Raffet's art during this period is his well-known picture of "The Evening of the Battle of Novara."

[Sidenote: Austrian court returns]

[Sidenote: Jellacic ban of Croatia]

[Sidenote: Croats and Serbs secede from Magyars]

[Sidenote: Riots in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Jellacic disavowed]

[Sidenote: Civil War in Hungary]

[Sidenote: Metternich's comment]

The success of Radetzky restored a measure of confidence in Austria. The Emperor and his court, who had sought refuge at Innsbruck, consented to return to Vienna. There the promised elections had been held, and an a.s.sembly representing all the provinces of the Empire, excepting Hungary and Italy, had met in the third week of July. With the armies of Radetzky and Windischgratz within call, the Emperor and his Ministry a.s.sumed a bolder front toward the Magyars. The concessions exacted by Hungary in April had raised that kingdom almost to the position of an independent state. Under its separate management of the Hungarian army, Austria found it difficult even to use her Magyar troops at the front in Italy. The Magyars showed the same haughty spirit toward the Austrian Serbs, Slavs and Croatians. After Hungary's successful emanc.i.p.ation in March, the Serbs of southern Hungary demanded from Kossuth the restoration of their own local autonomy. The Magyars insisted on maintaining their ascendency, and decreed that only the Magyar language should be the language of the state. Slavic race feeling was kindled to sudden hatred. The Croatian national committee at Agram, that had a.s.sumed charge of affairs after the catastrophe in March, elected Jellacic, the colonel of the first Croatian regiment, Ban of Croatia. The appointment was confirmed at Vienna, even before formal notification had reached the Emperor. On a.s.suming office, Jellacic caused all Magyar officials to be driven out of the country, and broke off all relations with the Hungarian government at Pesth. Batthyany, the Hungarian Premier, hastened to Vienna, and obtained the disavowal of Jellacic. No attention was paid to this at Agram. Now, General Hrabovsky, commanding the troops in the southern provinces, received orders from Pesth to suspend Jellacic from office and bring him to trial for high treason. In the meanwhile the Serbs, meeting in Congress at Carlowitz on the Lower Danube, proclaimed home rule, elected a Voiovode of their own and authorized him to enter into intimate relations with their fellow Slavs in Croatia. This was in the middle of May. Vienna during these same days was in a continual uproar. Early in May a report that the Austrian Amba.s.sador at London had given a formal reception to Prince Metternich upon his arrival in England caused an outbreak of popular wrath in Vienna. A mob surrounded the house of Count Ficquelmont, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and compelled him to resign his office. Detachments of troops patrolled the streets at night. On May 15, the people revolted against this measure before the Palace, and compelled Minister Pillersdorf to sign an order for the withdrawal of the troops. The Emperor and his family fled to the Tyrol. At Innsbruck, where he was received with great demonstrations of loyalty, the Emperor issued a rescript in which he declined to return to his capital or to open the national a.s.sembly until order should be restored. In Croatia, on hearing of Hrabovsky's orders, the Palatine was burned in effigy. Batthyany hastened to Innsbruck to turn this Slavic affront to the crown to account. By a.s.suring to the Emperor the support of Hungary's troops against the Italians, Batthyany obtained the Emperor's signature to an emphatic condemnation of Jellacic and his suspension from office. Jellacic then set out for Innsbruck, accompanied by a large deputation of Croats and Serbs.

On the day that he arrived at Innsbruck, Batthyany at Pesth published the text of the Emperor's orders against the Ban. Still Jellacic held his ground. He regained the Emperor's favor by issuing an address to the Croatian soldiers serving in Italy, enjoining them to stand by the colors no matter what reports reached them from home. He was permitted to return to Croatia and to resume his government at Agram. As soon as he reached home, he declared himself the champion of Austrian unity, and a.s.sumed dictatorial powers. Civil war broke out in Lower Hungary. General Hrabovsky, when he attempted to occupy Carlowitz, encountered serious opposition. He was attacked with such vehemence, by the Serbs led by Stratimirovic, that he had to beat a retreat. The Hungarian Diet at Pesth called for a levy of 200,000 men to crush the Slavic rebellion. In the face of a letter from the Emperor, condemning the resistance offered to the Hungarian government by the Slavs, Kossuth charged the Austrian Court with instigating the civil war. Evidence was brought forward to show that the Minister of War at Vienna was encouraging Austrian officers to join the insurrection. Such was the situation in Austria at midsummer. A characteristic comment on this apparently sudden disintegration of the Austrian Empire at this time was furnished by Prince Metternich to his fellow refugee, Francois Pierre Guizot, the fallen Prime Minister of France. "During the catastrophes of 1848," writes Guizot, in his "Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire de mon Temps," "meeting Prince Metternich at London one day, I said to him: 'Explain to me the causes of your revolution in Austria. I know why and how things happened in Paris; but in Austria, under your government, I cannot understand.' He replied with a smile of mingled pride and sadness: 'I have sometimes ruled Europe, but Austria never.'"

