King of Italy Victor Emmanuel 2. Unification of Italy or how Victor Emmanuel II became the Father of the Fatherland

King of Sardinia

Biography

Born in 1820, and while still the crown prince, he showed outstanding courage in the war with Austria in 1848-1849.

Having ascended the throne of Sardinia after his father, King Charles Albert, defeated at Novara, retired to Spain, Victor Emmanuel II made peace with Austria on rather difficult conditions for the country: the Austrians received a large indemnity, and their occupying corps remained for a long time in Piedmont. Peace could be concluded on easier terms, but only with the abolition of the constitution, but Victor Emmanuel II did not want to violate the obligation given to the people by his father. Thanks to this, he earned the trust of the people and a popularity almost equal to that of Garibaldi. Only taking advantage of this, Victor Emmanuel II could strain all the financial resources of the country, increasing the state debt by 4 times, to reorganize the army, which, through the efforts of the Minister of War, General Lamarmore, was brought to a brilliant state and increased to 100,000 people.

To give her the necessary combat experience and at the same time strengthen friendly relations with France, Victor Emmanuel II took part in the Eastern War and sent a 15,000-strong corps under the command of General Mentevecchio to Sevastopol. This circumstance made it possible for Sardinia to have a representative at the Congress of Paris in 1856, where Cavour, in a brilliant speech directed against Austria, outlined the position and needs of Italy.

In 1858, the same Cavour, sent by Victor Emmanuel II to Plombieres to meet with Napoleon, reached the point that the latter undertook to declare war on Austria and cede Lombardy and Venice to Piedmont in exchange for Nice and Savoy. The war began, and after the victories of the French-Italian troops at Palestro, Magenta and Solferino, in which Victor Emmanuel II himself took a personal part, the fate of Italy was decided by the Peace of Villafranca as follows: Lombardy went to Victor Emmanuel II, Venice remained with Austria, from the rest of Italy it was supposed to form a federation under the presidency of Pope Pius IX. The decrees of the Peace of Villafranca caused a terrible indignation throughout Italy, and it proved impossible to carry them out; Pius IX refused to make any concessions, Tuscany, Modena, Romagna and Parma did not want to accept their dukes and elected Garibaldi as head of their union, instructing him to join Piedmont.

Forced by the state of affairs, Napoleon, leaving behind Savoy and Nice, agreed to the annexation of Tuscany, Parma, Modena and Romagna to Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel II was recognized by popular vote as the king of these provinces (1860) and on March 14, 1861 took the title of king Italy, under the name of Victor Emmanuel II.

Although in one of the very first meetings of the Parliament, Rome was called the "capital of Italy", but it was occupied by French troops. Unable to deal with its conquest, since the finances of the state were upset by constant wars and there was an urgent need to deal with internal affairs, Victor Emmanuel II decided through diplomatic means to achieve the removal of French troops from Rome. After a long hesitation, Napoleon agreed to withdraw his troops from Italy within 2 years, but on the condition that Rome would never be its capital and the pope would have his own army. The people, however, did not want to accept these conditions, and a rebellion broke out in Turin, vigorously pacified by Victor Emmanuel II.

In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II concluded a defensive and offensive alliance with Prussia against Austria, according to which peace could be concluded only by common consent. For this, Bismarck promised to return Venice to Italy. Then Austria offered Victor Emmanuel II to get Venice for free, but Victor Emmanuel II did not want to violate the treaty with Prussia and sent his troops to support her in the war with Austria that had already begun, but they acted very unsuccessfully. According to the Vienna Peace Treaty of 1866, the Venetian region was ceded to Italy, and at the end of 1866, French troops left Rome, having stood there for 17 years. Then Garibaldi moved to conquer Rome, but was defeated by the French in 1867 at Menton, and the French troops again occupied the Papal States. Napoleon suspected Victor Emmanuel II of sympathizing with Garibaldi, and this caused a chill between France and Italy.

Victor Emmanuel the second (Victor Emmanuel II) heir to the Savoy dynasty, was born on March 14, 1820. Victor Emmanuel's father Charles Albert abdicated in 1849 following the defeat at Novara and left the country in a state of revolution to his son. Italy at that time consisted of scattered states. Among their rulers were kings from the Habsburg dynasty, and there was a French garrison. Italy was not a single state, and the patriots of their country demanded to unite the states around the city of Turin, where the Savoy dynasty ruled.

