Giuseppe Garibaldi Italian patriot Date of Birth: 04.07.1807 Country: Italy

Biography of Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian patriot and partisan, was born on July 4, 1807, into a family of a sailor and fisherman. In his early life, Garibaldi also went to sea and was considered a skilled sailor by his contemporaries. By 1832, he became the captain of a merchant ship. In 1833, while serving as a captain in the navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Garibaldi met Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian patriot and legendary revolutionary. Influenced by Mazzini, Garibaldi became passionate about the ideas of national liberation and read books by the socialist utopianist Saint-Simon. In 1834, Garibaldi participated in a revolt in Piedmont, which was supposed to escalate into a revolution. However, the plot of the rebels failed, and Garibaldi managed to escape to France, even though he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Genoa court. From 1836 to 1848, Garibaldi lived in exile in South America. During this time, constant revolutions were taking place on the continent, in which Garibaldi participated to the best of his ability. He served as a volunteer on a warship of the Republic of Rio Grande during its war of liberation against Brazil. It was during this war that Garibaldi met Ana Maria Ribeiro da Silva (Anita), who became his companion in battle for the rest of his life. In 1840, Garibaldi left the service in Rio Grande and traveled to Montevideo with Anita and their son. He tried various professions, from trade agent to teacher, but could not adapt to peaceful life. In 1842, he got involved in a new war of liberation, this time on the side of Uruguay, against the dictator of Argentina, Juan Manuel de Rosas. The following year, Garibaldi was appointed the commander of the newly-formed Italian Legion in Montevideo. From the soldiers of this legion, the first unit of the "Redshirts," Garibaldi's future army, was formed. After the victory at San Antonio in 1846, Garibaldi's fame reached Italy, where he was awarded the sword of honor. During the defense of Montevideo in 1847, he met Alexandre Dumas, who would later immortalize the patriot in his novels.

In April 1848, Garibaldi and 60 fighters from his legion returned to Italy to start the war for the independence and unification of Italy. Their movement was called Risorgimento. Initially, Garibaldi decided to fight against the Pope, but his army did not support him, so they started a war against King Charles Albert of Sardinia, who put up a strong resistance to the rebels. Garibaldi was forced to retreat to Milan in hopes of assistance. Giuseppe Mazzini had already arrived there and was leading revolutionary wars. King Charles Albert, who was defeated by the Austrians at Custoza, agreed to a truce with the partisans. However, this war was a matter of honor for Garibaldi, so the battles continued until the end of August when the exhausted revolutionary had to flee to Switzerland. For some time, Garibaldi lived in Nice with Anita (they got married in 1842) and their three children. But thoughts of Italy never left him. He was absolutely certain (unfortunately, only Mazzini and a handful of allies shared his certainty) that sooner or later Italy, torn apart by strife and external invaders, would become a united state.

In late 1848, Garibaldi headed to Rome, from which the Pope had fled. There, he was elected the leader of the Roman Assembly and proposed declaring Rome an independent republic. However, in April 1849, the French army approached Rome to restore the authority of the Pope. Garibaldi inflicted a crushing defeat on them, as he did to the Neapolitans later that year. It was Garibaldi who commanded the defense of Rome during its siege by the French. With no chance of victory, he led several thousand rebel troops out of the city, marching them through central Italy until they reached the neutral republic of San Marino. But there, Garibaldi's army was surrounded by the Austrians, so he decided to disband it. During the march through Italy, Anita died.

During the siege of Rome, Garibaldi became a "hero of two worlds." Despite being criticized for instigating a civil war, everyone, both friends and enemies, recognized his unique military abilities and his calling as a true leader. The King of Piedmont was very afraid of Garibaldi's return to his homeland, to his mother and children. Therefore, Giuseppe was forced to leave the country again, first to Tangier, and then to Peru, where he engaged in his familiar trade - maritime trade. It was only in 1854 that he was allowed to return to Sardinia. The Prime Minister hoped that this step would pacify the revolutionary. In 1855, Garibaldi acquired the island of Caprera, which became his home. In 1856, Garibaldi became inspired by the idea of liberating the captive king of Naples, belonging to the Bourbon dynasty, from political imprisonment, but the plan did not succeed.

