Victor Emmanuel II was born in 1820 in the Kingdom of Sardin, in Turin. He died in 1878, in the capital of Italy, Rome. He came from the Savoy dynasty, since 1849 he was the ruler of Piedmont. Since 1861, he became the first king in the new, united Italy with the capital in Turin. Since 1865, Florence became the main city, and from 1871, Rome.
Some historians attribute to him great merits in the unification of the country. Others believe that this process was led by Garibaldi, and the preparation of it was carried out by the Italian statesman Count Cavour. The king was distinguished by a rather simple circumvention and thereby won the love of Italians. A brief biography of Victor Emmanuel II will be presented in the article.
early years
As the heir to his father, King of Sardinia, Carlo Albert, received a military as well as religious education. Victor Emmanuel II, whose photo is posted in the article, did not particularly delve into state affairs. But he participated in the battles with Austria, which took place in 1848-1849, where he showed outstanding courage. In 1845 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Natura Vittorio was distinguished by unprecedented liveliness and energy.
He gave preference to simple communication, respected the representatives of the people, and they reciprocated. In this he was different from his father, who was characterized by arrogance and aristocratic detachment. At the age of 22, Victor married, his wife was Adelheida of Austria, brought to him by a cousin.
His father was on the royal throne of Sardinia and Piedmont from 1831 to 1849. He brought fame to the implementation of important state reforms. He managed to abolish the feudal system in the country, he supported science, art, tried to take part in the expulsion of the Austrians from northern Italy.
In the war declared by the Austrian Empire, the troops of Carlo Albert were defeated. This happened under Novara, after which the king had to abdicate. He retired to Spain and soon died. So Victor Emmanuel II ascended the throne of Sardinia and Piedmont. This reign lasted from 1849 to 1861, then the title was abolished, and he was replaced by another - the king of a united Italy.
The beginning of the reign
Victor Emmanuel inherited a country engulfed by the revolution, and a completely defeated army. He made a lot of personal efforts to achieve peace with the Austrians, as a result of which in August 1849 a peace treaty was concluded between Austria and Piedmont. This contributed to the preservation of the independence of Sardinia. And also in the future it allowed to develop parliamentary forms of government in the state and return Sardinia the first positions in the Italians' struggle against Austria.
However, the conditions of the world were very difficult for the country. Austria received a large contribution, while its occupation corps remained in Piedmont for a long period.
The other side offered easier conditions, but this required the abolition of the constitution. The new ruler did not want to abandon the obligations that were given to the people by his father. This contributed to the emergence of confidence in him and increased his popularity among the masses, which could be compared with the popularity of Garibaldi.
Thanks to this, the king managed to start consolidating financial resources and attracting loans with the aim of reorganizing the army, thereby increasing the state debt by four times. By the efforts of General Lamarmora, the Minister of War, the army was increased to 100 thousand people and brought into brilliant form.
Crimean War
In order to gain the necessary combat experience, and at the same time to strengthen friendly relations with France, Victor Emmanuel decided to take part in the Eastern War. He sent to the area of Sevastopol 15 thousand soldiers, commanded by General Mentevecchio.
This step allowed Sardinia at the Paris Congress in 1856 to have a representative. He was Count Camillo di Cavour, who delivered a brilliant speech there directed against Austria. He also highlighted the situation of Italy and its needs.
War with Austria
In 1858, King Victor Emmanuel II sent Count Cavour to Plombière to meet with Napoleon III. According to the results of the meeting, the latter undertook to declare war on Austria. And in return for Savoy and Nice, he promised to cede Lombardy, Piedmont and Venice.
Franco-Sardinian troops won victories in the battles of Magenta, Palestro, Solferino. Victor Emmanuel took part in them personally. The fate of Italy was decided according to the terms of the Villafranca Treaty. They provided for the transition of Lombardy to Piedmont. For this, Napoleon III received Savoy and Nice, and Venice remained behind Austria. As for the rest of Italy, it was conceived as a federation led by Pope Pius IX.
These decisions were met with terrible indignation throughout Italy. Therefore, their implementation was impossible. Dad categorically refused any concessions. Regions such as Parma, Romagna, Modena and Tuscany did not want to accept the dukes, they elected the head of the union - Garibaldi, who was entrusted with the accession of these lands to Piedmont.
King of italy
Napoleon III, who left Nice and Savoy with him, was forced to agree to join the four areas indicated above to Piedmont. A popular vote recognized Victor Emanuel as head of these provinces. This happened in 1860. And from March 1861, Victor Emmanuel II - the king of Italy.
Despite the fact that during one of the very first parliamentary meetings, Rome was named the capital of Italy, in fact it was occupied by French troops. The new king did not have the opportunity to recapture the city, as the country's treasury was in great devastation due to the ongoing wars. At the same time, there was a great need for a device of internal affairs.
Victor Emmanuel decided to get the French out of Rome through a series of diplomatic measures. Having overcome long hesitations, Napoleon III agreed to remove his contingent from Italy within two years. At the same time, he made the condition that Rome should never be its capital, and the pope would also have its own army.
However, the people were outraged by this condition, in connection with which a rebellion broke out in Turin. He was quickly pacified by Victor Emmanuel II. In 1866, an alliance against Austria was concluded with Prussia, which was defensively offensive. According to its conditions, making peace was possible only with the achievement of a general agreement. Bismarck made a promise to Italy to return Venice to her.
Then Austria offered to give Venice unconditionally, but the Italian side did not want to violate the agreement with Prussia. She put forth her troops to support the latter in the outbreak of hostilities against Austria.