After the abdication of his father, Victor Emmanuel tried to conclude a peace treaty with Austria. However, this angered the deputies, and they refused to approve the agreement. The young king decides to dissolve the government, and arranges elections. As a result, a team gathered at the court of Victor Emmanuel that fully met the requirements of not only the monarch, but the whole country.

The monarch was a very intelligent and courageous person. He knew that for the unification of Italy it was necessary to concentrate the forces of Italian patriots. Victor Emmanuel showed himself to be a real ruler, in domestic politics he adhered to liberal views, and in the international arena he was a brave and wise king.

In the eyes of the people, Victor Emmanuel had high authority, society trusted him. The king decides to increase military spending, increases the national debt by several times and brilliantly reorganizes the army, making it one of the strongest. The army is increased to 100 thousand people. Victor Emmanuel takes part in the Eastern War in order to strengthen relations with France.

In 1852, Count Camillo Benzodi Cavour became the head of the government of Sardinia, who fully supported the king's point of view on the need to maintain friendly relations with France, and together resist Austria. However, only 7 years later, in November 1859, a peace treaty was concluded, after the victory of the troops of the French and Italian armies over the Austrians. This gave the country new strength for the process of unification of Italian lands.

Under the terms of the peace treaty with Austria, Lombardy was annexed to Italy. Victor Emmanuel fully supported the goals of the head of government to annex the lands belonging to the Austrians. However, the prime minister soon resigns, as he did not agree with the fact that Austria received power over Venice during the Truce of Villafranca.

In 1860, three duchies joined Italy: Parma, Tuscany and Modena. At the same time, the famous revolutionary is fighting against the French army for the territories of Sicily and Naples. He wins these battles, and the lands are returned to Italy. Victor Emmanuel actively supports Garibaldi and provides him with the necessary assistance. In January 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of Italy.

Monument to Victor Emmanuel II in Rome

For the final unification of Italy, all that remained was to recapture Rome from the Papal States. The king was going to carry out his plan with the help of Prussia, and in 1866 he entered into an alliance with her. However, the war was unsuccessful for Italy, the army suffers one defeat after another. However, with the help of Garibaldi in the Battle of Sadovo, Venice is returned to Victor Emmanuel II. The king is trying to negotiate with the pope to give up power, but receives a categorical refusal. In 1870, France is defeated in the war with Prussia, the French troops leave Rome and leave it to Italy. In 1871, Rome again becomes the capital of the kingdom.

Victor Emmanuel II died in 1878. In the history of Italy, he remained a fighter for the country, a wise and courageous ruler who is ready to do everything for the good of his homeland.

Gallery of Victor Emmanuel II in Milan

gallery of Victor Emmanuel 2

Born in 1820, and while still the crown prince, he showed outstanding courage in the war with Austria in 1848-1849.

Having ascended the throne of Sardinia after his father, King Charles Albert, defeated at Novara, retired to Spain, Victor Emmanuel II made peace with Austria on rather difficult conditions for the country: the Austrians received a large contribution, and their occupation corps remained for a long time in Piedmont. Peace could be concluded on easier terms, but only with the abolition of the constitution, but Victor Emmanuel II did not want to violate the obligation given to the people by his father. Thanks to this, he earned the trust of the people and a popularity almost equal to that of Garibaldi. Only taking advantage of this, Victor Emmanuel II could strain all the financial resources of the country, increasing the state debt by 4 times, to reorganize the army, which, through the efforts of the Minister of War, General Lamarmora, was brought to a brilliant state and increased to 100,000 people.

In 1858, the same Cavour, sent by Victor Emmanuel II to Plombieres to meet with Napoleon, reached the point that the latter undertook to declare war on Austria and cede Lombardy and Venice to Piedmont in exchange for Nice and Savoy. The war began, and after the victories of the French-Italian troops at Palestro, Magenta and Solferino, in which Victor Emmanuel II himself took a personal part, the fate of Italy was decided by the Peace of Villafranca as follows: Lombardy went to Victor Emmanuel II, Venice remained with Austria, from the rest of Italy it was supposed to form a federation under the chairmanship of Pope Pius IX. The decrees of the Peace of Villafranca caused a terrible indignation throughout Italy, and it proved impossible to carry them out; Pius IX refused to make any concessions, Tuscany, Modena, Romagna and Parma did not want to accept their dukes and elected Garibaldi as head of their union, instructing him to join Piedmont.

