Giuseppe Garibaldi

views updated

Giuseppe Garibaldi

1807-1882

Italian nationalist

Wanted Man. Garibaldi was born in Nice, France, into a family of fishermen; he was largely self-educated and spent much of his youth as a sailor on Mediterranean merchant ships. Sometime before 1833 he joined the navy of Sardinia-Piedmont and gained his first military experiences. In 1833 he joined Giuseppe Mazzini’s Young Italy movement, which was dedicated to freeing the Italian people from foreign rule and to unifying the country as a self-governing republic. In 1834 Garibaldi participated in a mutiny aboard a Piedmontese warship in a plot designed to spark a republican revolution in Piedmont, but the plot was discovered and foiled by the local police. Garibaldi was condemned to death in absentia by a Genoese court, but he escaped to France and then to South America. In 1836-1848 he lived as an exile in South America. He volunteered for the navy of the republic of Rio Grande do Sul, which was attempting to break away from Brazil, and quickly displayed unusual qualities of military leadership. Despite his best efforts, the Brazilian military was too large for the tiny breakaway republic to defeat; Garibaldi left the service of the Rio Grande with his lover, a married woman named Anna Maria Ribeiro da Silva (known affectionately to Garibaldi as Anita). In 1842 he, Anita, and their son entered Uruguay, which was fighting for independence from Argentina. He volunteered for the Uruguayan navy and within a few months became its head. In 1848 he commanded a group of Italian expatriates in the defense of the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo; these men became the core of his famous “Red Shirts” brigade. After a series of victories Garibaldi, his family, and sixty of his Red Shirts returned to Italy in the hopes of fomenting a republican rebellion there.

Italian Unification. He joined the movement for Italian freedom and unification, thereafter known as the Risorgimento (revival). He offered his services to Pope Pius IX and King Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont, but he was rebuffed in both cases. The army of Sardinia-Piedmont scoffed at his self-taught martial skills and advised the king to turn him away. Garibaldi went next to Milan, where he was warmly welcomed. Despite some successes against the Austrians, who held much of Lombardy, the Milanese were heavily outnumbered, and Garibaldi was forced to flee across the border to Switzerland. In 1849 Pope Pius IX fled Rome in the face of a republican uprising; Garibaldi led his volunteers to Rome to support the fledgling Roman Republic. Garibaldi heroically defended the city against attacks by superior French and Neapolitan forces but was finally compelled to withdraw. Although he was allowed to depart with about five thousand of his followers, their line of retreat lay through Austrian-controlled territory; most of his force was killed (including his beloved Anita), captured, or dispersed, and Garibaldi had to flee Italy to save his life. The defense of Rome and his spirited retreat across Italy made him a heroic figure to the people of Italy. He fled first to Tangiers, then to Staten Island, New York, where he worked as a candlemaker, and then to Peru.

Red Shirts. In 1854 Count Camillo di Cavour, the chief minister of Sardinia-Piedmont, invited Garibaldi to return to Italy, with the proviso that he eschew Mazzini’s radicalism. Garibaldi returned and bought a home on the island of Caprera, northeast of Sardinia. Garibaldi became convinced that the road to freedom and unity for Italy lay in alliance with the liberal ruler Victor Emmanuel II, king of Sardinia-Piedmont. Cavour enjoined Garibaldi to lead a volunteer force against the Austrians in Lombardy, and by mid 1859 Garibaldi and his men had captured Varese, Como, and much of the southern Tyrol. Thousands of other Italian patriots and revolutionaries were influenced by Garibaldi’s position, a fact that did much to enhance the fortunes of the Sardinian monarch and influence the course of Italian history. Garibaldi became deeply involved in the complicated military and political struggles that took place from 1860 to 1870. King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont and Cavour recognized Garibaldi’s value as a leader but were frightened that any further moves toward Italian unification would cause an Austro-French invasion. Garibaldi himself became frustrated with the king’s vacillation, especially after his hometown of Nice was returned to France (1860). Garibaldi set out on his own in 1860 on a campaign that would ultimately result in the unification of Italy. He sailed from Genoa on 6 May with approximately one thousand men clad in red shirts (their only uniform) and reached Marsala, Sicily, on 11 May. The people of Sicily, especially the peasants and tradesmen, swarmed to his banner and swelled his army’s ranks. He and his Red Shirts seized Palermo from the King of Naples and by 19 August had crossed the Straits of Messina into southern Italy. By September, Garibaldi and his men had deposed the King of Naples and had seized Naples itself. A tremendous victory on the Volturno River against the last remnants of the Neapolitan army delivered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into Garibaldi’s hands—he promptly surrendered the conquered state to King Victor Emmanuel II.

Jealousies. Despite Garibaldi’s unparalleled success, Victor Emmanuel II still feared him, perhaps even more after the conquest of southern Italy. Garibaldi had become popular and had spoken vigorously on his desire for a united Italian republic. Jealous and humiliated, the generals of the army of Sardinia-Piedmont convinced Victor Emmanuel II to refuse Garibaldi a role in the governing of the territories he had just conquered. Garibaldi criticized the king’s mismanagement of these areas and complained that his volunteers, who had risked their lives for the king, had gone unrewarded. His arguments were ignored. However, Garibaldi was held in high esteem abroad—Abraham Lincoln offered him a command in the Union Army, and during a visit to Britain he was feted wherever he went.

On to Rome. In 1862 Victor Emmanuel II and his advisers developed a plan to capture Venice from the Austrians and convinced Garibaldi to lead a volunteer force in the campaign. They planned to preoccupy the Austrians by attacking them in the Balkans and then to invade Venice. Garibaldi, however, led his forces toward Rome, which was garrisoned by French troops. To Garibaldi, Rome was the natural capital of a united Italy. Victor Emmanuel II was frightened of French intervention and sent an army to stop him; Garibaldi was wounded in the resulting clash at Aspromonte and was taken prisoner. Victor Emmanuel II, however, fully realized Garibaldi’s value—he was freed and in 1866 was given another independent command when war broke out in the Tyrol against Austria. The war ended when Victor Emmanuel II’s forces, including Garibaldi, captured Venice. Though the Italians fought well, they were victorious mainly because the Austrians were also engaged in a war with Prussia (the Austro-Prussian War of 1866) and could not deploy their full might in the Tyrol. Garibaldi attempted to seize Rome on his own again in 1867, but the attack was poorly coordinated and resulted in defeat. For the next two years Garibaldi lived the life of a farmer on Caprera. In 1870 he offered his services to the French government and fought in the Franco-Prussian War. Again he distinguished himself as an excellent leader with an amazing grasp of battlefield tactics. Even so, France lost the war, and Garibaldi returned to Italy. Rome was annexed to Italy in October 1870, and Garibaldi was elected a member of the Italian parliament in 1874. In his last years he sympathized with the developing socialist movement in Italy and other countries.