A Short History of Italy Part 18

The liberation of Venice came first. Prussia occupied a position in Germany somewhat similar to that of Piedmont in Italy. Both had somewhat similar problems. Both felt antagonism to Austria, and also a suspicion of France. In April, 1866, the two states made an alliance against Austria, who, fearing the combination, tried to break it by offering to cede Venetia to Italy if she would abandon the Prussian alliance. Victor Emmanuel refused, and war began in June. The Italians were beaten both on land and sea, to their great mortification and chagrin. The crushing Prussian victory at Sadowa, however, forced Austria to accept the victor's terms, including the cession of Venice. On November 7 Victor Emmanuel entered the city. Rome alone was left.

Garibaldi made another desperate attempt, but was defeated by the French at Mentana (1867). Not by Italian victories, but in consequence of Prussian victories, the conquest of Rome was finally effected. The French were obliged to withdraw their garrison during the Franco-Prussian War, and then the Italian government, which, to the shame of ardent patriots, had so long forborne out of obedience to the will of the French, gave notice to the world that it would annex Rome.

After a useless call upon the Pope for peaceful surrender, Victor Emmanuel directed his army to march on the city. Real resistance was out of the question, but Pius IX had decided to yield only to force. On the 20th of September, 1870, a breach was made in the wall near _Porta Pia_, a few shots were fired, a few score soldiers killed and wounded, and the Italian army marched in and took possession of the city. A _plebiscite_ was held, and by a vote of 133,681 to 1507 the city voted to become a part of Italy. In June, 1871, the seat of government was formally removed from Florence, and Rome once again, after fifteen hundred years, became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] _The Union of Italy_, W. J. Stillman, p. 300.

CHAPTER x.x.xIX

CONCLUSION (1872-1900)

The union of Italy was so triumphant, the efforts which accomplished it so heroic, and the whole tone of Italian history throughout the Risorgimento so romantic and n.o.ble, that the period since of necessity looks flat and dull. The Italians themselves had imagined that the union of Italy would be followed by some career, political, moral, or intellectual, that would be comparable to the career of ancient Rome. A reaction was inevitable. No nation could continue at so enthusiastic a pitch. Moreover, the difficulties before it were great.

Chief of these difficulties was the persistent hostility of the Papacy.

Pius IX, a kind, lovable, timid man, wholly inadequate to cope with a revolutionary situation, had pa.s.sed from his early sympathy with the liberal movement to the opposite extreme, and hated it with the hatred of fear. His hatred of liberal ideas may be seen in his conduct with regard to ecclesiastical matters. He insisted upon the extremest conservative dogma, as if it were a shield to protect the Papacy, the papal city, the Papal States, and the whole Catholic world, from all a.s.saults of Satan and his liberal crew. First he proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, next he published the "Syllabus," which is a condemnation of all those doctrines commonly embodied in Bills of Rights. Finally, he convoked the Vatican Council (1869-70), and procured a decree that the Pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals. This decree gave the death-blow to whatever remains of republicanism there were in the Church, and established the Pope as absolute monarch. An Ec.u.menical Council, representing the Church, had previously been the infallible head of the Church; now the Pope was subst.i.tuted for the Council.

In this way the Church more and more a.s.sumed an att.i.tude of irreconcilable hostility to the ideas that prevailed among the educated cla.s.ses in Italy. After the occupation of Rome by the Italian government, Pius shut himself up in the Vatican palace and proclaimed himself a prisoner. He first advised and then commanded Catholics to stay away from the polls at national elections, and directed his foreign policy to the end of restablishing his Temporal Power. This policy, judged by the popular belief in the divine right of nationality and of majorities, is of course wrong; judged by one who regards the interests of the Church as paramount, it may be defended as an attempt to adhere to the old ways under which the Catholic Church had played its extraordinary part in European history. After the occupation of Rome the Italian government pa.s.sed the Law of Guarantees (May 10, 1871), which guaranteed to the Pope an annual subsidy of somewhat more than 3,000,000 lire a year, and also the personal and diplomatic rights of a sovereign, such as to maintain his court, to receive amba.s.sadors, to have separate postal and telegraph service, to keep the Vatican and Lateran palaces, etc. Pius IX refused to accept the subsidy.

