Victor Emmanuel II (Italian:Vittorio Emanuele II; full name:Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso diSavoia; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) wasKing of Sardinia (also informally known asPiedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March 1861,[a] when he assumed the title ofKing of Italy and became the first king of an independent,united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878. Borrowing from the oldLatin titlePater Patriae of theRoman emperors, the Italians gave him the epithet of "Father of the Fatherland" (Italian:Padre della Patria).
Born inTurin as the eldest son ofCharles Albert, Prince of Carignano, andMaria Theresa of Austria, Victor Emmanuel fought in theFirst Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) before being made King of Sardinia following his father's abdication. He appointedCamillo Benso, Count of Cavour, as his Prime Minister, and he consolidated his position by suppressing the republican left. In 1855, he sent anexpeditionary corps to side with French and British forces during theCrimean War; the deployment of Italian troops to the Crimea, and the gallantry shown by them in theBattle of the Chernaya (16 August 1855) and in the siege of Sevastopol led the Kingdom of Sardinia to be among the participants at the peace conference at the end of the war, where it could address the issue of theItalian unification to other European powers.[1] This allowed Victor Emmanuel to ally himself withNapoleon III, Emperor of France. France then supported Sardinia in theSecond Italian War of Independence, resulting in the liberation ofLombardy from Austrian rule; as payment for the help, Victor Emmanuel cededSavoy andNice to France.
Victor Emmanuel supported theExpedition of the Thousand (1860–1861) led byGiuseppe Garibaldi, which resulted in the rapid fall of theKingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy; however, Victor Emmanuel halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attackRome, still under thePapal States, as it was under French protection. In 1860, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna decided to side with Sardinia, and Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in the Marche and Umbria after the victoriousBattle of Castelfidardo over the Papal forces. This led to hisexcommunication from theCatholic Church. He subsequently met Garibaldi atTeano, receiving from him the control of southern Italy and becoming the first King of Italy on 17 March 1861.
Victor Emmanuel was born inPalazzo Carignano,Turin as the eldest son ofCarlo Alberto Prince of Carignano, andMaria Theresa of Tuscany. His father succeeded a distant cousin as King of Sardinia in 1831. He lived for some years of his youth inFlorence and showed an early interest in politics, the military, and sports. In 1842, he married his cousin,Adelaide of Austria. He was styled as theDuke of Savoy prior to becoming King of Sardinia. He took part in theFirst Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) under his father, King Charles Albert, fighting in the front line at the battles ofPastrengo, Santa Lucia,Goito andCustoza.[2]
Victor Emmanuel becameKing of Sardinia in 1849 when his father abdicated the throne, after being defeated by the Austrians at theBattle of Novara. Victor Emmanuel was immediately able to obtain a rather favourable armistice at Vignale by the Austrian imperial army commander,Radetzky. The treaty, however, was not ratified by the Piedmonteselower parliamentary house, the Chamber of Deputies, and Victor Emmanuel retaliated by firing his Prime Minister, Claudio Gabriele de Launay, replacing him withMassimo D'Azeglio. After new elections, the peace with Austria was accepted by the new Chamber of Deputies. In 1849, Victor Emmanuel also fiercely suppressed a revolt inGenoa, defining the rebels as a "vile and infected race of canailles".
In 1852, Victor Emmanuel appointedCamillo Benso, Count of Cavour, asPrime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Cavour was a clever strategist focused on establishing theHouse of Savoy as Italy's rulers. He applied liberalism and nationalism to dismantle the traditional structures of theKingdom of Sardinia while advancing an anti-clerical agenda that started during Charles Albert.[3] Cavour modernized the kingdom for war to expel the Austrians from Italy, facilitating Victor Emmanuel's eventual ascension as king. He also played a key role in securing an alliance with Napoleon III, leading to French support that enabled Emmanuel’s forces to capture Milan and other Austrian territories, though Venice remained under Austrian control.[3] Victor Emmanuel II soon became the symbol ofRisorgimento, the Italian unification movement of the 1850s and early 60s.[2] He was especially popular in Piedmont–Sardinia because of his respect for the new constitution and his liberal reforms.
Victor Emmanuel II in 1850
Portrait of Victor Emmanuel, with a battle in the background (1848)
Victor Emmanuel reviews the troops for theCrimean War.
Following Victor Emmanuel's advice, Cavour joined Britain and France in theCrimean War against Russia. Cavour was reluctant to go to war due to the power of Russia at the time and the expense of doing so; however, Victor Emmanuel was convinced of the rewards to be gained from the alliance created with Britain and more importantly France. After successfully seeking British support and ingratiating himself with France and Napoleon III at theCongress of Paris in 1856 at the end of the war, Count Cavour arranged a secret meeting with the French emperor. In 1858, they met atPlombières-les-Bains (inLorraine), where they agreed that if the French were to help Piedmont in its war against Austria, which still reigned over theKingdom of Lombardy–Venetia in northern Italy, France would be awardedNice andSavoy.