[Sidenote: The Frankfort Parliament]

[Sidenote: John of Austria elected leader]

[Sidenote: Prussia discredited]

[Sidenote: Foreign Powers intervene]

[Sidenote: Truce of Malmo]

[Sidenote: Frankfort Parliament powerless]

At Frankfort, during this interval, the national parliament of Germany was convened on May 18. The event was celebrated throughout Germany with the ringing of bells and bonfires at night. In truth, the a.s.sembly was such that Germany might well be proud of it. Of the 586 delegates, more than a hundred were university professors and scholars of eminence. Among them were such men as Arndt, the poet, Gervinus and Dahlberg, the historians, with others of like note. A promising unity of ideals seemed to prevail.

Heinrich von Gagern, a man of high character and parliamentary experience, was elected chairman by a majority of 305 out of 397 votes. It was his proposal to create a central executive in the person of a _Reichsverweser_.

Archduke John of Austria, one of the most popular of German princes, was elected to this office by an overwhelming majority of 436 votes. The Archduke, who was then presiding over the new Austrian a.s.sembly at Vienna, accepted the honor. By the time the German Bundestag adjourned, on July 13, everything seemed full of promise. The minor German States formally acknowledged the new Reichsverweser. King Frederick William of Prussia invited him, together with many members of the Frankfort Parliament, to the Cologne Cathedral festival on August 14. There the King pledged the Archduke at a public banquet: "May he give us," declared the King, "united and free German peoples; may he give us united and free sovereigns." A few days later an event occurred which opened the eyes of the Germans to Prussia's real part in the destinies of Germany. This was the armistice of Malmo, concluded on August 26, between Denmark and Prussia. The early German victories at Dannewirk and Oversee had borne no fruit. The Danes were masters of the sea, and mercilessly ravaged the German coasts, unprotected by any navy. As King Frederick William remarked, it was like a fight between a hound and a fish. The Danes took innumerable prizes and crippled the commerce of the Hanseatic cities. General Wrangel thereupon exacted a contribution of 2,000,000 thalers in Jutland. For every fisherman's hut that the Danish fleet might injure on the German coast, he threatened to lay a Danish village in ashes. The foreign Powers objected to such ruthless campaigning. The Scandinavian States intervened on behalf of Denmark. Emperor Nicholas of Russia, who regarded the Schleswig-Holstein movement as an unjustifiable rebellion, came to their support. Lord Palmerston, who had once proposed to end the quarrel by simply cutting the disputed territory in two, according to the preferences of the inhabitants, now threw in the weight of England with the other Powers. Prussia was constrained to withdraw her army. According to the provisions of the seven months' truce forced upon Prussia at Malmo in Sweden, all prisoners were to be returned, the Schleswig-Holstein army was to be disbanded, while a temporary government of the duchies was to be administered by representatives of Denmark and Prussia. All Germany was in an uproar. The Frankfort Parliament repudiated the armistice by 238 against 221 votes. The new-formed German Ministry resigned. Prof. Dahlmann, one of the protagonists of the Schleswig-Holstein movement, was commissioned to form a new Ministry. His efforts resulted only in failure. The conviction grew that the German Parliament was powerless. Presently the Parliament revoked its own decision, approving the armistice by 258 over 236 votes. After all, it was plain that the most momentous German question of the day had been settled independently of united Germany by Prussia standing alone. In South Germany the revolutionists were once more called to arms.

