Is Milan Emanuel the Father of Italy?

On the front of Venice Square in Rome, Italy, stands the Victor Emmanuel II Memorial Hall built of white marble. This memorial hall was built in 1870 to celebrate risorgimento, and the arc-shaped facade formed by 16 columns is the most wonderful part, taking into account the atmosphere and exquisiteness.

There are two huge bronze statues on this building. The right side stands for "the victory of loving the motherland" and the left side stands for "the victory of labor". The two groups of fountains under the steps have profound meanings: the symbol of tyrrhenian sea on the right, the symbol of Adriatic Sea on the left, and the figure statue riding in the middle is Victor Manol II, who completed the great cause of rejuvenation.

Not only here, but also in many places in Italy, you can see the statue of Victor Emmanuel II. Vittorio Emmanuel II (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele II, or translated as vittorio Emmanuel II) (1March 820 14 ~ 18781October 9) King of Sardinia-Piedmont (1849) His greatest achievement is the unification of Italy.

Of course, when it comes to the Italian independence movement, people always think of the great achievements of Ma Zhini, Gafur and garibaldi, the three great fathers of Italy. However, as their backing, the role of the founding monarch Vittorio Emanuele II can not be ignored.

With the rise of European nationalism in the19th century, Italian young people also take national unity as their goal. But judging from the situation of 19 in the 1940s, risorgimento seems to be an unreachable dream.

At that time, Lombardy and Venice in northern Italy were occupied by Austria, and there were many small principalities in central Italy, such as Tuscany and Palma. They are also inextricably linked with Austria, either stationed by Austria or their monarch himself came from Austria.

There is a papal state around Rome in central Italy, which is protected by the French army. There are two Sicilian kingdoms in southern Italy, and the king comes from the Bourbon family in Spain. In addition, there is a kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont, which rules Piedmont and Sardinia. The king is from Italy.

Victor Emmanuel became the king of Sardinia in the crucial year of 1849. His family is called Sava family, which is an ancient and prominent family in Italy. Since 1 1 century, it has had its own territory. After several generations of expansion, the territory of Sava family finally became the kingdom of Sardinia in the18th century.

After his father abdicated, 29-year-old Vittorio Emanuele II took over the baton of seeking national reunification. When he was young, he received a strict autocratic education and tended to strengthen the autocratic rule of the monarch. However, the test of the revolutionary wave in1940s made him increase his political flexibility, tolerate liberal ideas, and kept the constitution promulgated by 1848, becoming the only Italian vassal who kept the constitutional form.

In the second year of Viktor Emanuel's accession to the throne, a quick-thinking and resourceful figure in the cabinet stood out. He was then Finance Minister Gafur. He is a very successful industrialist, and has been at the forefront of the times since 1847 founded Fuxing Daily. 1852, the king appointed Gafur to form a cabinet, which started their cooperation for nearly 10 years.

After Gafur became prime minister, he first carried out some reforms aimed at enriching Qiang Bing, including encouraging industry, promoting trade and weakening the power of the church. He allowed a certain degree of freedom of speech, especially allowing newspapers to publish fierce anti-Olympic articles. At the same time, expanding armaments and increasing the number of soldiers is obviously preparing for a war.

However, it is impossible to achieve reunification only by the power of the Sardinian government, which is very clear to the monarch and his subjects. To this end, Sardinia participated in the Crimean War, fought side by side with Britain and France, and narrowed the distance with Britain and France.

1858, Gafur reached an agreement with French emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. After Napoleon sent 200,000 troops to help him in the coming Sao War and recaptured Lombardy and Venice, Sardinia will give up Sava and Nice as rewards.

When the court in Turin is making preparations with great satisfaction, Ma Zhini, a folk, is also working hard in another way. He constantly created uprisings and assassinations, but in the face of the rock-solid old forces, he could only shed heroic tears again and again.

At this time, another folk hero is playing an increasingly important role. This is garibaldi. Italian Democrats were unwilling to cooperate with the king and join the government forces, so garibaldi recruited them under the banner of "volunteers" and made them report to the country. The Sardinian government also supports garibaldi by establishing a volunteer fund.

1859, a long-awaited war finally started. After luring the Austrian army to cross the river, the Sardinia-French Coalition forces won the battle of Maginta slowly and surely, captured the volunteers from Milan and garibaldi from the flank, and caused many unexpected troubles to the Austrian army, which was forced to retreat to the four fortresses in Venice.

At the same time, the Democrats launched an uprising in Tuscany, Palma and other small States in central Italy, and the pro-Austrian regime was driven away. These small countries all announced their merger with the kingdom of Sardinia.

1860, the Sicilian uprising brought a new opportunity for reunification. Garibaldi's "Thousands of Volunteers" landed in marsala, rapidly growing to more than 20,000 people, and occupied Sicily in just over a month.

Then, despite Gafur's opposition, garibaldi crossed the Strait and attacked Naples. The corrupt and backward kingdom of Naples could not bear such a blow and went up in smoke. Then garibaldi handed over South Italy to Victor Emmanuel.

1861February18, in the parliament hall of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel ushered in the most brilliant moment of his life. Parliament solemnly declared that "King Vittorio Emanuele II was himself and accepted the title of Italian King for his descendants."

Surprisingly, however, Victor Emmanuel, as the first Italian king, did not change his name to I, but continued to be called "Victor Emmanuel II" according to the family arrangement of Sava Dynasty.

The great cause of reunification was basically completed, but Victor Emanuel did not enjoy being king comfortably. The king was at a loss because of the constant struggle between the left and right factions in Parliament, Ma Zhini and his successors' resolute refusal to cooperate with the monarchy, the active local self-government groups, and the Pope's instigation of the Catholic world to isolate Italy.

But all this ended in 1878. Victor Emmanuel finished his life journey and settled in history as a successful emperor.