February 9, 1849 the Roman Republic was declared (the Second being the First one established on the impulse of Napoleon), one of the main events that marked the “democratic and popular” two-year period of the Risorgimento, following the revolutionary movements that affected all of Europe starting from 1848, as a reaction to the restoration of "legitimacy" decided in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, after the definitive fall of Napoleon, defeated at Waterloo. Popular uprisings occurred in Paris and Vienna. In Italy, Milan (the five days), Brescia (the lioness of Italy), and Bologna rose up in August.
In 1848 Carlo Alberto had granted the Statute and started the First War of Independence which ended with the defeat of Custoza. A very complex period followed, which they also affected the states into which Italy was divided, some of which (the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) entered into conflict with Austria. But the time had not yet come for the cause of national unity to be taken up by a state and by diplomacy (as happened ten years later thanks to Cavour's initiative). Especially since the cause of the re-establishment of the established order was assumed by France, which assumed the role of defender of the rights of Pope Pius IX who had taken refuge in Gaeta under the protection of the Bourbons.
The Republic was attacked from the south by the army of the Kingdom of Naples. But it was the French troops who defeated the Roman Republic which exercised sovereignty over the entire State of the Church for a few months (it fell on 4 July of that same year). The National Assembly nominated a triumvirate composed of Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Aurelius Saffi.
Fundamental decree of the Roman Republic
Art. 1: The papacy has fallen in fact and in law from the temporal government of the Roman State.
Art. 2: The Roman Pontiff will have all the necessary guarantees for independence in the exercise of his spiritual power.
Art. 3: The form of government of the Roman State will be pure democracy and will take the glorious name of the Roman Republic.
Art. 4: The Roman Republic will have with the rest of Italy the relations required by common nationality.
(Roman Constituent Assembly. Rome, February 9, 1849. One hour in the morning. The President of the Assembly Giuseppe Galletti)
Giuseppe Garibaldi became the commander of the troops: many volunteers came from other Italian regions, including Goffredo Mameli and a detachment of 600 bersaglieri, led by Luciano Manara, from the dissolved Lombard Division of the Army of the Kingdom of Sardinia which had been set up during the First War of Independence in 1848 with recruits and volunteers from the liberated provinces of Lombardy-Venetia, then under Austrian rule. Garibaldi achieved some military successes which allowed the Republic to resist despite being subjected to the offensive of various armies.
in Palestine Garibaldi rejected the Bourbon troops and during the final French offensive (the President of the Republic was Luigi Napoleone Bonaparte who later became Napoleon III) he did his utmost to defend the city, holding the position of the Janiculum Hill from which the French wanted to bombard Rome. The city was attacked by the French at dawn on 3 June. The first objective was the conquest of the mountain above which the city was dominated. It was partially conquered only after a bloody battle, in which the volunteers returning from the first war of independence, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, particularly distinguished themselves.
That day during the attempted counterattack on the slopes of the Gianicolo, Goffredo Mameli was wounded, who will die a month later due to the consequences of the wound. After another six days of cannon fire, on the 26th, a new assault was commanded on the defenders' stronghold on the Gianicolo, which was rejected. The last battle in the history of the Roman Republic was also fought on the Janiculum Hill. General Garibaldi defended the Vascello and the volunteers attacked the French with the bayonet.
There were 3.000 Italians between dead and wounded. About 2.000 French fell, but the battle for the Italians was still lost. On July 1, a brief armistice was stipulated to collect the dead and wounded. But it was over for the Republic. Precisely on the day of the capitulation (Mazzini refused a formal act of surrender) the Constitution of the Republic was approved. The next day the Apostle of the Gentiles dedicated the following letter to the Romans.
Letter to the Romans
July 5 1849
"Romans! Brutal force has subdued your city; but not changed or diminished your rights. The Roman republic lives eternally, inviolable in the suffrage of the free who proclaimed it, in the spontaneous adhesion of all the elements of the State, in the faith of the peoples who have admired our long defense, in the blood of the martyrs who fell under our walls for it. Let the invaders betray their solemn promises on purpose. God does not betray his. Stay constant and faithful to the vow of your soul, in the trial to which He wants you to undergo for a little while; and don't be wary of the future. Brief are the dreams of violence, and infallible the triumph of a people who hope, fight and suffer for Justice and for most holy Liberty.
