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Republic of San Marco | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1848–1849 | |||||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||||
| Motto: Viva San Marco! (Italian) "Long Live St Mark!" | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: Inno Nasionale Veneto | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Venice | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Venetian,Italian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||||
| Historical era | Revolutions of 1848 | ||||||||||||
17 October 1797 | |||||||||||||
• Insurrection against Habsburg rule | 17 March 1848 | ||||||||||||
| 22 March 1848 | |||||||||||||
• Joined by cities ofVenetia | March – April 1848 | ||||||||||||
• JoinedPiedmont-Sardinia | 5–13 August 1848 | ||||||||||||
| 23 March 1849 | |||||||||||||
• Manin negotiates surrender to Austria | 27 August 1849 | ||||||||||||
| 12 October 1866 | |||||||||||||
| Currency | Venetian lira | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
See also:Republic of Venice (697–1797) | |||||||||||||
TheRepublic of San Marco (Italian:Repubblica di San Marco) or theVenetian Republic (Venetian:Repùblega Vèneta) was anItalian revolutionary state which existed for 17 months in 1848–1849. Based on theVenetian Lagoon, it extended into most ofVenetia, or theTerraferma territory of the formerRepublic of Venice,suppressed 51 years earlier in theFrench Revolutionary Wars. Afterdeclaring independence from theHabsburgAustrian Empire, the republic later joined theKingdom of Sardinia in an attempt, led by the latter, to unitenorthern Italy against foreign (mainly Austrian but also French) domination. The subsequentFirst Italian War of Independence ended in the defeat of Sardinia, and Austrian forces reconquered the Republic of San Marco on 28 August 1849 following a long siege.
After existing as an independentmaritime republic for 1,101 years and aleading naval power in the Mediterranean for most of that time, theRepublic of Venicesurrendered toNapoleon in 1797 and was ceded to the Habsburgs (as theVenetian Province) by theTreaty of Campo Formio a few months later. This was confirmed by the 1815Congress of Vienna, whereby Venice became part of theKingdom of Lombardy–Venetia within theAustrian Empire.
Austrian rule, after realising that mutually-agreeablehome rule would not be possible, exploited Venetian resources, economically and politically, favouringTrieste as the imperial seaport.[1] Within 50 years of their acquisition of the former republic, Austria had taken 45 millionAustrian lire more from the region than had been spent there and Venetian capitalism had been stifled by a reluctance on the part of the slow, bureaucratic Habsburg régime to grantcredit to Venetian entrepreneurs.[1] By the end of the 1840s, a collection of intellectuals, urban manufacturers, bankers, merchants and agrarian inhabitants of theterra ferma were clamouring for political change and greater economic opportunity, albeit only by non-violent means.[1]
Heavy-handed policing in response to an economic boycott ofstate monopolies in Austrian-heldMilan led to the popular expulsion of the Austriangarrison in the cityfor five days in March 1848.
Shortly after, the news ofrevolt in Vienna reached Venice and lead the city to revolt against Austrian rule.
A few days after the independence of Milan and Venice and their affiliation to theKingdom of Sardinia, the Piedmontese army crossed intoLombardy on 24 March 1848, with the Austrian commander, Field MarshalRadetzky pulling back to theQuadrilatero, a chain of defensive fortresses between Milan and Venice. Two days previously,Daniele Manin entered theVenetian Arsenal with "a number of public-spirited Venetians", in a direct challenge to Austrian rule.[1] As theArsenalotti detested the Austrian overseers and the Italians in Austrian military service were pro-Venetian, Manin and his supporters moved about at will, unharmed.[1] Believing that the timing was favourable, Manin led his followers out of the compound with the cryViva San Marco! (English:Long Live St. Mark!)—themotto of the defunct Republic of Venice.[1] Venetians, if not Austrian officials, accepted this to mean restoration of the old republic.[1] With the exception ofVerona, garrisoned as part of the Quadrilatero, the cities of Venetia — in particularBelluno,Padua,Rovigo,Treviso,Udine andVicenza[2]—immediately sided with the lagoon and rejected Austrian rule, proclaiming Manin president of the Republic of San Marco and investing him withdictatorial powers during thestate of emergency.[1] Manin's leadership was supported by themiddle classes, revealing a permanent change in power from the mercantilepatricians of the old republic, and his support of the lower classes, combined with promises oflaw and order to thebourgeoisie, meant his leadership was popular.[1] Unfortunately, however, Manin did not have the leadership qualities that might have led to enduring independence,[1] nor did Venice possess the military strength to defeat theImperial Austrian Army.
KingCharles Albert of Sardinia had occupied Milan and other Austrian territories with his army. But despite popular support in thePapal States,Tuscany, andthe Two Sicilies for the Sardinian campaign, he chose to seekplebiscites in the occupied territories, rather than pursuing the retreating Austrians.
Despite enthusiastic support for Sardinia by the revolutionaries (the Republic of San Marco andGiuseppe Mazzini's Milanese volunteers), the Austrians started to regain ground. But the Austrian government was distracted by theVienna Uprising, theHungarian Revolution of 1848, and otherRevolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. So Radetzky was instructed to seek a truce, an order he ignored.