Another difficulty, which has confronted the government since the union, has been the discord between the North and South. The northern provinces, especially Lombardy and Piedmont, have been making progress in manufactures and in commerce; whereas, on the contrary, the South, very ignorant and very poor, and devoted to agriculture, wine, grain, lemons, oranges, etc., without facilities for manufacture and without capacity for commerce, has made doubtful advance. Special causes have hindered it. In Sicily, in consequence of long-continued poverty, ignorance, and misgovernment, the secret societies, known as the _Mafia_, have overrun great parts of the island. The original cause of the _Mafia_ was probably self-protection, the lower cla.s.ses banding together to save themselves from the oppressions of the upper cla.s.ses who clung to the remains of the feudal system. The landowners, for example, had used their control of the courts to maintain privileges and injustice. As a natural consequence, members of the _Mafia_ deemed it ign.o.ble to revenge wrongs by judicial process, and still more ign.o.ble to give any information to any officers of the government. They settled their own disputes and righted their own wrongs. With the grant of suffrage the _Mafia_ became a political power, and only permitted the election of such candidates as it approved.

In Naples there was also a power behind the scenes which resembled the _Mafia_, but in reality was totally distinct and individual. This Neapolitan power, a legacy from Bourbon times, was the _Camorra_, a society of criminals or ruffians on the edge of crime, organized for the purpose of levying tribute by blackmail; it was not unlike the worst munic.i.p.al rings in this country, and gained its livelihood from the vicious, and from politicians who benefited by its support. Both _Camorra_ and _Mafia_ have been very great obstacles to social progress, and still exist.

The North, conscious of a higher standard of civilization, has wished to educate and reform the South, and also, perhaps, has not been unwilling to let taxation fall more heavily in proportion upon the agricultural produce of the South than on the manufactured products of the North.

Resenting this a.s.sumption of superiority, and suspicious of unfair treatment, especially with regard to indirect taxation, the South has felt itself aggrieved; and so there have been continual misunderstanding and friction between it and the North.

In its foreign relations the country has also had hard problems. France and Italy ceased to be friends. Italy could not forget that the French had upheld the papal power in Rome, and had defeated Garibaldi at Mentana; and France was indignant that Italy had not come to her rescue in 1870. France also was jealous of a rival in the Mediterranean; while the Italians believed that France favoured a revival of the Temporal Power. This unfriendliness, fostered by the Italian clericals, const.i.tuted a most disturbing factor in Italy's foreign relations. The breach was increased by other causes, and Italy in alarm turned to find friends elsewhere. Austria and Germany, who had already made an alliance, were glad to have Italy join, as further security for the peace of Europe against any action by France or Russia. So the three joined and made the Triple Alliance (1882), which was renewed from time to time and still exists. This alliance has given Italy ample security against any attack by France, but has imposed upon her very heavy military burdens in order to keep her army at a certain standard of efficiency.

As time went on the actors of the great age dropped off one by one; Mazzini in 1872, Victor Emmanuel in 1878, Garibaldi in 1882. It is after their departure, their n.o.ble desires fulfilled, their n.o.ble tasks accomplished, that Italy looks little and inadequate. The parliamentary struggles have certainly been neither n.o.ble nor romantic. After the occupation of Rome, the Right, the conservative party, under Marco Minghetti, Quintino Sella, and others, was in power for half a dozen years, and by means of a burdensome taxation succeeded in making receipts equal expenses. But taxes and refusal to extend the suffrage led to its fall from power, and the Left, the progressive party, under Agostino Depretis, a.s.sumed the government. Depretis abolished an unpopular tax on grinding corn, made primary education compulsory, and extended the suffrage from 600,000 voters to 2,000,000. After these reforms the dominant party ceased to have a definite programme. There was general confusion, known as Transformism. The deputies split up into little groups under petty leaders and fell to log-rolling. The story is dreary and unimportant.

