TheRimini Proclamation (Italian:Proclama di Rimini) was aproclamation byJoachim Murat,King of Naples, calling for the establishment of a united, self-governingItaly ruled byconstitutional law. Its text is widely attributed toPellegrino Rossi,[1][2] laterPapal Minister of Interior underPope Pius IX.[1] While it is primarily considered as a desperate attempt from Murat to retain the Neapolitan throne,[3] the Rimini Proclamation was among the earliest calls forItalian unification.[1][3]
The Rimini Proclamation is dated to 30 March 1815, when Murat's army was passing throughRimini in theNeapolitan War against theAustrian Empire, though it may have been published only after Murat's defeat at theBattle of Tolentino in May 1815.[1] The citizens' address begins with the call:[4]
Italians! The hour has come to engage in your highest destinies.
TheKingdom of Naples, which ruled the southern half of theItalian peninsula, was aclient state ofNapoleon Bonaparte'sFrench Empire.[5] In 1808, Napoleon namedJoachim Murat asKing of Naples; Murat had marriedCaroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger sister, in 1800.[6] The northern half of the Italian peninsula was divided by the French Empire and, from 17 March 1805, theKingdom of Italy, another French client state, with Napoleon asKing of Italy.[5][7]
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By January 1814, Napoleon was losing theWar of the Sixth Coalition, in which a coalition of European states fought against the French Empire and its client states.[3] On 11 January 1814, the Kingdom of Naples and theAustrian Empire signed theTreaty of Naples, under which Murat defected to the coalition. As part of the treaty, Murat would keep the Neapolitan throne in return for sending 30,000 troops against the Kingdom of Italy.[8] Murat's troops passed through the city ofRimini, at the southern tip of the Kingdom of Italy, on 1 February 1814.[9]
Following further military defeats, Napoleon abdicated on 6 April 1814.[10] At theCongress of Vienna,Klemens von Metternich, Austria'sForeign Minister, was bound by other coalition allies that wanted to restoreFerdinand IV of theHouse of Bourbon to the Neapolitan throne,[1] particularlyBritain.[6][11]
With his throne no longer secure, following Napoleon'sreturn from exile, Murat switched sides in an unsuccessful attempt to return to Napoleon's favour. On 15 March 1815, the Kingdom of Naples declared war on the Austrian Empire, starting theNeapolitan War.[3][5][6] With an estimated 45,000 troops, the Neapolitan army invaded thePapal States,Tuscany, and theMarche.[5][3][1] Though the Austrian army innorthern Italy numbered 94,000 troops, it was widely distributed.[11] On 30 March 1815, Murat's troops arrived in Rimini, where they were hosted by the Battaglini counts.[1] In a final attempt to gain allies, Murat published the Rimini Proclamation.[2]
The Rimini Proclamation consists of two documents: one addressed to soldiers and one addressed to citizens.[1][2] The proclamation is often identified as the latter address to citizens.[1] Most scholars attribute the text of the addresses toPellegrino Rossi,[1][2] laterPapal Minister of the Interior underPope Pius IX.[1]
The citizens' address begins with the call:[4]
Italians! The hour has come to engage in your highest destinies. Providence ultimately calls you to be an independent nation. From theAlps to theStrait of Scylla, you hear a single cry: "The independence of Italy!" And under what title do foreign peoples claim to take away this independence, the first right and first good of every people?
The proclamation references Italy'sphysical geography – "the barriers of the Alps" and "inaccessible seas and mountains" – as evidence of Italy's call to independence. It compares Italy's subjection to "England, that model ofconstitutional rule, that free people, who goes to glory to fight". It calls on the "good and unhappy Italians ofMilan,Bologna,Turin,Venice,Brescia,Modena, [and]Reggio" to "come together in firm union" for "a Constitution worthy of the century and of you".[4]
In its desire for independence and constitutionalism, the proclamation was written to inspire liberal elites in northern Italy.[5]
400 volunteers joined Murat's army on 30 March 1815.[2] Murat's eastern column advanced northwards from Rimini towards theRiver Po, entering Bologna on 2 April, while the western column reachedFlorence on 8 April.[11] On the same day, the eastern column engaged 3,000 Austrian soldiers at theBattle of Occhiobello.[3][2] Following its defeat at Occhiobello, it was pushed southwards, leading to Murat's decisive defeat at theBattle of Tolentino on 2–3 May.[6][2] Murat returned to Naples on 18 May, where Caroline had already surrendered to the British, and fled immediately to southern France.[11]
Hearing of Napoleon's defeat at theBattle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815,[2] Murat fled toCorsica,[2][3][6] from which he attempted an impossible invasion ofCalabria.[2][5][6] Napoleon remarked: "Murat attempted to reconquer with 200 men that territory which he failed to hold when he had 80,000 at his disposal."[1] Murat was captured, sentenced to death,[2][6] and shot by firing squad inPizzo Calabro on 13 October 1815.[1][5][6]
InIl re lazzarone (1999),Risorgimento scholar Giuseppe Campolieti hypothesises that the Rimini Proclamation was only published on 12 May 1815, after Murat's defeat at Tolentino, and backdated to 30 March.[2][12]
The Rimini Proclamation is primarily considered a desperate attempt from Murat to retain the Neapolitan throne. Nevertheless, and somewhat ironically for a French king,[3] it was among the earliest calls for Italian unification and independence.[1][3] The proclamation impressed poetAlessandro Manzoni, who wrote a song entitledIl proclama di Rimini [it],[1] but he left it unfinished after Murat's campaign failed.[2]