In 1858, the Prime Minister of Piedmont offered Garibaldi to participate in another liberation war of the kingdom against the Austrians. Garibaldi's task was to recruit soldiers from different provinces of Italy into a volunteer army. Garibaldi was even granted the rank of Major General in the Piedmontese army. In April 1859, the war began, and Garibaldi managed to break through to the borders of Tyrol. This campaign ended with Lombardy's transfer to Piedmont. In September 1859, when peace was established in southern Italy, Garibaldi decided to head to Central Italy, as Florence declared its independence. There he met King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia, who offered Garibaldi his support if he attacked the Papal territories and guaranteed victory since, otherwise, the king would execute him. But at the last moment, the plans changed, as Victor Emmanuel clearly understood the futility of this endeavor. In 1860, the king ceded Nice to France, which had belonged to Piedmont since 1814. It was then that Garibaldi, for the only time in his life, appeared in Parliament to express his protest and outrage at such a blatant violation of national interests and sovereignty.

In January 1860, Garibaldi decided to marry Josephine, the daughter of Marquis Raymondi, but he abandoned her a few hours before the wedding when he learned that she had been pregnant for five months with one of his officers.

In May 1860, Garibaldi embarked on his most ambitious plan - the conquest of Sicily and Naples. He had no support from the government. The king and the prime minister of Piedmont did not dare to oppose Garibaldi, as he was extremely popular among the people. They were willing to support the patriot, but only in case of his obvious victory. On May 6, 1860, around a thousand soldiers of Garibaldi's army set sail from the port of Genoa, and by May 11, they were in Sicily. It was then that Garibaldi declared himself the dictator of the island on behalf of the king of Piedmont. The population of Sicily welcomed Garibaldi warmly, with some even believing that he was a messenger sent by God to liberate them. By the end of May, he had reached Palermo. This victory was a significant argument for the prime minister of Piedmont. He agreed to provide troops to support Garibaldi. On September 7, 1860, Garibaldi captured Naples and declared himself the dictator of the Two Sicilies. After the victory in the battle of Volturno, the largest battle in Garibaldi's military campaigns, as around 30,000 soldiers fought on his side, Garibaldi held a plebiscite on the captured territories, and based on its results, handed over the governance of Southern Italy to King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont. On November 7, 1860, the king triumphantly entered Naples, and Garibaldi was the first to greet him as the king of united Italy.

The military commander refused all the deserved honors and asked the king for only one thing - to leave him in charge of Naples until the situation stabilizes completely. But he was denied, as in the eyes of the conservative elites, he remained a dangerous and unpredictable partisan and blasphemer. Additionally, Garibaldi did not abandon his idea of retaking Rome, which did not align with the king's plans. The main reason for the refusal, however, was the fact that Garibaldi's figure was so significant and popular among the people that not even the king could compete with him.

In 1862, Garibaldi embarked on his final military campaign. King Emmanuel invited him to gather a new rebel army, this time to fight against the Austrians in the Balkans. The king promised to provide him with weapons and all the necessary ammunition. However, Garibaldi violated the agreements and, instead of going to the Balkans, headed towards Rome to liberate the Papal territories. The king of Italy did not want to worsen relations with France, which dominated in Rome, so entire garrisons were sent against Garibaldi. In the Battle of Aspromonte, Garibaldi was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. He was released but remained crippled due to the injury.

The connection between the king of Italy and Garibaldi could no longer be hidden, so during the war with Austria in 1866, he openly supported Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi independently commanded the troops in Tyrol and eventually captured Venice.

Giuseppe Garibaldi continued to fight for most of his life. But in the last decade, he had to step back from active participation due to suffering from rheumatism. Towards the end of his life, he declared himself a pacifist (!) and a socialist, although he did not recognize Marx and Bakunin. On June 2, 1882, Giuseppe Garibaldi died in his house on the island of Caprera.