During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, Italy did not support France, while the Sedan catastrophe finally freed her from the French. Before taking up arms to acquire Rome, Victor Emmanuel II tried to persuade the pope to give up secular power, but, seeing the futility of negotiations, he ordered the troops to bombard the capital of Pius IX. Rome quickly surrendered. The papal troops were disbanded.

On October 26, 1871, a resolution of the parliament was passed on the transfer of the capital of the kingdom from Florence to Rome.

In 1873, Victor Emmanuel II visited Emperor Wilhelm I and Franz Joseph in Berlin and Vienna and through diplomatic negotiations contributed to the emergence of the so-called. "Triple Alliance".

In the memory of the people, he remained a great fighter for his country and its unifier.

Victor himself, despite his passion for hunting and numerous love affairs, was a man courageous enough and sober-minded to cope with his royal duties. Not possessing a great mind, in a soldierly rough and unconstrained way, he, however, had a lot of simple common sense and business insight. Victor was well aware that Piedmont, due to its geographical, economic and political position, could be a center of rallying forces for Italian patriots, and in order to support this, he pursued a liberal course in domestic policy, and in foreign policy he was resolutely and boldly against Austria. This, in fact, was his contribution to the unification of Italy. The rest was done for him by others. The throne was due to Camillo Cavour, who led the unification of Italy.

In many cities of Italy, monuments were erected to him; the best - in Rome, Milan and San Martino (on the Solferino battlefield)

A family

In 1842 he married his cousin Adelheide of Austria (1822-1855), daughter of the Habsburg Viceroy of Lombardy, Rainer Joseph, they had eight children, of whom five survived:

Clotilde (1843-1911), married to Prince Napoleon ("Plon-Plon"), cousin of Napoleon III,
Umberto I (1844-1900) succeeded his father in Italy,
Amadeus (1845-1890), King of Spain (1871-1873), Duke of Aosta (1845-1890),
Oddon Eugene (1846-1866),
Maria Pia (1847-1911), wife of King Luis I of Portugal.
Carl Albert (1851-1854)
Victor Emmanuel (1852), died at birth
Victor Emmanuel (1855), lived 4 months

Buried in the Roman Pantheon. The inscription on the tombstone in the Pantheon reads: "PADRE DELLA PATRIA" (Father of the Fatherland). The majestic monument to Victor Emmanuel II in Piazza Venezia in Rome has the ironic nickname "macchina da scrivere" ("The Typewriter") among the people. Also known is the monument in Padua by the sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi.

Dedicated to the 186th birthday

The first king of a united Italy and St. Andrew's Cavalier Victor Emmanuel II.

Alexander Rozhintsev

15.3.06

The first king of a united Italy, Highly granted the Imperial Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Victor Emmanuel II was born in Turin March 2 (15), 1820, in the family of King Charles Albert of Sardinia (1770-1800) and Duchess Teresa of Tuscany (1801-1855).

Savoy dynasty

The family of the Monarch belonged to the most ancient Savoy dynasty in Europe, known from the 11th century and bearing the title of counts until 1416, from 1416 to 1720. - the title of the dukes, and in the period from 1720 - the kings of the Sardinian kingdom, transformed in 1861 by King Victor Emmanuel II into a single Italian kingdom.

The first earl of the dynasty (since 1027), about whom there is reliable information, was Humbert the White Hand (died between 1042 and 1051). Gradually uniting the Savoy lands, the descendants of Count Humbert expanded their possessions in the northern and eastern direction - from Lake Geneva to the Italian direction. The august son of Count Humbert Odon established himself in Turin (Piedmont), and since then the House of Savoy owned lands on both slopes of the Alps, controlling the passes leading from France to Italy.

Count Amédée VIII of Savoy (1391-1434) first assumed the title of duke in 1416. Having abdicated, he began to lead the life of a hermit and was elected Pope at the Basel Council under the name of Felix V (1439-1449).

