Giuseppe Garibaldi arrives in Arezzo with only 2,000 volunteers, in hostile territory. The city refuses to open its gates and is determined to defend itself. Garibaldi certainly has no intention of attacking the city (on the contrary, he wants it to rise up) and camps
Duchy of Modena and Reggio. Duke Francis V institutes elementary education for children: “In every city, capital, and in those towns or villages where it is deemed appropriate, provision is made for the education of children with gymnasiums or elementary schools, unless there are seminaries
David Livingstone explores the southern African continent and discovers Victoria Falls
Following the concessions of the Constitutions, around twenty elections are held over a 24-month period in the various Italian states to form their respective parliaments. The vote is always secret, as in France, unlike in England, where it is open.
Gold is discovered in California: peak of the great rush to the West in the United States of America: in 1 year the population of California goes from 14,000 to more than 100,000
Rome. After the surrender, Rome lays down its arms, but Garibaldi refuses to surrender to the French and, at the head of 4,000 men, leaves the city for Venice, the last bastion of armed patriots.
Rome. Roman Republic. Garibaldi surrenders to the French siege and leaves the city, delivering his famous speech in St. Peter’s Square, which ends with: “…Whoever loves Italy, follow me!” Garibaldi intends to reach Venice, which is still fighting with the Austrians. The phrase, “I have
Rome. The defenders must evacuate the Villa del Vascello. Manara falls in the final battles. His last writing reads: “We must die to bring the Forty-Eight to a serious close. For our example to be effective, we must die.”
Rome. The French breached the walls, but Garibaldi and Manara incredibly managed to dig in a few hundred meters behind, prolonging the battle. But the battle’s fate was sealed, and with it that of the Roman Republic, attacked by those who should have been its
Rome. The French gain the upper hand on Janiculum Hill, the key to Rome. The Republicans report more than a thousand casualties among their volunteers.
Rome. The truce suggested by Mazzini and rejected by Garibaldi has allowed French General Oudinot to organize a veritable army corps of 30,000 men. The French attack on the Italian volunteers begins. The defenders have no hope.
Venice. Under the energetic leadership of the Neapolitan Girolamo Ulloa, the Venetians put up tenacious resistance to the Austrians. It was decided to cut the bridge connecting the city to the coast: the Ponte di Sant’Antonio. A large artillery battery, the Batteria di Sant’Antonio, was
The moderate liberals of Western Europe made two important discoveries: that revolution was dangerous and that to achieve some of their demands, they could do without it. The bourgeoisie thus ceased to be a revolutionary force. The revolution was defeated throughout Europe: the popular and
Sicily. Bourbon troops finally enter Palermo, where the last bastion of Sicilian independence was held out by a resistance led by a Polish soldier: Ludwig Mieroslawski.
Palestrina, Lazio. Roman Republic. Ferdinand II’s Bourbon army, with 12,000 well-trained men (veteran of the victorious campaign against the Sicilian rebels), clashes with Italian volunteers. The attack of two Bourbon columns is repelled, one by Manara’s bersaglieri, the other by Garibaldi’s legionaries supported by a
Piedmont. Massimo D’Azeglio becomes prime minister and remains so for over three and a half years. Together with King Victor Emmanuel II, he will be the guarantor and promoter of a liberal regime, uniquely maintaining in force, among the Italian states, the Constitution and Statute
Venice. The Austrians begin work to besiege the Marghera fort, the most important Venetian stronghold outside the lagoon.
Rome. Roman Republic. The first phase of the French attack ends with a substantial victory for the defenders. Garibaldi wants to continue the counterattack to sweep away the French, but Mazzini (who initially distrusted the adventurer) stops him, hoping to reach an agreement with France,
Manara, founder of the Bersaglieri, formed around his 124 volunteers in Milan, wrote to Fanny Bonacini shortly before his fall in Rome: “We must die to bring the Forty-Eight to a serious close; for our example to be effective, we must die.”
Rome. Roman Republic. French warships drop anchor off Civitavecchia. 7,000 elite men, the best of the French army, disembark, led by General Oudinot, with the mission of “liberating” Rome. On paper, the republicans have 14,000 volunteers, but they are scattered from Bologna to Ancona, all
Kingdom of Naples. Annibale de Gasparis, an astronomer (and also a revolutionary sympathizer), from the Capodimonte astronomical observatory in Naples, discovers the first of a series of asteroids: 10 Hygea, followed by 11 Parthenope, 13 Egeria, 15 Eunomia, 16 Psyche (incredibly composed almost entirely of
Genoa. The Piedmontese army’s defeat against the Austrians humiliates everyone, but especially the “reds” (liberals, democrats, revolutionaries) of Genoa. The population revolts, and after a few hours, the garrison captain surrenders. The city is free again. But only briefly.
