Written by Angelo Martino
Neo-Bourbonist revisionism conveniently ignores that at the time that Garibaldi launched his expedition against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Sicilians had a deep hatred of the Bourbon dynasty.
Moreover, the first of the many European revolutions of 1848 took place in Sicily on January 12, 1848.
The Sicilian revolution against Bourbon tyranny was the first revolt of the revolutionary movements throughout Europe that year, and the ideals of the Sicilian people were the same as so many previous years: to free themselves from the Bourbon Kingdom and to achieve independence in the context of national unification, already internalized many years before Italian Unification.
Sicily aspired to autonomy and was the bearer of a strong feeling of independence before 1848; the Sicilians hated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, ruled by tyrants such as the Bourbons.
After a terrible winter marked by poverty, on January 12 the people of Palermo erected barricades and revolted, waving the Italian tricolor in the streets of the island and singing hymns to Italy and to the constitution.
From the land fortress of Castellammare the Bourbon forces bombarded the city with artillery, hurling a rain of bullets against the crowd of insurgents.
The Bourbon tyrants decided to withdraw only after leaving thirty-six victims on the ground that day.
Their sacrifice was not in vain, because in a few days the peasants of the countryside joined the rebels, assaulting the town halls and setting fire to the records of taxes and real estate.
The Bourbon army, led by General De Majo, attempted to put up some resistance, but after Palermo became the site of fierce fighting, the Bourbon army withdrew and set up a general committee which took over the functions of government, calling for the convocation of a Sicilian Parliament.
On March 2, after 30 years of absence, the Parliament of Sicily was revived, presided over by Vincenzo Fardella di Torrearsa, which was met with optimism and joy by politicians and by the people: Sicily was able to be ruled once again by a constitutional government with the proclamation of the new Kingdom of Sicily.
The new head of government, Ruggero Settimo, a former admiral of the Bourbon fleet who always harbored outspoken liberal sentiments and opposed the Bourbon tyranny against the Sicilian people, was received with enthusiasm and hailed as the father of the Sicilian fatherland.
Among the appointed ministers were Francesco Crispi, Francesco Paolo Perez, Mariano Stabile, Michele Amari and Salvatore Vigo.
The flag of the Kingdom of Sicily was the Italian flag: green, white and red.
Upon hearing the news of the Sicilian revolt, Naples itself rose against the Bourbon tyrants, and so did the peasants of Cilento.
At that juncture Ferdinand II, aware now that his troops were not well prepared to fight, freed Carlo Poerio from prison, which had significant meaning, since it gave courage to all the Neapolitans who organized a rally of twenty-five thousand people in the great square opposite of the Royal Palace.
Ferdinand II was forced to grant the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on January 29 of that year, prepared by the moderate liberal Francesco Paolo Bozzelli and promulgated on February 11.
However, with the present work we intend to focus on the feelings of the Sicilians against the Bourbon dynasty, to emphasize that many years before Italian Unification the Sicilians already had well-rooted ideas in favor of independence from the Bourbon Kingdom in the context of Italian national unity.
Therefore, the Neo-Bourbonists who sing praises to Francis II and the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies conveniently ignore that the Sicilians did not like the Bourbons, did not want to be ruled by them, in fact hated them and it is obvious that they waited for the intervention of Garibaldi and hailed it as a liberation, not an occupation!
The real occupation was committed by the Bourbons against the Sicilians, who for many years had been traditionally anti-Bourbon, and in the course of more than a century had often resorted to arms in order to reclaim autonomy and self-government.
Even after the defeat of the 1848 revolution, the Sicilians, just as before and even more so than before, continued in subsequent years to fight for independence and the constitution before the expedition of the Thousand.
We can not fail to mention one of the best known of these historical moments, which took place in November 1856, when Salvatore Spinuzza and Francesco Bentivegna tried to push the masses against Bourbon-Neapolitan oppression.
This attempt, unrealistic but rich in generosity and idealism, dramatically ended with a defeat that cost the patriots their lives: they were condemned to death after a summary trial in March 1857.
You also can not ignore that on April 4, 1860, a few weeks after the landing of a Thousand, there was a last ditch attempt at revolution, this time at the hands of a commoner, the craftsman Francesco Riso, in what historians call the “Gancia revolt”.
That revolt also ended with the sacrifice of thirteen victims whose martyrdom sharpened the hatred that the Sicilians had against the Bourbons, who were considered foreigners and oppressors even by the common people.
“At the beginning of 1860”, writes Alfonso Scirocco, “Sicily was increasingly restless, so as to arouse the concern of European governments, who feared an insurrection was imminent.”
However, despite the repeated requests of Rosolino Pilo (a fervent Sicilian Mazzinian who later perished in an exchange of gunfire during a march towards Palermo in 1860), Giuseppe Garibaldi did not want to risk an enterprise that had no chance of success.
As highlighted by Scirocco: “In brief (Garibaldi) was not available for an adventurous attempt aimed at arousing an insurrection that had not yet started, as had happened with the Bandiera brothers and Carlo Pisacane.”
This issue is not trivial: the defeat of the Bandiera brothers and especially the more recent defeat of Pisacane had shattered the confidence of the Mazzinians.
Pisacane had written in his essay on the Revolution that he was available for a sacrifice without hope of reward:
“I will find my reward deep in my conscience and in the mind of these dear and generous friends... if our sacrifice does not benefit Italy in any way, it will at least be her glory to have borne sons who wished to immolate themselves for her future.”
The words of Pisacane were noble, but all the defeats had taken their toll.
The historian Scirocco dwelled upon the many moments of hesitation before the expedition of the Thousand in Sicily, but finally it was decided that the enterprise was necessary in order to liberate Sicily from Bourbon occupation.
And in that regard, the Neo-Bourbonists ignore that Giuseppe Garibaldi, after freeing Sicily, advised by his Secretary of State Francesco Crispi, ordered the restoration of the decrees, laws and regulations of May 15, 1849, i.e. the regulatory system that the Sicilians had made following the glorious revolution of 1848 and which the Bourbons had repealed.
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