You gave luminous testimony of military courage; know how to give it civil courage ...
From the municipalities the declaration that they voluntarily adhere to the republican form and to the abolition of the temporal government of the Pope comes out repeated with calm firmness of accent; and that they will deem it illegal to establish any government without the approval freely given by the people; then if necessary they melt. … In the streets, in the theatres, in every meeting place, let a cry arise: Out with the government of priests! Free Vote! …
Your fathers, O Romans, were great not so much because they knew how to win, as because they did not despair in reverses.
In the name of God and of the people, be as great as your fathers. Today as then, and more than then, you have a world, the Italian world in your custody.
Your Assembly is not extinguished, it is dispersed. Your Triumvirs, having suspended their public action by force of circumstances, take care to choose, according to the norm of your conduct, the opportune moment to reconvoke it".
On the morning of July 2, Garibaldi gave a speech in St. Peter's Square: "I am leaving Rome: whoever wants to continue the war against the foreigner, come with me ... I promise no wages, no soft idleness. Water and bread when you have it“. He made an appointment for 18:00 in Piazza San Giovanni, With about 4 armed with eight hundred horses and a cannon and, at 000:20, he left the city and began a long march through central Italy, pursued by all the armies (including Austrian troops) who had taken the field. Garibaldi's goal was to reach Venice, which continued to resist the siege. On 00 July the remaining Garibaldian troops found refuge in the Republic of San Marino.
From there they reached Cesenatico, armed a flotilla of fishing vessels and turned towards the lagoon, but were intercepted and dispersed by the Austrian fleet. During the Garibaldi escape he stopped to bury his young wife Anita near Comacchio. Some of those who had followed him, such as Ciceruacchio, Ugo Bassi and others, were captured and shot. In Brescia, twelve patriots were hanged.
PS:
February 9 this year also occurs the 130th anniversary of his birth by one of the most important socialist leaders of the last century: Peter Nenni. Born in Faenza in 1891, he died in Rome on 1 January 1980, commemorated by Bettino Craxi and Luciano Lama. Nenni went through all the main events of the short century as a protagonist. From the first popular struggles (he always boasted of having taken part in the ''red week'') to the anti-fascist political commitment (although he had a personal relationship with Mussolini for the same Romagna origins and for the common socialist militancy, which cost both a stay in the prisons of the Kingdom).
After the affirmation of fascism, Nenni went into exile in France and took part in the Spanish War. After the fall of fascism, he held important positions in the governments of the CNL parties, in the battle for the Republic (his famous phrase ''either the Republic or chaos''). When the unity of the anti-fascist parties was interrupted, Nenni chose an alliance with the PCI in the Popular Front which was clamorously defeated in the 1948 elections. The events in Hungary in 1956 determined the beginning of a path of independence from the PCI in the PSI which in 1964 the first centre-left government, presided over by Aldo Moro, with the DC and the minor secular parties. (this choice caused the split of the left of the party that gave life to the Psiup). Within this framework of alliances Nenni held government positions: he was head of Foreign Affairs (he had already been in the immediate post-war period) and vice president of the Council.
In 1966 Nenni led the party to reunification with the PSDI (Giuseppe Saragat had been elected to the Presidency of the Republic). Three years later, following a heavy electoral defeat, the reunited party split again. Since then Nenni remained in a secluded and disappointed minority position, until he was elected secretary of the Bettino Craxi party, after the so-called turning point of the Hotel Midas in July 1976, following the electoral defeat of the party under the leadership of Francesco De Martin. Nenni was not only a '' father of the country '', but a talented journalist, a writer, a historian who covered the events of the XNUMXth century with his writings. He is a great orator both in parliamentary speeches and in the squares. Good communicator in early television performances.
Finally, today February 9 is the birthday of one of us: the president of Firstonline Ernesto Auci, to whom they send our best wishes.