The new Piedmontese ruler, Victor Emmanuel II, meets with Radetzky at a farmhouse in Vignale, north of Novara, and negotiates the end of the war. Victor Emmanuel will later backtrack, but the Kingdom of Sardinia will never become like the other states of the peninsula,
At the end of the Battle of Novara, seeing his army defeated, King Charles Albert threw himself into the fray seeking death, but found none. He then retreated to Palazzo Bellini, from where he sent a messenger to the Austrian general to request an armistice.
Brescia. Second day of the uprising: the military hospital is attacked and weapons and supplies are requisitioned. Tito Speri stands out for his intelligence and courage.
Brescia. When Austrian emissaries arrived to collect the fine for finding weapons in the city, the population rebelled, and within hours the entire town fell into the hands of the Civic Guard, and the Austrians retreated to the castle. From the fortress, they bombarded the
6:00 PM. Novara. The Austrians, with the arrival of reinforcements, win the battle.
2:00 PM. Novara. The Austrians, numbering 20,000, have just averted disaster against 60,000 Piedmontese troops (though not all of them participate in the fighting).
Battle of Novara. The Piedmontese army, reinforced by units from Modena, Lombardy, Poland, and Hungary, faced the Austrian army. The battle, while a painful defeat for the Kingdom of Sardinia and Piedmont and for the ideals of Italian unity and freedom, marked a fundamental turning
Lombardy. Radetzky crosses the Ticino River, surprising the Piedmontese who were planning a triumphal march through Lombardy, and defeats their strategy.
Rome. Former Papal States. The Roman Republic is proclaimed. The Constitution of the Roman Republic is the only one of those established in 1848-49 that does not make Catholicism the state religion.
Rome. Papal States. The Constituent Assembly is elected by universal suffrage.
After the disaster at Custoza, the Piedmontese government finally decided to give credence to a guerrilla and privateer commander recently arrived from South America: Giuseppe Garibaldi. He received orders to operate with a detachment of volunteers in the Bergamo Prealps. He waged a relentless guerrilla
The Piedmontese army begins its retreat through Lombardy. One of the darkest pages in Italian history. A series of errors leads to a hasty retreat that could have made life difficult for the Austrians, who were disadvantaged by hostile territory.
Custoza. The Piedmontese retreat to Goito, across the Mincio River. Both sides suffered more than a thousand casualties at Custoza, but neither side was defeated.
Sona and Sommacampagna, between Verona and Peschiera. The Austrians attacked the Piedmontese with a vast superiority: 60 battalions with 183 guns versus 20 battalions with 20 guns. The Sardinian division was forced to abandon the position it had held for three months and retreat to
There are 350 volunteer units operating in Italy. The most famous are those (about 3,000) led by Luciano Manara, the hero of Porta Tosa, at the end of the Five Days of Milan, but also the spirited Venetian Crusaders (about 2,000), and the Tuscan volunteers,
Verona. The Austrian reinforcement column for Peschiera is intercepted by General Bes’s Piedmontese forces. Peschiera consequently surrenders.
Battle of Goito. Radetzky’s Austrians retreated after three hours of intense fighting, leaving 68 dead and 331 wounded, compared to 43 dead and 253 wounded for the Piedmontese.
4:00 PM. Curtatone. After six hours of fighting with the Austrians, Tuscan commander De Laugier orders a retreat. At Montanara, only half the defenders manage to avoid capture. By the end of the day, the Italians suffer 166 dead, 518 wounded, and 1,178 prisoners, almost
10:00 AM. Curtatone and Montanara. Radetzky’s Austrian troops, composed of 43 infantry battalions, 54 cavalry squadrons, and 151 cannons, divided into three columns, open fire on the battalion of university students and the Neapolitans. The resistance is fierce and unexpected.
Admiral Raffaele De Cosa, commander of the Neapolitan fleet supporting General Pepe in the northern Adriatic, is recalled by Ferdinand II to fight against the insurrection in Sicily. De Cosa, faithful to the ideals of the war against the Austrians, asks to be dismissed and
Castelnuovo sul Mincio. Austrian anger turned against the local population, guilty of having enthusiastically welcomed the volunteers who had joined the Piedmontese Army, and they massacred 113 people by bombing the village.
The Piedmontese decide to send 200 volunteers on a reconnaissance mission beyond the Mincio River, into Austrian territory. They exceed their assigned role and capture an Austrian powder magazine with 500 barrels of gunpowder in Castelnuovo. But without Piedmontese support, they are forced to retreat.
Veneto. Between Montebello and Sorio, the Venetian Crusaders, a confused mass of volunteers armed in various ways, clash with 3,000 Austrians who had emerged from Verona. The volunteers fought bravely, but, completely unsuited to open battle, suffered a crushing defeat. Ultimately, Friuli would return to
Vienna. The Wiener finally, without comment or blush, publishes Radetzky’s full report on the Milan defeat. Around the same time, a small daily newspaper, the Gegenwart, publishes the letters of its Milan correspondent, faithfully reporting on the triumphant revolt and the violence perpetrated by the
Radetzky and his army are sheltered behind the solid walls of Verona.
