History
Almost simultaneous with the popular uprisings of 1848 in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, on 18 March that year, the city of Milan also rose. This was the first evidence of how effective popular initiative, guided by those in the Risorgimento, was able to influence Charles Albert of Sardinia.
The Austrian garrison at Milan was well-equipped and commanded by an experienced general Josef Radetzky, who despite being over 80 years old, was energetic and rigid, the true expression of Austrian military severity. Radetzky had no intention of yielding to the uprising.
However, the whole city fought throughout the streets, raising barricades, firing from windows and roofs, and urging the rural population to join them. They formed a provisional government of Milan presided over by the podestà , Gabrio Casati and a council of war under Carlo Cattaneo. The Martinitt (orphanage children) worked as message-runners to all parts of the town.
Radetzky saw the difficulty of resisting under siege in the city centre, but while afraid of being attacked by the Piedmontese army and peasants from the countryside, he preferred to withdraw. On the evening of 22 March 1848, the Austrians withdrew towards the "Quadrilatero" (the fortified zone made up of the four cities of Verona, Legnago, Mantua and Peschiera del Garda), taking with them several hostages arrested at the start of the uprising. Meanwhile, the rest of Lombard and Venetic territory was free.
In memory of these days, the official newspaper of the temporary government was born, called simply Il 22 marzo (the 22nd March), which began publication on 26 March at the Palazzo Marino under the direction of Carlo Tenca. A monument to the uprising by the sculptor Giuseppe Grandi was built at now Porta Vittoria.
Read more about this topic: Five Days Of Milan
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)