The House of Savoy has long maintained dynastic ties with the French kings. As early as the beginning of the 12th century, the great-granddaughter of Count Humbert of Savoy. Adelaide of Savoy mother became the French king Francis I. Taking advantage of these, the king presented his claims to the ducal throne to the half-brother of his August mother, Duke Charles III (1504-1553), and in 1538 French troops occupied Savoy and almost all of Piedmont.

Only in 1559 did the French return the conquered lands to the son of Charles III, Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert (1553-1580). Under him, the capital of the Savoy possessions was moved to Turin, and the dynasty began to gradually become Italianized.

The House of Savoy received the royal title in the person of Victor Amedeus II in 1713. At first, he ascended the throne under the name of King of Sicily, and from 1720 as King of Sardinia, for which Sicily was exchanged.

Under King Victor Amedee III (1773-1796), close family ties were established with the French Bourbon dynasty. The two daughters of the King's most august daughters were married to the brothers of the unfortunate King Louis XVI of France. Those were the kings of France, Louis XVIII and Charles X. The eldest son and heir of the King of Sardinia from the House of Savoy married the younger sister of the later murdered French Monarch, Princess Maria Adelaide Clotilde.

In 1798, Piedmont was captured by the troops of revolutionary France and King Charles Emmanuel I was expelled from Turin. However, in 1799 the French were expelled by the Russian Army under the command of Field Marshal A.V. Suvorov. Royal power was restored. However, in 1800, after the departure of the Russian troops, the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte annexed Piedmont, Parma and the island of Elba to France.

On the defeat of Napoleon's troops, the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815. restored the Kingdom of Sardinia under Victor Emmanuel I. However, in March 1821, during an uprising in the kingdom, Victor Emmanuel I was forced to abdicate in favor of the August younger brother of the Duke of Savoy, Charles Felix (1821-1831). Upon the death of the childless Monarch, Charles Albert, the August father of our hero, was proclaimed king, a representative of the junior line of the House of Savoy - the Dukes of Carignano 9 separated from the main line of the House at the beginning of the 17th century).

In total, before the accession to the throne of Victor Emmanuel II, the Kingdom of Sardinia successively replaced seven Monarchs: Kings Victor Amedeus II (reigned 1720-1730), Charles Emmanuel III (in 1730-1773), Victor Amedeus III (in 1773-1796), Charles Emmanuel IV (in 1796-1802), Victor Emmanuel I (in 1802-1821), Carl Felix (in 1821-1831) and Carl Albert (in 1831-1849).

Sardinian kingdom

The kingdom was formed with the accession to the Duchy of Savoy about. Sardinia. The capital of a sovereign state - Piedmont - at the beginning of the 18th century was a poor agricultural region with small towns and a few economically weak bourgeoisie, but with a centralized and relatively strong state apparatus.

During the wars of the end against revolutionary France, the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1792 entered into an anti-French coalition. In 1792, French troops occupied Savoy and Nice, which were annexed to France, in 1798 Piedmont was occupied and then annexed to France. After the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, by decision of the Congress of Vienna, the kingdom was restored to its former borders and with the annexation of the province of Liguria (with Genoa). With the restoration of the House and the government, the previous legislation was resumed, with the decisive punishment of those involved in robberies and murders during the years of occupation by France. The measures of the Monarch caused bitterness and a riot called the Piedmontese Revolution of 1821. After its suppression in 1834, supporters of G. Mazzini made a futile attempt to raise a republican uprising in the kingdom.

In the 1840s, an industrial revolution began in Piedmont, and large agricultural estates that had previously emerged were strengthened. The kingdom turned into one of the economically developed Italian states with a relatively strong army. The state pursued an independent foreign policy. However, another European anti-monarchist revolution, which began in 1848 and spread from Prussia and Austria to Italy, forced King Charles Albert to issue a constitution and lead the all-Italian national liberation struggle against the Austrian Habsburgs, whose expulsion from Italy was the main prerequisite for creating a unified Italian state. However, this led to the defeat of the Italian troops in the Austro-Italian war of 1848-1849.