[Sidenote: The French Republic]

[Sidenote: National workshops]

[Sidenote: Fyffe's judgment]

The new republican government of France had been kept far too busy by the logical consequences of its revolutionary measures to take any active part in the international settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein question. The majority of the provisional government were moderate republicans, representing the _bourgeoisie_, or middle cla.s.s, rather than the workmen, but a.s.sociated with them were such radicals as Louis Blanc, Ledru-Rollin and Albert, a locksmith. During the first few days of the installation they undertook to guarantee employment to every citizen. It proved a gigantic engagement. The mere distribution of idle workmen among the various industries in which they were employed called for a new branch of the administration. The task outgrew all expectations. Within four weeks the number of applicants for government work rose from 140 to 65,000. Under the stimulus of government compet.i.tion, a series of labor strikes were declared against private factories and establishments. The scheme, as then attempted, grew utterly unmanageable. As Fyffe has said in his chapter on this subject: "If, instead of a group of benevolent theorists, the experiment of 1848 had had for its authors a company of millionaires anxious to dispel all hope that mankind might ever rise to a higher order than that of unrestricted compet.i.tion of man against man, it could not have been conducted under more fatal conditions."

[Sidenote: Radicals outvoted]

[Sidenote: Another attempted revolution]

[Sidenote: National workshop abolished]

The elections of April 23 gave the moderate element a handsome majority. An attempt to change the elections was frustrated by the National Guard.

Strengthened by this manifestation of popular approval, Lamartine and his colleagues got rid of their radical a.s.sociates in the Cabinet. The excluded radicals now planned a new revolution. On May 15, simultaneously with the renewed riots in Vienna, an attempt was made to overthrow the government.

On the pretext of presenting a pet.i.tion on behalf of Poland, a mob invaded the Chambers and dissolved the a.s.sembly. A provisional government was installed at the Hotel de Ville. The government supporters rallied the National Guard. The leaders at the Hotel de Ville were taken captive. The Palais Bourbon was cleared, and the Deputies were reconvened in their a.s.sembly hall. Encouraged by this success, the government resolved to rid itself of the incubus of the national workshops, after a variety of schemes with this purpose in view had been brought forward in the a.s.sembly. The government cut the Gordian knot by a violent stroke. On June 21, an edict was issued that all beneficiaries of the public workshops between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five must enlist in the army or cease to receive support from the State.

[Sidenote: Paris up in arms]

[Sidenote: Archbishop killed]

[Sidenote: End of bloodshed]

At this time more than a hundred thousand dest.i.tute men had flocked to the national workshops. They rose as of one accord. The rising of June 23 was the most formidable yet experienced in Paris. The number of the workmen alone exceeded that of several army corps. The unity of grievances and interests gave them an _esprit de corps_ similar to that of an army. The whole eastern part of Paris was barricaded like a fortified camp. Instead of a mere revolt, the government found itself entering upon a civil war.

General Cavaignac, the Minister of War, was placed in supreme command, the executive commission resigning its powers. He summoned all available troops into the capital. Regardless of private interests, Paris was treated as a great battlefield in which the enemy was to be attacked in a ma.s.s and dislodged from all his main lines. The barricades were battered down with field and siege artillery. Four days and nights the fight lasted. Whole houses and blocks in which the insurgents had found a lodgment had to be demolished. On the third day the Archbishop of Paris was struck by a bullet while trying to stop the bloodshed. On both sides the fight was waged with inexcusable savagery. The National Guard, with a few exceptions, fought side by side with the regular troops. The workmen, threatened with the loss of their subsistence, fought with the courage of despair. At the point of the bayonet they were at last driven into the northeastern quarter of the city. There, plied with grape and canister from every direction, they were brought to the point of surrender.

[Sidenote: Cavaignac]

[Sidenote: Louis Napoleon]

After this hard-won victory, the government did not hesitate to transport without trial the whole ma.s.s of prisoners taken alive. A policy of reaction set in. The government workshops and other concessions to socialism were abandoned. General Cavaignac, at the direction of the a.s.sembly, retained his dictatorial powers until a new Const.i.tution could be drafted. It seemed as if Cavaignac was marked to become the permanent ruler of France, but his own rigid republicanism stood in his way. It was at this time that Prince Louis Napoleon once more came into prominence. When he first made his reappearance in Paris he was requested to leave by the Provisional Government. Retiring to England, he awaited developments, while his friends and supporters agitated in his behalf. During the supplementary elections he was nominated for the Chambers by four districts at once, and, despite the government's efforts, he obtained a fourfold election. A vote of the a.s.sembly declared the election valid. With unwonted self-command the Prince declined to take his seat, on the ground that it might embarra.s.s the government in its difficult situation. His letter to the president of the a.s.sembly ended with the significant declaration that if duties should be imposed upon him by the will of the people he would know how to fulfil them.