The war of Austria was lost. According to the Vienna Peace Treaty, signed in 1866, the Venetian region departed to Italy. And after seventeen years in Rome, at the end of 1866, the French left him. After that, Garibaldi sent his troops there and was defeated by the French at Menton in 1867. The latter again occupied the Papal Region. This was followed by a cooling of relations between Italy and France. The reason for this was the suspicion of Napoleon III regarding the sympathy of Victor Emanuel for the actions of Garibaldi.
The capture of Rome
When the Franco-Prussian War was going on (1870-1871), Italy did not support France. After the defeat of the French at Sedan and the capture of Napoleon III, her hands were completely untied.
Before attempting to capture Rome by force of arms, Victor Emmanuel II planned to persuade Pius IX to give him secular power. But negotiations are useless, and he orders the troops to advance on the papal capital. After that, Rome quickly surrendered, and the troops of the pope were disbanded. 10/26/1871 the parliament adopted a resolution - to transfer to Rome from Florence the capital of the kingdom.
In 1873, two important meetings took place of Victor Emanuel, one of them with Emperor Wilhelm I in Berlin, the second with Franz Joseph in Vienna. These diplomatic negotiations contributed to the creation of the Triple Alliance. The monarch died in January 1878. The reason for this was either malaria, or a severe cold. It is possible that he contracted malaria while hunting in the swampy areas of Lazio.
He was buried in the Roman Pantheon. This happened against his will, as Vittorio wanted his body buried in Piedmont. But the persistent requests of the Romans prevented this. The inscription was made on the tombstone: "Father of the Fatherland." The grave turned into a place of pilgrimage, where hundreds of thousands of Italians came from all over the Kingdom. The successor to King Victor Emanuel II was his son Umberto I.
Personality and Merit
In the memory of the people, King Victor Emmanuel II remained as a great ruler, a fighter for the unification of the country. Although he was known as a passionate lover of hunting and love affairs, he was a man of courage and sanity, which helped him to fulfill royal duties.
The king was not distinguished by a great mind, he was soldierly rude, laid-back, but at the same time showed common sense and business insight. He correctly assessed the situation in which Piedmont, due to its geographical, political and economic position, could become a center of rallying for patriotic Italians.
To maintain this situation, he introduced a liberal course in domestic politics, and in foreign policy he adhered to a decisive and bold confrontation between Austria. In fact, this was his contribution to the process of unification of Italy. The rest was done by others. Obtaining the throne, he was obliged to Count Camillo Cavour, who led the unification of the country. Many Italian cities have monuments to Victor Emmanuel II.
In the capital
One of the best monuments to Victor Emmanuel II - in Rome. This is a monument called Vittoriano. It is located on one of the slopes of Capitoline Hill, on Venice Square, near the main attraction of Rome - the Colosseum. His project was developed by Giuseppe Sacconi, performing it in the Empire style, inherent in the spirit of ancient Roman architecture. A monument was built in the period 1885-1935.
One of the parts of the monument is a bronze equestrian statue of the king, whose height is 12 meters. Under it lies the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it is called the "Altar of the Fatherland".
The memorial was erected on the anniversary of the unification of Italy. His discovery happened twice. The first took place in 1911, after 26 years of construction. It was the discovery of a monument made of white limestone. It is a huge construction with a width of 135 m, a length of 130 m and a height of 81 m.
A wide staircase leads to the Altar, in the central part of which there is a monument to Victor Emmanuel. An interesting fact is that the choice of material for the monument was symbolic. He was taken, remelting the old cannons of the castle of Sant'Angelo - the fortress of the popes. Thus, the transfer of power from the popes to the king was illustrated.
Second discovery
The Monument to the Unknown Soldier was added to the Altar of the Fatherland in 1927. It is dedicated to the memory of those who died in the First World War. Then a second monument was opened to Victor Emmanuel II in Rome. The eternal flame burns at the grave, it is guarded by an honor guard. Bas-reliefs are located on the basis of the Altar of the Fatherland, they are symbols of the main Italian cities. The fountains located on the sides are a symbol of the seas that wash the united Italy. These are the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas.
In Vittoriano, under the monument, in a building with columns, there are two museums. One of them is the Risorgimento Renaissance Museum. The second is the Navy Banner Museum. From the memorial you can admire the wide panorama of the “eternal city”.
The gigantic construction of the Vittoriano monument to Victor Emmanuel II in Rome suppresses nearby buildings and did not fit harmoniously into the panorama of the early buildings. The monument is characterized by excessive eclecticism and a pile of details inherent in ancient Roman buildings. These are statues, bas-reliefs, columns. There are several condescendingly contemptuous names for the monument, such as False Jaw, Typewriter, and Wedding Cake.
Gallery of Victor Emanuel II in Milan
This attraction is open for round-the-clock visits. The gallery was built according to the project of Giuseppe Mengoni, who at the end of construction work died, falling from the forests. There is an opinion that this fall was not accidental. In the history of architecture, the gallery of Victor Emanuel II in Milan is one of the first passages in Europe.
The building was built in the shape of a Latin cross with an octagonal center. It is decorated with mosaics depicting four earth continents, which do not include Australia. Still here are allegorically depicted art, science, industry and agriculture.
At the top of the gallery is a dome made of iron and glass. A shopping gallery connects the square in front of the city's cathedral with the square in front of the La Scala opera house. Today it is one of the famous tourist attractions of Milan, where a number of famous shops are located, such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, as well as restaurants and cafes with big names. The gallery often hosts exhibitions and concerts.