Two Sicilies, AA Realm between past and future

Note: apart from the character of General Corleone (random general created with the regular 20 leadership points in 1845) the following events are real history [RH], just anticipated by one year for gameplay purposes.


In August 1846, the Liberal professor Luigi Settembrini publishes a pamphlet entitled "A Protest of the People of the Two Sicilies", condemning the backward behaviour of Ferdinand II and Giuseppe Pisanelli's cabinet. In the pamphlet, Settembrini accuses the political system to be "a huge pyramid with informers and priests at the bottom and the King on top. Every public servant, from the soldier to the General, from the gendarme to the Minister of Police, from the priest to the King's confessor is a cruel despot to his subjects and a slave of his own superiors! And those who are not among the oppressors feel to be squashed from the tyranny of one thousand felons, and the peace, the property, the freedom of good men are influenced by someone else's arbitrariness".

And furthermore: "We would like to pray God to gift Ferdinand with wisdom, if we knew God to be listening the people's voice, which is also God's voice. Nothing has been left to us than showing our miseries, let people know that it is not justifiable for us to suffer them. It is time to put an end to so much shame".

The effect of Settembrini's j'accuse is huge: although suppressed by the royal censorship, the pamphlet clandestinely passes from hand to hand, fuelling even more discredit to the monarchy. Even in the Army – traditionally faithful to the Bourbon dynasty – some individuals start to develop sceptic views with regards to future of Ferdinand II, embracing the reformist and republican ideas of Giuseppe Mazzini.

The King, perceiving the mounting protests against his pertinacious defence of Absolutism, begins to journey in a number of provinces together with the Queen and the young Prince Francis II (now 10 years old) to get a better feeling of the situation and develop a sort of "smile campaign". The Council of Ministers passes a decree upon Ferdinand's proposal to cut tariffs on salt, wheat and wine by one-third – a quite useless ordinance given the increasing pressure for really Liberal reforms.

Two coordinated uprisings with insurgents shouting "Viva Pio IX! Viva l'Italia! Viva la Costituzione!" occur in Reggio and Messina on 2nd September 1846 but are quickly suppressed by the government forces. In the following days twenty-five rioters are sentenced to death and shot, causing again an outbreak of criticism throughout Italy. Among the most sceptic antagonists of the nasty suppression of the insurrections and the capital sentence of its leaders is General Vito Corleone, the brilliant commander of the garrison in Palermo since February 1845. The history of this valid is really interesting: born in Sicily, like Filangieri he had fought during the 1820-21 constitutional revolt and got exiled - after the Austrian repression - for many years in France and Britain, living both of political essays and notable Romanticist poems. Returned to Naples, he was given the rank of General despite his progressive ideas. In fact, differently from Filangieri, loyal to the Bourbon cause and relatively moderate, he is a clandestine member of Mazzini's Giovine Italia and "leaning to left". During the September 1846 risings, Corleone is in Catania, where he has been ordered to relocate from Palermo to control the situation. Even if actually the city is less dangerous than the neighbouring Messina, he manages to restrain the insurgents and reluctantly orders the arrest of two leaders, just to free them after few weeks when calm is finally restored.

Instead, repression is harsh in Naples: in the following months, the secret police arrests many Liberal leaders but the King himself – feeling the need to appease the public opinion – decides to reshuffle the cabinet, firing the Ministers of Interiors and Finances with more open-minded people. On 31st December 1846, last day of a difficult year, sixty-six members of the Roman and Piedmontese Liberal intelligentsia submitt a petition to King to release the Liberal prisoners, but their plea has gone unlistened.


Thus, the situation rapidly deteriorates amid Ferdinand's unresponsiveness and government's puzzles, until popular revolution finally ignites in June 1847, when violent nationalistic riots begin in Palermo, followed by Naples and the Austrian provinces of Lombardia and Veneto, marking the start of Italian Independence War [RH] (just anticipated of 6 months for gameplay purpose).

Corbett, Dr. Gonzo, Fulcrumvale, Jape, stnylan: thanks for your support, I must admit I'm enjoying a lot my game, and reporting is consequentially fun...

My game is now in 1852 and I've just ended a 5 years war (!) against the Habsburgs with hordes of Austrian, Prussian, Bavarian etc. etc. coming down into the peninsula. In order to describe the war I'm going to change a little bit my style of writing to a more pictorial one. What do you think about it?