By the time of the accession to the throne of King Victor Emmanuel II, the situation in the kingdom was tragic. Italy remained fragmented. The Lombardo-Venetian region was ruled by the Habsburgs, and the small duchies - Modena, Parma and Tuscany - were under Austrian influence and military occupation. In Rome since 1849 there was a French garrison.

New Monarch

He received an excellent military and religious education. During the reign of the August Father, Charles Albert, he did not delve into state affairs, but showed a strong will. This was especially evident on the day when the king abdicated after the Battle of Novara on March 11 (24), 1849, leaving his eldest son a defeated army and a country engulfed in revolution.

The personal efforts of King Victor Emmanuel II to achieve peace with Austria (Austria-Piedmontese peace treaty, July 25 (August 7), 1849) contributed to the preservation of the independence of Sardinia, made it possible to further develop parliamentary forms of government here and return to the Kingdom of Sardinia a leading position in the liberation struggle of Italy against Austria. However, the 29-year-old king, in order to achieve such results, had to show great restraint, tact and show rare self-control.

Having assumed power, the Monarch, first of all, hastened to conclude a truce with the Austrian command. With this, the king at first aroused such indignation throughout the country that the deputies refused to approve the treaty. Then King Victor Emmanuel II dissolved the House and called new elections, threatening that if they did not give a majority to the moderate factions, the Statute (the constitution bestowed by his August father) would be repealed. The elections justified the hopes of the king. In the chamber and at the Court, moderates were established, capable of orienting Sardinia towards broad and important goals for Italy.

The king was a man of courage. He hid under the rudeness of a soldier a lot of common sense and insight. The monarch was well aware that, protected from the rear by the Alps and supported by France, Piedmont could become for the Italian patriots the center of rallying all forces. To do this, it was necessary to remain a liberal in domestic policy, and in foreign policy - to be bold in relation to Austria. He successfully followed these two rules throughout his 28-year reign, and this was his historical role in the unification of Italy.

From 1852 to 1861 until his death, the government of the Kingdom of Sardinia was headed by Count Camillo Benso Cavour (Cavour), who played the same role in Italy that Bismarck played in Germany, uniting the country under the scepter of Hohenzollern. Under the leadership of Count Cavour, the national idea of unifying Italy under the rule of the Savoy dynasty was born. To do this, liberal reforms were skillfully carried out.

In foreign policy, Cavour was guided by France, concluding a military alliance with her in July 1858. Earlier, seeking military and economic assistance from the latter, the kingdom in 1855 entered the Crimean War of 1853-1856. on the side of France and Great Britain. In alliance with France, the king launched a war against Austria in April 1859.

In three battles in April-July 1859, the Austrian army was defeated by the combined Franco-Piedmontese troops. The defeats of the House of Habsburg at Magenta and Solferio persuade him to conclude the Peace of Villafranca in July 1859 (June 29 (July 12), 1859). And although under its terms, the Emperor of France, Napoleon III, left Venice under the rule of Austria, the new prime minister fully supported the king in the Holy cause of the further liberation of Italy from the Austrian troops.

The diplomatic line of the head of the government of Cavour was aimed at joining the independent states of Central Italy to Piedmont during the war of liberation against Austrian domination.

Unification of the kingdom

In November, the long-awaited and victorious peace for the kingdom was signed in Zurich. Under its terms, Lombardy came under the rule of the Savoy dynasty.

On March 12 (25), 1860, after a plebiscite, King Victor Emmanuel II annexed the duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany, Parma and part of Romagna to Piedmont. Shortly before this, foreign dynasties fell as a result of an uprising. In April, an uprising began in Palermo.

On May 6 (19), 1860, the famous Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi, at the head of a thousandth detachment of volunteers, crossed to Sicily in order to liberate southern Italy from the power of the Neapolitan Bourbons.

In July, after the capture of Palermo, the Garibaldians control almost all of Sicily, except for the east coast. After the battle of the ninth (21) July 1860 at Milazzo, the Garibaldians occupied all of Sicily. From the fifth (18) of August, the march to Naples begins. Garibaldi's troops landed in the south of the peninsula, and on August 26 (September 8) they occupied Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

On September 19 (October 2), 1860, the Neapolitan army that remained loyal to the Bourbons was defeated at Valturno. The southern half of Italy recognized the power of the Savoy dynasty.