[Sidenote: France spellbound]

Three months later, in the midst of the debates on the const.i.tution, while Cavaignac was still in power, Louis Napoleon was re-elected to the a.s.sembly--this time by five departments. His hour had come. From this moment he was a recognized aspirant for power. The great name of his uncle shed its glory upon him. The new const.i.tution of the Republic provided that a President with executive powers should be elected by a direct vote of all citizens. Louis Napoleon at once became a candidate. In an address to the people he declared that he would devote himself without stint to the maintenance of the Republic. In well-worded generalities something was promised to all the cla.s.ses and parties of France. The other candidates were Cavaignac and Lamartine. Out of seven millions of votes cast in this election, five million went to Louis Napoleon. The mere glamour of an imperial name cast a new spell over France.

[Sidenote: Death of Chopin]

[Sidenote: The pianist's career]

In the midst of these stirring events in Paris, Frederick Chopin, the piano composer, died on October 17. Born at Jelisovaya-Volia in Poland, he received his early musical education at Warsaw. At the age of nine he played a pianoforte concerto with improvisations in public. His first compositions were Polish dances. In his fifteenth year he published a rondo and a fantasie. Having perfected himself as a pianist, he set out on a concert tour through Vienna, Munich, Paris and London. After his first appearance in Vienna, the foremost musical critic there wrote of him: "From the outset Chopin took place in the front rank of masters. The perfect delicacy of his touch, his indescribable mechanical dexterity, the melancholy tints in his style of shading, and the rare clearness of his delivery are in him qualities which bear the stamp of genius. He must be regarded as one of the most remarkable meteors blazing on the musical horizon." In Paris he gave a concert at Pleyel's house. His reception was such that he gave up all idea of proceeding further and made Paris his home for life. He was welcomed to the intimacy of men like Liszt, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Bellini, Balzac and Heine. As one after another of his unique compositions for the piano appeared, he took rank as the foremost composer for that instrument. On the publication of his preludes and new Polish dances, Schumann wrote of Chopin: "He is and ever will be the most daring and proud poetic spirit of the time."

[Sidenote: Chopin and Georges Sand]

In 1836, Chopin met Madame Dudevant, better known as the celebrated novelist Georges Sand. Their attachment was mutual. For her he wrote some of his most inspired pieces. They spent the winter of 1838-39 together on the Island of Majorca, where Georges Sand nursed Chopin through a severe attack of bronchitis. Of this episode, which had its profound effect on Chopin's music, Georges Sand has left an unengaging record in the novel "Lucreticia Floriani," published shortly afterward, and another in her "Histoire de ma Vie." Chopin returned from Majorca broken in health. He was supplanted in Georges Sand's affections by Alfred de Musset. During the season of 1848-49 he gave concerts in London, whence he returned to Paris only to die. He was buried at Pere la Chaise, between Bellini and Cherubini's graves.

[Sidenote: Sicilian elections]

[Sidenote: King of Sardinia wary]

In Italy, after the armistice between the Austrians and the Piedmontese, matters went from bad to worse. In Sicily, a National Parliament had met and put Ruggiero Settimo at the head of affairs by a unanimous vote. King Ferdinand and the House of Bourbon were declared to have forfeited the crown of Sicily forever. Elections were ordered to call another Prince to the vacant throne. England, interested as ever in Sicilian affairs, impressed upon the Sicilian leaders the urgency of an early settlement. The elections were held in haste. On July 12, at two in the morning, the vote was announced in Parliament. The Duke of Genoa, Albert Amadeus of Savoy, Charles Albert's second son, was elected King. The British and French warships in Sicilian waters fired a royal salute. For Charles Albert this only meant fresh embarra.s.sment. In case of acceptance, he was sure to be involved in war with Naples in the south, as well as with Austria in the north. When the Sicilian deputies submitted their proposition in Piedmont, on August 27, they obtained no definite reply.

[Sidenote: Venice steadfast]