Revolution and Constitutionalism: June 1847​

The events leading to the Italian Independence War cover the last part of June 1847. As starting point, a riot erupts in the poorest part of Palermo on 22nd June, ignited by the radicals seeking autonomy for the island and a constitutional government, but also an agrarian reform to relief the awful conditions of farmers. Initially, the aristocrats led by Rosalino Pilo support the protest but when they perceive the insurgency being motivated also by social instances, revert to legitimism and withdraw their backing. Differently from the upper classes, the Army takes defence of the revolters and calls for a renewed "national pact" among Monarchy and People. From Catania, where he is still commanding the third Sicilian city, General Corleone takes an ambiguous stance – still loyal to the dynasty but open to the insurgents' requests – and asks King Ferdinand II to grant a Constitution "in order to preserve national unity and start a war for the liberation of Italy from the Austrian detested rule".

Anyway, the insurgents take control of Palermo on 27th June under the rule of a revolutionary committee chaired by Ruggero Settimo. On that same day, revolts happen also in Naples and the biggest cities of the continental part of the nation: a massive demonstration of power that convinces the King to yield, cancelling during a troubled night an entire cabinet. The reactionary President of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Pisanelli disappears together with the whole cabinet and the sordid Minister of Police Del Carretto. The King chooses a Liberal, Nicola Maresca, as President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well, and solemnly promises to grant a Constitution inspired to progressive ideas. Luigi Settembrini, the author of the pamphlet we already know, becomes Minister of Education.

Three days after general elections with limited male suffrage are called to elect the first constitutional Parliament of the Kingdom. According to the Constitution draft modelled on the French 1830 Chart, two Chambers will compose the Parliament: the Upper House, with 50 peers appointed by King Ferdinand II, and the Lower House (called "Chamber of Deputies"), with 164 elected representatives. On 28th June, the official daily gazette of the Kingdom restates its heading as "Giornale Costituzionale del Regno delle Due Sicilie" and a new flag, with the Bourbon coat of arms included in the Italian tricolour, is designed to represent the new federalist and independentist attitude of the Kingdom.


On 28th June, the newly established cabinet – and Nicola Maresca in particular, as Minister of Foreign Affairs – has already to take a capital decision: in fact, newspapers reports the outcome of the cruel facts of Milan and Venice. Knowing the possible impact on the masses of the events happening in Palermo, on 25th June the Austrian authorities had already proclaimed the curfew and martial law in their Italian domains. On the morning of 27th June, the revolt starts in Milan, forcing the Vice-Governor to run away under General Radetzky's shelter in the citadel. The riots led by Gabrio Casati soon take command of the main city places, but towards nightfall Radetzky comes out with thousands soldiers and recoups ground. The clash of that day and the ensuing night is tremendously brutal: hundreds of Austrian soldiers and Milanese citizens fall. In response to these deeds, at 5 p.m. of 28th June the cabinet Kingdom of Two Sicilies breaks diplomatic relations with Austria, when the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand has already ordered Radetzky to leave Milan. At the same time, also the civil and military governors of Venice have yielded the city to the insurgents, who seize the arsenal and institute a provisional government. Daniele Manin, leader of the rebels together with Niccolò Tommaseo, becomes President of the Venetian Republic. On 29th June, the Lombardy Provisional Government is born in Milan, with a sharp divide between the monarchical Casati and the republican Cattaneo.


Contacts among the leaders of the different independentist movements have been strong and coordinated since the early days. Nicola Maresca has had continuous exchanges of views with Casati, the head of the Lombardy Provisional Government, and the Piedmontese Liberals. Among the most radical, General Corleone has a brotherish link with Daniele Manin, Carlo Cattaneo and Giuseppe Mazzini. As a sign of changing time, when the Austrian have not still left Milan, a general Congress has been called out of the Italian borders, in Zurich [RH], to discuss the possibility of an Italic League against any foreign interference. The negotiations will last months and prove difficult because of diverse views of the various parties involved, but they are already overtaken by the joint war effort.


The Neapolitan cabinet reconvenes again in the early morning of 29th June to take a final decision. Together with the Ministers, also General Filangieri attends the meeting to bring his valuable expertise on military matters. The discussion is open and severe, as it is deserved in such vital points in the history of nations. Filangieri depicts a fairly precise perspective of the situation. The Italian States can reasonably put into the field 11 divisions against 16 Austrian ones:

• Sardinia-Piedmont: 5 divisions, guided by General Bava;
• Two Sicilies: 4 divisions, 2 "continental" guided by Filangieri himself and 2 "islanders" guided by Corleone;
• Lombardy and Veneto: 1 division each.