Thus, by supporting Giuseppe Garibaldi in annexing the South, the king ensured the triumph of the Monarchy in Italy. As a result, the Italian parliament elected in January 1861 on March 5 (18) proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II "by the grace of God and the will of the people" king of Italy.

A new constitution was introduced for the whole of Italy, modeled on the Piedmontese constitution of 1848. A bicameral parliamentary system was established. The upper house - the Senate - consisted of princes of the blood and members appointed for life. Deputies to the lower chamber were elected on the basis of a high property qualification. Initially, the number of voters was only 2.5 percent of the total population. The king had significant executive power and could dissolve Parliament at will. The government of the unified Italian kingdom was headed by liberals - supporters of Prime Minister Cavour.

Defending the country and the throne

After the death of Count Cavour in June 1861, the king from time to time tried to pursue a policy independent of ministers who protested against his will. The monarch understood that a long peace was not enough for the complete reunification of the country, since it remained to take Venice from Austria and seize the Papal States and Rome. Venice was controlled by the Austrians, and Rome by the French.

In 1862, an unsuccessful attempt by Giuseppe Garibaldi to liberate Rome took place, but there was not enough strength. Then the king decides to do it with the help of Prussia, which by that time is preparing for war with Austria. Through the mediation of Emperor Napoleon III, the king concluded a military alliance with Berlin in 1866.

On June 8 (21) of the same year, Austria attacks Italy and develops an active offensive against Verona. The war is initially unsuccessful for the Italian army. On June 12 (25) at Custotz, the Italian army under the command of the chief of staff of the army, General La Marmor, suffers a severe defeat from the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Albrecht. However, the successful actions of Giuseppe Garibaldi and the defeat of the Austrian army by the Prussians at Sadovaya brought Victor Emmanuel what he desired - on September 21 (October 4), Austria was forced to sign the Vienna Peace Treaty, according to which it ceded the Venetian region to the French Emperor Napoleon III. The latter transferred it to the Italian kingdom. So the Venetian region became part of Italy.

In the year of the transformation of Austria into the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867), the king resumes his attempt to seize Rome with the troops of Giuseppe Garibaldi. It will be another four years before the political situation in Europe changes completely.

In 1870, on September 8 (21), after the defeat of France by Prussia, the French troops leave Rome. September 20 (October 3), 1870 Rome is declared the capital of the Italian kingdom. The Pope retained power only in the Vatican.

After the fulfillment of the Monarch's cherished dream of joining Rome to a united Italy, a little more than 7 years will pass and December 28 (January 10), 1878 the heart of the first Italian Monarch will stop. He will die in the "eternal city", where in another seven years the grateful Italian people will erect a magnificent monument to the unifying king.

From grateful Italy

Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II under the name " victorian", and now rises against the backdrop of Piazza Venezia. Designed by D. Sacconi and erected in honor of the United Italy, it is designed to glorify the Monarchy, the Fatherland, the Risorgimento and military prowess.

The construction of the complex began in 1885, but it took forty years to complete it! The wide central staircase leads to the Altar of the Fatherland and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the ashes of the nameless warrior who gave his life for the Motherland in the Great War of 1915-1918 are buried. There is always a guard of honor here. Above the chapel in a niche is a statue of Rome, and to the left and right of it is a bas-relief by the sculptor Angelo Zanelli, glorifying work and love in the Fatherland. There are fountains on both sides of the main staircase. The right fountain depicts the Tyrrhenian Sea, the left - the Adriatic. Directly opposite this fountain is the tomb of Publicius Bibulo from the 1st century BC. In the center of the ensemble stands an equestrian statue of King Victor Emmanuel II by sculptor E. Chiaradia. The massive bas-relief of the base of the statue, created by Maccagnini, personifies the main cities of Italy. The extensive colonnade, decorated with allegorical groups representing the regions of Italy, ends with two propylaea with bronze quadriga carrying the winged Victoria. The building houses the Institute for the History of the Italian Risorgimento, the library and the Central Museum and Archive of the Risorgimento.