Depretis, who died in 1887, was succeeded by Francesco Crispi, the most striking political figure since Cavour. Crispi began life as an advocate at Palermo, and took part as a very young man in the early agitations for const.i.tutional reforms. He was successful at the bar, and had moved to Naples to practise before the appellate tribunals there, when the events that led to the uprisings of '48 began to effervesce. Crispi took a leading part. After the uprisings had been suppressed, he lived in exile till the time was ripe to begin again. Then he returned to Sicily and plotted for the revolution which terminated in Garibaldi's expedition. He acquired great influence, took his seat in the Italian parliament, and soon became leader of the radical Left. In spite of vicissitudes and a not unattacked reputation, he was the chief parliamentary figure on the death of Depretis, and dominated Italian politics till 1896. In his youth Crispi had been a follower of Mazzini's republican theories; later, though still a republican in sympathy, he announced the opinion that "the Republic would divide us, the Monarchy unites us," and abandoned his old republican a.s.sociates. For this reason among others he incurred the animosity of old friends and allies.

During the period of his ascendency the subdivision of the deputies into little groups made government difficult, and for a couple of years he was out of office. In that interval hard times, adding weight to republican and socialist propaganda, caused strikes, riots, and insurrections; and accompanying these disturbances came the "Bank Scandals." Sundry banks, conspicuously the important Banca Romana, had been violating the laws which regulated the government of banks, and had been engaged in most improper dealings with politicians, as, for instance, lending money to deputies on little or no security. These scandals, together with the strikes, wrecked the ministry, and the country called on Crispi, as the one strong man able to take control. He a.s.sumed office in December, 1893, and remained till 1896, when he fell with equal suddenness. The cause of his fall requires a separate paragraph.

About 1870 an Italian steamship company established a coaling station on the west coast of the Red Sea, and acquired a certain strip of land which it afterwards ceded to the government (1882). From this beginning the Italian government advanced, upon one pretext or another, to the establishment of a colonial dependency. It occupied Ma.s.sawa, established the "Colonia Erithrea," and proclaimed a zone of influence along the east coast of Africa. Various battles were fought with the natives; and at last the government sent fifteen thousand men to perform some brilliant exploit for its own political benefit. The Italian troops were badly handled; they walked into a trap set by the Abyssinians, and suffered a terrible rout, losing half their numbers (1896). Crispi fell at once, and the new ministry under Di Rudin, in spite of cries for revenge, prudently abandoned the colonial policy, and made peace as best it could. Italy renounced her protectorate, and contented herself with a strip of coast by Ma.s.sawa. Thus ended the scheme of colonial aggrandizement begun in ignorance and folly.

The fall of Crispi removed the last interesting figure of the Risorgimento, and left Italian politics in a confused medley. Since then, various leaders of no marked ability or individuality have struggled with the permanent difficulties of Church and State, North and South, capitalism and socialism, and the shifting difficulties of foreign relations. All this time is too near to present any definite pattern to the casual eye. The century closed sadly with the a.s.sa.s.sination of King Humbert (1878-1900) by an ignorant workman who called himself a nihilist. Humbert was not a good ruler, but he had a kind heart and many pleasant qualities, which endeared him to the Italian people. He was succeeded by his son Victor Emmanuel III, the present king.