Unfortunately, there is little hope that pro-Habsburg duchies of Central Italy (including Tuscany, Parma and Modena) can enter the war against their masters in Wien, but anyway the material aid that they could offer counts as next to nothing. The confirmation of this fact has already arrived from Florence, where Leopold II has promised a Constitution to his subject but has declared himself to be out of the war among Italians and Austrians. The Duchy of Modena, Parma and – even more importantly – Pope Pius IX retain absolute forms of government and keep themselves falsely neutral, with a hidden preference to see their collapsing power reaffirmed through Austrian bayonets.

On the other side, well-trained soldiers directed by the valiant General Radetzky compose the Austrian army. Just to corroborate the fears of Naples, the Papal State has not called back the military access agreement with Austria, which could potentially represent a direct menace against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Furthermore, the defence pact signed by Austria within the German Confederation could not exclude that other fellow States, such as Prussia or Bavaria intervene directly or through expeditionary forces in the conflict.

"The Army is well-equipped and ready for war", concludes Filangieri, "but I cannot foresee how many enemies and for how much time we will fight. Our 28.000 brave soldiers may prove inadequate for a long clash of nations and recourse to general conscription may be required. Does everyone around this table understand what this means? Thousands and thousands of farmers, craftsmen and clerks dressing a uniform to fight for a national ideal before, and their own class interests after".

Thus, on the verge of a declaration of war against the Austrian in support of the Italian brothers of Milan and Venice, a forward-looking Filangieri puts on the table of the first Liberal cabinet the heart of the problem: the social impact of the mobilisation of reserves through the launch of a general conscription. At the end of the meeting, the vast majority of the government votes for the support to Lombardy and Veneto, giving Filangieri supreme authority over the Army and direct command on the 1st Corps, whereas Admiral Salerno is commanding the Fleet. General Corleone will lead the 2nd Corps, which will be the first to leave the country for Northern Italy.


War plans are ready and communicated to the King, in these days stunned by events and reduced to an involuntary executor of deeds determined by others. Later that 29th June, after decades of mutual help among Two Sicilies' Bourbons and Habsburgs, Ferdinand II reluctantly declares that hostilities against Austria are opened. Few days after the events of Naples, Milan and Venice, also King Charles Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont promulgates a Constitution and joins the fight against the Austrians.

Early phases of the Independence War: from July to November 1847​

Mainly pictorial update, showing the steady progress of the joint Italian forces in the first five months of war. Hannibal Barca2, unfortunately scarce activity for my fleet, but Fulcrumvale's love for General Vito Corleone will be utterly satisfied!


Expelled by Milan and Venice, Radetzky retreats to the safer Alpine provinces, setting up his two divisions in Bergamo and Udine and waiting for reinforcements from Wien. In the meantime, the first Two Sicilies' contingents depart from Messina and Catania on 6th July under the command of General Corleone, escorted by the bulk of the Royal Fleet. Onboard, 12.500 men ranked in two infantry divisions.


The loss of Venice and its arsenal has left to the Italians the control over the seas. When Neapolitans squadrons appears in the upper Adriatic on 23rd July, they find no opposition and can impose a blockade on Trieste, the second most important Austrian port, still in their hands. Few hours later, Corleone orders the landing of the very first Neapolitan troops to start the siege of the city, left poorly defended by the Austrians.


Almost in the same days of Corleone's landing at Trieste, Filangieri embarks with his 15.000 men of the 1st Corps to cross the Adriatic Sea. After reaching Venice, he orders the troops to move towards Udine, where the Venetian army has already made contact with the Austrians, like the Lombards have done confronting the enemy garrison in Bergamo.


When Neapolitan 1st Corps finally reaches Udine in the afternoon of 3rd September, the battle has already been decided in favour of the Venetians. The missed chance to get a piece of glory is balanced few hours later by the glorious entrance of Corleone's 2nd Corps in Trieste after overcoming the remnants of the Austrian garrison in a harsh three-hours street fighting. At mid-night, the black-and-yellow is run down from the "Castello di San Giusto", the fortress towering above the city.