While Austria was pressed on every front, the divided Italians allowed her time to regroup and to reconquer Venice and the other troubled areas of the empire one by one.[1]
Militarily, misreadings of the fluctuating political status in northern Italy—combined with Manin's indecision and ill-health, which confined him to bed at critical moments[2]—led to several damaging poor judgements by Venice. TheAustrian fleet was stationed in the formerly-Venetian port ofPola, inIstria. Despite Venice having much sympathy there, they made no effort to seize the fleet.[1] Similarly, had the Venetians encouraged the desertion of Lombard-Venetian soldiers from the Austrian army, such trained and disciplined troops might have bolstered the Venetian army.
The Venetian revolutionaries also failed to incorporate theterra ferma (the Venetian mainland) into the lagoon-based republic effectively. While revolutionary reform generated some popular support for the new régime, the revolutionaries recruited few troops there. Mainlanders were mistrustful of Venetian power, probably as a result of old assumptions about the earlier Mariner Republic. This combined with destructive foraging and other damage, which might have been avoided had the revolutionaries recruited acrossterra ferma.[1] While most of the middle and upper classes still supported the fight for independence, the lower classes ofterra ferma were largely indifferent. The Venetian and Lombard troops of Radetzky's army remained mostly loyal and actively fought for Austria.[3] Mainland recruits could have combined with the 2,000 Papal guards and Neapolitan soldiers underGeneral Pepe, who ignored orders to retreat in favor of supporting the infant republics.[1] But when Austrians underNugent marched onVerona, andGeneral Durando led a Piedmontese force to defend, Venice could only supply a few volunteers, later joined byColonel Ferrari's Papal regulars. This was of no avail, as Nugent's force met up with Radetzky's forces and took Verona easily.[1]
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Meanwhile, Manin retreated from his republican fervor, for fear of offending Charles Albert; this move was, however, both transparent and ineffectual.[1] He also relied on reinforcement by Piedmontese and Papal troops, not understanding that Piedmont would not welcome a powerful republican neighbour whenmonarchies were under threat across Europe, or thatPope Pius IX could not continue to support war between two Catholic monarchs practically on his border.[1] After the Italian rout at theBattle of Custoza on 29 July, Charles Albert abandoned Milan. When Radetzky offered its citizens free passage from the city, half the population left.
On 4 July 1848, the Venetian assembly voted 127–6 to approve Manin's proposal of subsumption into theKingdom of Sardinia. This lasted only a month, as on 9 August Charles Albert signed an armistice that restored the Piedmontese border at the riverTicino. At the same time, the Piedmontese navy abandoned its support of Venice.[2]
In early October, followers ofGiuseppe Mazzini tried to organize a great republican demonstration, hoping to gain aid from theFrench Second Republic, convert the city into a centre of Italian liberation, and inspireGaribaldi into an anti-Austrian crusade. But Manin, to avoid offending Charles Albert, suppressed them.[1] A "federal congress" was to meet inTurin on 12 October 1848, and Prime MinisterVincenzo Gioberti of Piedmont invited Venice to send delegates, but the Venetians declined.[1] The revolutionary authorities' reaction to Piedmont's declaration of war on Austria illustrated their failure to grasp realities — the Venetian assembly recessed for two weeks.[1]
_-_Venezia_soggiogata_-_Ettore_Ferrari.jpg)
The crushing defeat of Italian forces at theBattle of Novara (23 March 1849) sounded a death knell for Italian independence from the Austrians.[1] To avoid an occupation of Piedmont, Charles Albertabdicated in favour of his sonVictor Emmanuel II, whose treaty with Austria required the complete removal of the Sardinian navy from Venetian waters. Manin addressed the Venetian assembly on 2 April 1849 and they voted to continue their struggle against the Austrians, despite an Austrianblockade of the city. On 4 May 1849, Radetzky started his attack on the Venetian fort ofMarghera, held by 2500 troops under the Neapolitan command ofGirolamo Ulloa. Bombardment of the lagoon and city started at the same time and, over the next three weeks alone,60 000 projectiles were dispatched towards Venice. The fort at Marghera held out until 26 May, when Ulloa ordered its evacuation; an offer of surrender from Radetzky was rejected at this time.[1]
By August, withfamine andcholera sweeping the city, Manin proposed that the assembly vote for surrender, threatening to resign if the assembly voted to fight to the last. The assembly, however, agreed, and provided the president with authority to seek terms, which were agreed on 22 August. Radetzky's entrance to Venice on 27 August marked the complete surrender of Venice to the Austrian Empire, restoring thestatus quo ante bellum and causing Manin to flee Italy, with his family and 39 fellow-revolutionaries, into exile.[1] Manin's wife died of cholera within hours of their departure for Paris.[2]
Leadership was effectively provided by Daniele Manin throughout the republic's brief existence, but the following heads of state were in place during the 17 months:[4]
| From | To | Officeholder(s) | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 1848 | March 1848 | Giovanni Francesco Avesani | President of theProvisional Government |
| March 1848 | July 1848 | Daniele Manin | Chief executive |
| July 1848 | August 1848 | Jacopo Castelli | President of the Provisional Government |
| August 1848 | August 1848 | Daniele Manin | Dictator |
| August 1848 | March 1849 | Daniele Manin | Triumvirate |
| CALeone Graziani | |||
| ColGiovanni Battista Cavedalis | |||
| March 1849 | August 1849 | Daniele Manin | President of the Executive Power |