The greatest Italian figure of the last decades of the nineteenth century was not to be found in the service of the State, but of the Church. In 1810 Gioacchino Pecci was born in Carpineto, a dead little village perched on a hillside near Anagni, the town where Boniface VIII was nearly murdered by Sciarra Colonna five hundred years before. His father, Count Lodovico Pecci, had served in Napoleon's army; his mother was said to be descended from Cola di Rienzo. The count was the seigneur of the place, and lived in a somewhat shabby palace which had seen better days. Gioacchino was educated at a Jesuit school in Rome. He soon gave evidence of marked ability, and was taken into the papal service and sent as apostolic delegate to Benevento. Banditti infested the neighbourhood, and the n.o.bility of the town were little better than the banditti. Pecci displayed character. He was promoted, and at the age of thirty-three was sent as papal nuncio to Belgium, with the t.i.tle of Archbishop of Damietta, an archbishopric that had been _in partibus infidelium_ since the days of St. Louis. In Belgium, where liberal ideas were jostling the old ecclesiastical system, Pecci distinguished himself for tact and address. From Belgium he went to Perugia as bishop, and governed the city for thirty-two years, during the trying time in which (largely at the expense of the Church) Italy was forcing her way to freedom. In 1860 his authority was overthrown by the Piedmontese soldiers, and many tales of brutality and wantonness charged upon the nationalists were brought to his troubled ears, and he unfortunately received a most unfavourable impression of liberals and liberalism. His reputation for ability, character, and diplomacy became so well established, that in the conclave on the death of Pius IX he had no serious compet.i.tor. Leo XIII (1878-1903) was already an old man when he was elected Pope, and had had the misfortune to receive his education and training in the narrow school of the old papal rgime. Preceded by an incompetent Pope, he found himself confronted by the wreck of the Temporal Power, and by a liberalism which was not only triumphant in Italy, but in nearly all western Europe. He had not far to go to find thoughtful men who expected to see the Papacy collapse and die. Most difficult matters in Germany, in Ireland, in France, in the United States, required delicate and skilful management. It is not too much to say that Leo raised the Papacy higher in the world's regard than it had stood for two hundred years. Had he been a younger man, and trained in a more liberal school, he might, perhaps, have attempted the task of adjusting ecclesiastical conservatism and tradition to the needs of a fast changing world. But he was too old. With a few brilliant exceptions he accepted the conservative policy. He affected to deem himself a prisoner in the Vatican, and claimed the restoration of the Temporal Power; he declared Thomas Aquinas the best teacher for the priesthood, and stood firm on the dogmas of the Council of Trent. Nevertheless, his was a most impressive personality, and he stands in the long list of Popes in a rank inferior only to the highest.

In his old age, as he strolled in the Vatican gardens, meditating Latin verses, or thinking over his encyclical letters, "On the Condition of the Working Cla.s.ses," "On Christian Democracy," "On the Holy Eucharist,"

or turning his emaciated, sweet, Voltairean face to the great dome of St. Peter's, he may well have let his mind wander in peace over the outside world, for never since Luther cast off his papal allegiance had the whole Christian world been so united in admiration for a Pope of Rome. All Christians could say amen to the prayer in his last poem, "Suprema Leonis Vota:"--

Expleat o clemens anxia vota Deus,

Scilicet ut tandem superis de civibus unus Divino aeternum lumine et ore fruar.[25]

We have now reached our goal, the end of the nineteenth century, and if we look back and contemplate the vicissitudes of Italy, such as no other nation ever experienced, twice on the throne of Europe, three times crowned with its crown,--Imperial, Ecclesiastical, Intellectual,--and resurvey the three centuries during which foreign tyrant and native priest joined hands to smother and quench the Italian fire, and then read in detail the heroic acts of the men who sacrificed themselves for Italian freedom, we shall feel sure that the dull colours of the present generation are but signs of a time of rest, and that the genius of Italy lives within and will again enrich the world with deeds of men sprung from the "gentle Latin blood."

FOOTNOTES:

[25]

Fulfil, O gracious G.o.d, my anxious prayer,

That, at the last, one among the citizens of Heaven I may enjoy Thy Light, Thy Face, forever.

APPENDIX

I

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF POPES AND EMPERORS

----------+--------------------------+--------------------------+---------- Year of Year of Accession. Popes. Emperors. Accession.

----------+--------------------------+--------------------------+---------- A. D. A. D.