Milan. 10:00 PM. The imperial companies abandon the castle. Radetzky’s armored carriage, camouflaged with hay, leads the way. Porta Tosa is taken immediately after the jagers and infantry retreat. It will be renamed Porta Vittoria with the unification of Italy in 1861.
Milan. In the evening, a six-hour bombardment begins to protect the imperial retreat. High flames rise from the castle; a pyre made of the soldiers’ corpses, along with mattresses, documents, and untransportable materials, is burning. The fire is ordered by Radetzky. Milan has not capitulated:
Milan. Radetzky decides he can no longer resist in the city, risking being trapped between the revolutionaries and the advancing Piedmontese. He decides to retreat. He faces hostile Lombard territory. He breathes a sigh of relief only when he closes the gates of the walls
Milan. Porta Tosa. Manara leads the melee assault. They emerge into the open 200 meters from the gate, covered by covering fire from nearby houses. They manage to reach the gate, douse it with turpentine, and set it alight, but many are decimated by the
Milan. Wednesday. Porta Ticinese. Cattaneo arrives and finds a population deeply distressed by the violence of the hussars, firmly entrenched on the ramparts. Only in the evening does the bastion fall to the patriotic squads.
Milan. Fifth day of the revolt. Military school professor Antonio Carnevali invents mobile barricades. These consist of enormous, roughly cylindrical bundles of wood, almost three meters in diameter, soaked to prevent them from catching fire. The attackers roll them in front of them, thus stopping
Venice. Arsenal workers and mutinous Italian army units drive the Austrian army from the city.
Milan. Fourth day of revolt. The situation is at an impasse. On the citizenry side, astronomers are mobilized, using telescopes to monitor the enemy from towers and bell towers; engineers and land registry clerks are searching for underground passages in the sewers or between houses;
Milan. The rioters attempt to storm the Palazzo del Genio. Anfossi’s plan, pistol on his right hip and saber on his left, is simple: break down the gate with a small cannon and throw in a handful of armed volunteers. But the gate holds. On
Milan. Tuesday. Cattaneo, leader of the republicans, prepares a letter for King Charles Albert of the Kingdom of Piedmont: “From the war council, March 21, 1848 – The city belongs to the fighters who conquered it; we cannot recall them from the barricades to deliberate.
Milan. Radetzky had lost few soldiers but too many artillerymen, who were being targeted by Milanese snipers. The panic of the early hours had vanished among the Milanese. Antonio Carnevali, a fifty-year-old professor of mathematics and physics, conceived and constructed enormous bundles of wood, 3
Milan. The insurgents gather courage by singing the chorus of the oppressed people: “Va’ Pensiero, sull’ali dorate,” from Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco.
Milan, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Sixty bell towers summon the people. The first to ring is the oldest: the Torre del Comune, cast in 1352 by Ambrogio de Calderariis. Milan feels ready to challenge the Austrian Empire in the name of the idea of Italy.
Milan. Popular uprising. It is the beginning of the famous Five Days of Milan. Carlo Cattaneo leads the War Council, later the War Committee.
Venice. A rally in St. Mark’s Square slowly descends into a clash with Austrian soldiers. Six workers and two young men are left dead on the pavement, while nine others are seriously injured. The governor turns to Manin, who recommends granting the Civic Guard. In
Venice. A ship from Trieste brings news of the Viennese uprising. A crowd immediately gathers beneath Governor Palffy’s palace, demanding reforms and concessions. Palffy relents and signs the release of two figures who had called for reforms: the young lawyer Daniele Manin and Niccolo’ Tommaseo
Berlin, Prussia. The revolt reaches Prussia. Blood is shed. But finally, with a united front of bourgeois and workers, commoners and students, the King relents and orders the troops to return to their barracks. The insurgents force the King to pay homage to the 243
Marx publishes the Communist Manifesto. On February 21, 1848, “The Communist Manifesto,” written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was published in London. Marx was born in Prussia in 1818, the son of a Jewish lawyer who converted to Lutheranism. Having moved to Paris in
Naples. Protests in the streets in favor of reforms. The King doesn’t even try to stop them and grants the Constitution.
In October 1846, a Boston dentist, William Morton, demonstrated that ether could induce narcosis, a temporary state of unconsciousness, very useful in surgical procedures. Another substance used for the same purpose was chloroform, an experiment demonstrated by James Young Simpson in November 1847. It has
Goffredo Mameli wrote the Mameli anthem in Genoa, which was then set to music a few days later in Turin by Michele Novaro.