Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/469

 ITALY 451 Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa. Parma and Piacenza were conquered by the Spanish prince Philip, and were conferred upon him as a he- reditary duchy by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). Thus about the middle of the 18th century a large portion of Italy had lost its independence, being subject to the dynasties of Lorraine, Bourbon, and Savoy. The republics of Genoa and Venice were mere shadows of what they had been. The political and social life of the country became a settled apathy and seemingly hopeless decay, down to the time of the French revolution. In 1792 a French army invaded Savoy, which was an- nexed to France in 1796. In 1797 Bonaparte surrendered Venice to Austria, and erected Milan, Mantua, a portion of Parma, and Mo- dena into the Cisalpine republic ; Genoa was transformed into the Ligurian republic, and the Papal States into the Roman republic (1798). Naples, having sided with Austria, was invaded by the French, the king- Ferdinand IV. expelled, and his kingdom formed into the Parthenopean republic (1799). During Bona- parte's campaign in Egypt the allied Austrians and Russians reconquered upper Italy, and the British, Russians, and Turks lower Italy ; but in a brief campaign Bonaparte restored the French supremacy (1800). By the peace of Luneville the duke of Parma obtained Tuscany under the designation of the kingdom of Etru- ria, and Parma fell to France. In 1802 the Cis- alpine was changed into the Italian republic, under the presidency of Bonaparte, and in 1805 into the kingdom of Italy, administered by Na- poleon's stepson Eugene Beauharnais. Guas- talla was annexed to the new kingdom, and Piombino and Lucca were given in fief to Na- poleon's sister, Elisa Bacciochi. By the peace of Presburg, Venice, Istria, and Dalmatia were added to the Italian kingdom, the area of which then comprised 35,400 sq. m., with a popula- tion of 5,657,000. In the following year Guas- talla, the Ligurian republic, Parma, and Pia- cenza were completely annexed to France, while Naples was once more made a kingdom for Joseph Bonaparte, who was succeeded by Murat in 1808. In that year the Etrurian kingdom and the Papal States were added to France, but Istria and Dalmatia were separated from Italy, and united to the new Illyrian kingdom, while a portion of the Tyrol was added: to Italy. The last effort of Austria to regain its former power having been frustrated by Archduke Charles's successive defeats in Bavaria (April, 1809), the supremacy of Napo- leon in Italy remained undisturbed until his power was broken by the Russian campaign and the successful rising of Germany. Murat of Naples made common cause with Austria (Jan. 11, 1814), and the French army was ex- pelled from Italy, while Napoleon fell. Murat, who was to have been confirmed in the posses- sion of Naples for the support lent to the ene- mies of his benefactor, was dethroned by a counter-revolutionary movement, and in an at- tempt to reconquer his kingdom died by sen- tence of a court martial (1815). Under the new territorial arrangements of the congress of Vienna, the king of Sardinia was reinstated in his former possessions, to which Genoa was added ; Lombardy and Venetia were given to Austria, and united into a kingdom ; Modena Mirandola, Reggio, Massa, and Carrara were transferred to the dynasty of Hapsburg-Este ; in Tuscany the Hapsburg-Lorraine dynasty was restored; Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla fell to the empress Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon ; Lucca to the Bourbon princess Maria Louisa ; the Papal States and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies were restored to their former rulers ; and Malta, Gdzzo, and Comino remained in the hands of England. The republic of San Marino and the petty principality of Monaco had been undisturbed through all these chaotic changes. The wishes of the advocates of na- tional unity, independence, and constitutional liberty having been baffled by the simple res- toration of the ante-revolutionary institutions, dissatisfaction and hatred of the foreign rulers engendered conspiracies and secret societies (carbonari), whose extent and power increased in the same ratio as the restrictive measures adopted against the people. In 1820 and 1821 revolutionary outbreaks occurred in Naples and Sardinia, and the rulers of these states were compelled to promise measures of reform ; but the congress of Laybach ordered the suppres- sion of these movements, and the complete sub- jugation of the revolutionary party by the Aus- trian armies was followed by a long period of reaction and vindictive persecution. The gov- ernment of Tuscany was at that time compara- tively liberal, and continued so until Sardinia assumed the lead of the national aspirations of Italy in 1848. In February, 1831, new popular risings took place in Parma, Modena, and the Papal States, but were again suppressed by Aus- trian armies. In the following year the Ro- magna made another effort to throw off the papal rule, in consequence of which an Austrian army crossed the frontier, while a French army, in spite of the protest of the pope, occupied An- cona, and held it till 1838. The political state of Italy remained apparently tranquil, but vio- lent outbreaks from time to time proved the existence of strong dissatisfaction, which was fostered by secret organizations, such as the Giotine Italia (young Italy), and by men like Mazzini, who began his career as a political agi- tator as early as 1831. A new era seemed to dawn upon Italy when Pope Gregory XVI. died and was succeeded by Pius IX. (June, 1846). Pius inaugurated a series of moderately liberal reforms, and was hailed as the political saviour of his country. Tuscany and Sardinia follow- ed the example set by the pope, and a customs union was effected between the three states (1847). Partial liberty of the press and popu- lar representation were conceded or promised. About that time the principality of Lucca was