The Italo-French campaign against Austria in 1859 started successfully; however, sickened by the casualties of the war and worried about the mobilisation of Prussian troops, Napoleon III secretly made a treaty withFranz Joseph of Austria atVillafranca whereby Piedmont would only gainLombardy. France did not as a result receive the promised Nice and Savoy but Austria keptVenetia, a major setback for the Piedmontese, in no small part because the treaty had been prepared without their knowledge. After several quarrels about the outcome of the war, Cavour resigned, and the king had to find other advisors. France only gained Nice and Savoy after theTreaty of Turin was signed in March 1860, after Cavour had been reinstalled as Prime Minister, and a deal with the French was struck for plebiscites to take place in the Central Italian Duchies.
Later that same year, Victor Emmanuel II sent his forces to fight the papal army at Castelfidardo and drove the Pope intoVatican City. His success at these goals led him to beexcommunicated from the Catholic Church until 1878 when it was lifted just before his death. Then,Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples, and Piedmont–Sardinia grew even larger. On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially established and Victor Emmanuel II became its king.
Victor Emmanuel II in 1861
Victor Emmanuel supportedGiuseppe Garibaldi'sExpedition of the Thousand (1860–1861), which resulted in the rapid fall of theKingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy; however, the king halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, still under thePapal States, as it was under French protection. In 1860, through local plebiscites, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna decided to side with Piedmont–Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in theMarche andUmbria after the victoriousbattle of Castelfidardo (1860) over the Papal forces.
The king subsequently met with Garibaldi atTeano, receiving from him the control of southern Italy. Another series of plebiscites in the occupied lands resulted in the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as the firstKing of Italy by the new Parliament ofunified Italy, on 17 March 1861. He did not renumber himself after assuming the new royal title, andTurin became the capital of the new state. OnlyLazio,Veneto, andTrentino remained to be conquered.
Bettino Ricasoli presents the plebiscite for the annexation of Tuscany to Victor Emmanuel IITomb of Victor Emmanuel II in thePantheon
In 1866, Victor Emmanuel allied himself withPrussia in theThird Italian War of Independence. Although not victorious in the Italian theatre, he managed to receive Veneto after the Austrian defeat in Germany. The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Clarendon, visited Florence in December 1867 and reported to London after talking to various Italian politicians: "There is universal agreement that Victor Emmanuel is an imbecile; he is a dishonest man who tells lies to everyone; at this rate, he will end up losing his crown and ruining both Italy and his dynasty."[4] In 1870, after two failed attempts by Garibaldi, he also took advantage of the Prussian victory over France in theFranco-Prussian War to capture Rome after the French withdrew. He entered Rome on 20 September 1870 and set up the new capital there on 2 July 1871, after a temporary move toFlorence in 1864. The new Royal residence was theQuirinal Palace.
The rest of Victor Emmanuel II's reign was much quieter. After the Kingdom of Italy was established, he decided to continue on as King Victor Emmanuel II instead of Victor Emmanuel I of Italy. This was a terrible move as far as public relations went, as it was not indicative of the fresh start that the Italian people wanted and suggested that Piedmont–Sardinia had taken over the Italian peninsula rather than unifying it. Despite this mishap, the remainder of Victor Emmanuel II's reign was consumed by wrapping up loose ends and dealing with economic and cultural issues. His role in day-to-day governing gradually dwindled, as it became increasingly apparent that a king could no longer keep a government in office against the will of Parliament. As a result, while the wording of theStatuto Albertino stipulating that ministers were solely responsible to the crown remained unchanged, in practice they were now responsible to Parliament.
Victor Emmanuel died in Rome in 1878, after meeting with the envoys ofPope Pius IX, who had reversed the excommunication, and receivedlast rites. He was buried in thePantheon. His successor was his sonUmberto I.[5]
Carlo Alberto (2 June 1851 – 28 June 1854),Duke of Chablais, died in early childhood.
Vittorio Emanuele (6 July 1852 – 6 July 1852) died in infancy.
Vittorio Emanuele (18 January 1855 – 17 May 1855), Count ofGeneva, died in infancy.
In 1869 he marriedmorganatically his principal mistressRosa Vercellana (3 June 1833 – 26 December 1885). Popularly known inPiedmontese as "Bela Rosin", she was born a commoner but made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda in 1858. Their offspring were:
Vittoria Guerrieri (2 December 1848 – 29 December 1905), married three times: to Giacomo Spinola, Luigi Spinola and Paolo DeSimone.
Emanuele Alberto Guerrieri (16 March 1851 – 24 December 1894), Count of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda.
Mack Smith, Denis (1972) [1971].Vittorio Emanuele II. (Traduzione ... di Jole Bertolazzi.) [Original title: Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento]. Laterza.OCLC504679452.
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