In the meantime, Lombard troops free Trento, forcing the Austrian to retreat completely from the Southern side of the Alps. After the events of Udine and Trieste, Venetian and Neapolitan generals meet in order to coordinate future moves in three different directions: Corleone's 2nd Corps along the coast towards Pola, Filangieri across the easily viable Alpine passes towards Idrsko and the Venetians towards Lienz (which is for sure the most difficult target, in consideration of the tough logistics and the upcoming wintertime). By end-November, all the target provinces would surrender to the Neapolitan forces, just before the chilly Alpine winter comes in. For a couple of months, the front will remain relatively quiet.


While the military operations in Veneto steadily move forward, the new Two Sicilies' Liberal cabinet takes the first war measures, like the purchase of armaments and hardware to enlist four additional reserves divisions and the subsequent mobilization of the whole pool, totalling 80.000 infantrymen (resulting in an overall commitment of almost 110.000 soldiers, the biggest of all the Italian States), which will join the already engaged professional army in October 1847. Obviously, this war effort costs thousands of pounds, causing a cutback in the budgets of other less imperative governmental expenses, like education. Fascinated by a rush of patriotism and the good news from the front, electors do not oppose these exceptional measures, as shown by the pro-war rallies in Sicily (August 1847) and Naples (February 1848). Overall, during the elections the so-called "internal front" will prove particularly firm.

Two major diplomatic events drastically change the significance of the conflict in the Autumn 1847: the break-up of the solidarity among the Austrian satellites in Italy and the assassination in Rome of Pellegrino Rossi.

In October, Empress Marie Louise, former wife of Napoleon and Duchess of Parma, dies. According the complex clauses of the Congress of Wien, Charles Louis of Lucca has the right of success her as Duke of Parma, but has to renounce to Lucca, which is to be incorporated in the domains of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Instead, he reject the agreements and keep both Parma and Lucca for him, causing Leopold II's wrath. On 18 October, Tuscany attacks Parma.


Even more important are the events in Rome, which cannot remain isolated by the general unrest of those months. Pius IX has maintained a problematical equidistance during the first phases of the war. His counsellor Pellegrino Rossi, the man of has tried to keep safe, orderly and out of the war Papal States with his iron-fist, is assassinated by hands of an unknown individual – maybe an anarchic. Few hours later, Rome is already in the hands of the mob, causing the Pope to run away to Florence. The newly established government, headed by Galetti and with Terenzio Mamiani as Minister of Foreign Affairs, immediately breaks diplomatic relations with Austria and rushes in the war. With its key adhesion, the Italic League against can be considered almost complete.

Yes, stnylan, properly a monster ... and you will see in th next post how much help Austria gets from other German states! A real shame for Prussia and Bavaria that have chosen a Constitutional government few months before and now support the greedy and dispotic Emperor in his deathmatch against the Italian will for Liberty!

And you're right Quirinus308: it will be a long long conflict, with many surprises.

Quirinus308 said:

So who are the alliance leaders in the war?

Click to expand...

Do you mean the tentative Fathers of the Nation?

Well, without spoiling too much of the next updates, I must admit there are several of them... The moderately liberal cabinet of Nicola Maresca will be defeated by the "leftist" liberal Carlo Troya in the first free elections held in March 1848. Troya will be Prime Minister during the whole conflict.


Outside of the borders of KTS, Giuseppe Mazzini in Rome, but even more Daniele Manin in Venice and Carlo Cattaneo in Milan will share with Troya the status of "political souls" of what is for now only a wonderful dream, a unified Italy.

And then there are the generals. Here there are fewer doubts. Our beloved Vito Corleone will be the uncontested hero thanks to his deeds, followed by Filangieri (which unfortunately will die in battle and not see the end of the war) and another minor General, Mr. Lanza, who will have anyway the glory to fight the most important - and biggest in terms of numbers involved - land battle in the Independence War. Given the fact that KTS will be by far the most engaged, resilient and committed enemy to Austria, nobody else can put on the table Generals of the same level of ours ...

Quirinus308 said:

wow, that's a lot of info, I was really reffering to the game itself. Which nation was the actual alliance leader

Click to expand...

Oh, I see. In that case, I can have only separate peace treaties with Austria. The Independence War is actually the sum of two wars: Milan and allies (including KTS) vs. Austria and Venice and allies (including KTS) vs. Austria ... this will have an impact later on.