468 Simplicius Romulus Augustulus 475 483 Felix III Anastasius I[1] 491 492 Gelasius I 496 Anastasius II 498 Symmachus 498 Laurentius (Anti-pope) 514 Hormisdas Justin I 518 523 John I 526 Felix IV JUSTINIAN[2] 527 530 Boniface II 530 Dioscorus (Anti-pope) 532 John II 535 Agapetus I 536 Silverius 537 Vigilius 555 Pelagius I 560 John III Justin II 565 574 Benedict I 578 Pelagius II Tiberius II 578 Maurice 582 590 GREGORY I (THE GREAT)[2] Phocas 602 604 Sabinia.n.u.s 607 Boniface III 607 Boniface IV HERACLIUS 610 615 Deusdedit 618 Boniface V 625 Honorius I 638 Severinus 640 John IV Constantine III } Heracleonas, } 641 Constans II } 642 Theodorus I 649 Martin I 654 Eugenius I 657 Vitalia.n.u.s Constantine IV (Pogonatus) 668 672 Adeodatus 676 Domnus I 678 Agatho 682 Leo II 683? Benedict II 685 John V Justinian II 685 685? Conon 687 Sergius I 687 Paschal (Anti-pope) 687 Theodorus (Anti-pope) Leontius 694 Tiberius Apsimar 697 701 John VI 705 John VII Justinian II restored 705 708 Sisinnius 708 Constantine Philippicus Bardanes 711 Anastasius II 713 715 Gregory II Theodosius III 716 LEO III (THE ISAURIAN) 718 731 Gregory III 741 Zacharias Constantine V (Cop.r.o.nymus) 741 752 Stephen II 752 Stephen III 757 Paul I 768 Stephen IV 772 Hadrian I Leo IV 775 Constantine VI 780 795 LEO III Deposition of Constantine VI by Irene 797 CHARLEMAGNE }Carlovingian 800 }Line. Lewis I } (the Pious)} 814 816 Stephen IV } 817 Paschal I } 824 Eugenius } 827 Valentinus } 827 Gregory IV } Lothair I } 840 844 Sergius II } 847 Leo IV } 855 Benedict III Lewis II } 855 855 Anastasius (Anti-pope) } 858 NICHOLAS I } 867 Hadrian II } 872 John VIII } Charles II } (the Bald) } 875 Charles III } (the Fat) } 881 882 Martin II 884 Hadrian III 885 Stephen V 891 Formosus Guido }[3] Italians 891 Lambert } 894 896 Boniface VI Arnulf, German 896 896 Steven VI 897 Roma.n.u.s 897 Theodore II 898 John IX 900 Benedict IV Lewis III (of Provence) 901 903 Leo V 903 Christopher 904 Sergius III 911 Anastasius III 913 Lando 914 John X Berengar, Italian 915 928 Leo VI 929 Stephen VII 931 John XI 936 Leo VII 939 Stephen VIII 941 Martin III 946 Agapetus II 955 John XII OTTO THE GREAT }Saxon 962 963 Leo VIII }Line. 964 Benedict V (Anti-pope?) } 965 John XIII } 972 Benedict VI } Otto II } 973 974 Boniface VII (Anti-pope?) } 974 Domnus II } 974 Benedict VII } 983 John XIV Otto III } 983 985 John XV 996 Gregory V 996 John XVI (Anti-pope) 999 SILVESTER II Henry II (of Bavaria) 1002 1003 John XVII 1003 John XVIII 1009 Sergius IV 1012 Benedict VIII 1024 John XIX Conrad II }Franconian 1024 1033 Benedict IX }Line. HENRY III } 1039 1044 Silvester (Anti-pope) } 1045? Gregory VI } 1046 Clement II } 1048 Damasus II } 1048 Leo IX } 1054 Victor II } HENRY IV } 1056 1057 Stephen IX } 1058 Benedict X } 1059 Nicholas II } 1061 Alexander II } 1073 GREGORY VII (Hildebrand) } 1080 Clement (Anti-pope) } 1086 Victor III } 1087 Urban II } 1099 Paschal II } Henry V } 1106 1118 Gelasius II 1118 Gregory (Anti-pope) 1119 Calixtus II 1121 Celestine (Anti-pope) 1124 Honorius II Lothair II (the Saxon) 1125 1130 Innocent II (Anacletus, Anti-pope) Hohenstaufen 1138 Victor (Anti-pope) [Conrad III][4] }Line. 1138 1143 Celestine II } 1144 Lucius II } 1145 Eugenius III } FREDERICK I } 1152 (BARBAROSSA) } 1153 Anastasius IV } 1154 Hadrian IV } 1159 ALEXANDER III } 1159 Victor (Anti-pope) } 1164 Paschal (Anti-pope) } 1168 Calixtus (Anti-pope) } 1181 Lucius III } 1185 Urban III } 1187 Gregory VIII } 1187 Clement III } HENRY VI } 1190 1191 Celestine III {[Philip] } 1198 1198 INNOCENT III {Otto IV of Brunswick Otto IV 1208 FREDERICK II }Hohenstaufen 1212 1216 Honorius III } Line. 1227 GREGORY IX } 1241 Celestine IV } 1241 Vacancy } 1243 Innocent IV } [Conrad IV]} } 1250 [William] } 1254 Alexander IV Interregnum 1254 [Richard, Earl of } Cornwall] } [Alfonso, King of } Castile] } 1257 1261 Urban IV 1265 Clement IV 1269 Vacancy 1271 Gregory X [Rudolf I (of Hapsburg)] 1272 1276 Innocent V 1276 Hadrian V 1276 John XXI[5] 1277 Nicholas III 1281 Martin IV 1285 Honorius IV 1289 Nicholas IV 1292 Vacancy [Adolf (of Na.s.sau)] 1292 1294 Celestine V 1294 BONIFACE VIII [Albert I (of Hapsburg)] 1298 1303 Benedict XI 1305 Clement V }Avignon, }seat of HENRY VII (of Luxemburg) 1308 1314 Vacancy }Papacy. Lewis IV (of Bavaria) 1314 1316 John XXII } 1334 Benedict XII } 1342 Clement VI } 1352 Innocent VI } Charles IV (House of 1347 1362 Urban V } Luxemburg) 1370 Gregory XI } 1378 Urban VI, Clement }Great [Wenzel (House of 1378 VII (Anti-pope) }Schism. Luxemburg)] 1389 Boniface IX } 1394 Benedict } (Anti-pope) } [Rupert (Count Palatine)] 1400 1404 Innocent VII } 1406 Gregory XII } } 1409 Alexander V } } 1410 John XXIII } } Sigismund (House of Luxemburg) 1410 1417 Martin V 1431 Eugene IV [Albert II (of Hapsburg)][6] 1438 1439 Felix V (Anti-pope) Frederick III 1440 Popes of the Renaissance.} 1447 NICHOLAS V } 1455 Calixtus III } 1458 Pius II } 1464 Paul II } 1471 SIXTUS IV } 1484 Innocent VIII } 1493 Alexander VI } [Maximilian I] 1493 1503 Pius III } 1503 JULIUS II } 1513 LEO X } CHARLES V 1519 1522 Hadrian VI 1523 Clement VII 1534 Paul III } Council 1550 Julius III } of Trent. 1555 Marcellus II } 1555 Paul IV } } [Ferdinand I][7] 1558 1559 PIUS IV } [Maximilian II] 1564 1566 Pius V 1572 Gregory XIII [Rudolph II] 1576 1585 SIXTUS V 1590 Urban VII 1590 Gregory XIV 1591 Innocent IX 1592 Clement VIII 1605 Leo XI 1605 Paul V [Matthias] 1612 [Ferdinand II] 1619 1621 Gregory XV 1623 Urban VIII [Ferdinand III] 1637 1644 Innocent X 1655 Alexander VII [Leopold I] 1658 1667 Clement IX 1670 Clement X 1676 Innocent XI 1689 Alexander VIII 1691 Innocent XII 1700 Clement XI [Joseph I] 1705 [Charles VI] 1711 1720 Innocent XIII 1724 Benedict XIII 1740 Benedict XIV [Charles VII] 1742 [Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa] 1745 1758 Clement XII [Joseph II] }House of 1765 1769 Clement XIII }Hapsburg 1775 Pius VI }through [Leopold II] }Maria 1790 [Francis II] }Theresa. 1792 1800 Pius VII Abdication of Francis II 1806 1823 Leo XII 1829 Pius VIII 1831 Gregory XVI 1846 PIUS IX 1878 LEO XIII 1903 Pius X ----------+--------------------------+--------------------------+----------

1 All the Emperors between Romulus Augustulus and Charlemagne reigned at Constantinople.

2 Capitals distinguish the most eminent Popes and Emperors.

3 Two names bracketed together indicate rival claimants.

4 Those in brackets never received the Imperial crown.

5 This Pope skipped No. XX.

6 From 1438 to 1806, with the exception of Francis I of Lorraine, the House of Hapsburg was on the Imperial throne.

7 Ferdinand and his successors took the t.i.tle Emperor Elect.

II

GENEALOGY OF THE MEDICI

Giovanni Bicci, d. 1429.

+---------------------------+---------------------------+ Cosimo, Pater Patri, Lorenzo, d. 1440.