Descendants of the Monarch

The Duke of Savoy, the titular king of Rome and Jerusalem, the king of Sardinia and the first king of Italy left behind a single, rapidly growing state and abundant offspring, whose descendants are still alive.

At the age of 22, on March 31 (April 13), 1842, Duke Victor Emmanuel married Duchess Adelaide of Habsburg, the Emperor's August granddaughter. "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" and Knight of St. Andrew Leopold II of Habsburg (1747-1792). From this marriage eight August children were born: six sons and three daughters. The eldest sovereign son became the king of Italy, Umberto I (1844-1900), and the second - the king of Spain under the name Amadeus I (1845-1890). Both the August sons of the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel II, as well as he himself, were most highly granted the Russian Imperial Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

Having been widowed on January 8 (21), 1855, King Victor Emmanuel remarried on October 26 (November 8), 1868 with Countess Rosa Mirifiori (1833-1885). From this sovereign marriage, two August children were born: the first Count Mirafiori Emmanuel Philibert and Victoria Margarita.

The descendants of the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, still treat Russia and the Royal House of Romanov with gratitude and respect.

See also:

Press service of Novorossiya news agency/SPGU

The family of the first king of united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, belonged to the ancient Savoy dynasty and has been known in Europe since the 11th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, parts of the Apennine Peninsula belonged to Austria, France, and Germany. The strong-willed and persistent Victor Emmanuel succeeded with the help of the army, with the involvement of the Garibaldi movement, to unite the various kingdoms in the Apennines. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II "by the grace of God and the will of the people" was proclaimed king of a united Italy.

He came to the throne at a tragic time for Italy. The country consisted of 8 states with monarchical rule. Among them were also kings - representatives of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. Since 1849, the French garrison has been located in Rome. There was no unified Italian army; one could only dream of creating an integral state. The patriots of Italy demanded the destruction of individual monarchies and the unification of the fragmented Italian kingdoms around Turin, a city in northwestern Italy, the fourth largest in terms of population and importance after Rome, Milan and Naples, in which the king of the Kingdom of Sardinia, a representative of the Savoy dynasty, Charles Albert ruled.

For Victor Emmanuel, Turin was his hometown. His father was King Charles Albert, his mother was Maria Theresa of Tuscany. Victor received an excellent education, in addition to secular, military and religious. He had to take up state affairs in 1849, when his father, after the lost battle of Novara, was forced to abdicate.

Victor held peace negotiations with Austria. And this angered the public, which had high hopes for the new king, for his resolute opposition to the invaders. The deputies of parliament were outraged, then the king dissolved parliament and called new elections. Moderates came to parliament, they supported the intentions of the king. Website promotion in the top -, Yandex, Google. Promotion of web resources on the Internet. Victor Emmanuel signed a peace treaty with Austria, which allowed Sardinia to remain independent as a kingdom. In 1852, Count Camillo Benzodi Cavour became prime minister of the kingdom, he supported the idea of national unification of Italy, as well as the king in an effort to establish military cooperation with France, a rival of Austria. But only in 1859, after the combined troops of the French and Italians defeated the Austrian army, the much-needed peace was concluded. This respite made it possible to gather strength to further oust the Austrians from Italian lands. In some areas, a movement for freedom began. And already in 1860, Victor Emmanuel annexed the duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany. In the same year, the troops of the famous freedom fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi expelled the French troops from Sicily, and later from Naples, and all of southern Italy came under the rule of Victor Emmanuel, who was proclaimed king of Italy the following year, 1861. But in order to unite all of Italy into a single state, it was necessary to take away Venice from Austria, to expel the French from Rome. But neither the king nor Garibaldi had the strength to do this. I had to enlist the support of Berlin.

In 1862, the Prussians joined the military operations of the Italians against the Austrian army, defeating the Austrians in the Battle of Sadovaya. As a result, Austria agreed to a truce and ceded Venice first to France, who handed it over to Italy.

In 1870, Rome became the capital of the Italian kingdom, and the monarch Victor Emmanuel II soon moved there to rule. He was happy, his dream to unite Italy had come true. But his health was already undermined, after 8 years of reign, the heart of the unifier king stopped beating. He is buried in the Roman Pantheon. The inscription on the headstone reads: "PADRE DELLA PATRIA" (Father of the Fatherland).