"I remember a time
My frail, virgin mind
watched the crimson sunrise
Imagined what it might find
...
I feel like giving up
I was blinded by a paradise
Utopia high in the sky
A dream that only drowned me
..
Seasons change and so can I
Hold on Boy, No time to cry
Untie these strings, I'm climbing down
I won't let them push me away" - Dream Theater, A Change of Seasons
Down and Out in Sicily (1851-1855)
Unsurprisingly, the return to power of the Ristorazionista was commenced by Sicily shooting itself in the foot. After the defense pact with Spain had expired in 1845, it was renewed as a full alliance. After the Ristorazionista regained power, Spain began actively befriending Ferdinand, sending him lavish gifts. Ferdinand, as expected, was completely flattered. So when the Spanish invaded Portgual, and the United Kingdom supported the Portugese, Ferdinand backed the Spanish in their vainglorious attempt to conquer their neighbor, who was protected by the British Empire.
Paolo was slightly pleased at this development. He knew the British had no interest in invading Sicily But, they might favor a moderate over the Ristorazionista. He would monitor developments as they occurred. Paolo had gone into the printing business, and was spending all of his time ensuring the publication and distribution of pamphlets calling Ferdinand “out of his mind”.
After the navy suffered numerous humiliating defeats by the British, the fleet, with an army on it, made its way out to the Atlantic, and invaded the British Asuncion islands. After all of about three thousand people were under Sicilian control, the men were unable to load onto the boats again. So, the entire army was stranded in the middle of the Pacific. Finally, though, the midnight raid rescued the army, and it embarked to the Ivory Coast. Normally it would have returned home in disgrace, but Paolo saw an opportunity. A sympathizer of Paolo captained one of the messenger ships which brought orders from the high command to the army, and he “slightly altered” the communications.
How altered is slightly altered? Well, the High Command thought the army was still stranded on the Asuncion Islands, when it in fact was sweeping through the Ivory coast, scooping up British claims. Meanwhile, Stefano was hard at work copying all of his secret books on technology. They were sold to the Spanish in return for northern Mauretania and Mali. The whole thing was secret, and Paolo used much of the revenue generated by those colonies to stir up dissent. The 1852 elections, held to justify the coup to the people, failed to do so. The Moderati won, but the Moderati advisor to Ferdinand was sent on a diplomatic mission to Vienna. Unsurprisingly, he was thrown into prison, and a successor to his post was never appointed.
Ferdinand – under the influence of a Giovanni Palmenteri – had thrown Paolo in jail and charged him with the capital crime of treason. But Paolo had prepared a Plan C if he was thrown in prison, and throngs of demonstrators threatened to kill Ferdinand if Paolo was convicted. This forced Ferdinand to drop the charges, but they were dropped on technicalities, and could be brought up again at any time. If that ever happened, Paolo would ensure chaos in the streets.
The final act of the war was the invasion of British South Africa. The army grabbing British claims, and Paolo sold them to the Netherlands for part of Volta, which was claimed as a colony, as were Guinea and the Gold Coast. This transaction was expensive – the Dutch demanded a high price for keeping the king in the dark.
So what had happened on the Spanish front? The Spanish invaded Portugal. They managed to take southern and northern Portugal, but fighting was fierce around Lisbon, and the front stalemated. Finally, Portugese partisans, aided by a British attack on Andalusia from Gibraltar, almost completely pushed Spain out. The Spanish, knowing that Madrid might be under threat, launched a counterattack before agreeing to a status quo peace in 1855.
This also ended the grabbing of British colonies. The army was happy, being free to return to Italy. But when they heard fabricated (by Paolo) rumors of the revocation of the right to vote, the soldiers hanged their officers and proceeded to Napoli, where they, at gunpoint, made Ferdinand sign the Magna Sicilia.
The Magna Sicilia was a constitution guaranteeing the people’s right to vote to elect a Parliament. The Prime Minister would have more power. The Prime Minster was in control of much of the military, and the whole navy. The king still controlled the courts and appointed provincial governors, but the Prime Minister appointed city officials and controlled production decisions. The Prime Minister, naturally, was Paolo.