People's hero of Italy, one of the leaders of the armed struggle for the unification and national independence of the country. General

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in the French city of Nice into the family of an Italian sailor. At the age of 15, under the guidance of his father, he began difficult naval service. Ten years later he became the captain of his own small merchant ship. Garibaldi perfectly mastered maritime affairs and knew well the sailing directions of the Mediterranean, the ports of Italy and other countries of the Mediterranean basin. He devoted a lot of time to self-education and was interested in the military history of his fatherland.

At that time, Italy was fragmented into several small states, the northern of which were under Austrian rule. Vienna maintained a large army in northern Italy, which garrisoned fortresses, suppressing any resistance to its power by force of arms. In the midst of the Italian people, and above all among the intelligentsia and youth, the ideas of unifying Italy into a single independent state were ripening.

The Italian revolutionary movement gave birth to such an organization as “Young Italy”, led by Giuseppe Mazzini (or otherwise Mazzini), which began its underground activities initially in Piedmont and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Its branches appeared in many cities in Italy, attracting primarily young people into its ranks. The captain of the merchant ship, Giuseppe Garibaldi, also joined Young Italy.

However, his first experience of participating in an armed revolutionary uprising ended disastrously for him. In 1834, shipowner Garibaldi took part in a failed uprising in Genoa and was sentenced to death in absentia by an Austrian military court. He, like many Italian revolutionaries, had to flee overseas, to South America, and find a new homeland there.

There he fought for more than 10 years for the independence of the Republic of Rio Grande and the Republic of Uruguay. He defended the first as captain of a privateer (a small warship) from Brazil, the second republic, which has survived to this day, from neighboring, stronger Argentina. In the Latin American wars, the emigrant revolutionary Garibaldi perfected the art of a field commander, which would be so useful to him in the future on Italian soil.

In his detachment, Giuseppe Garibaldi recruited mainly Italian compatriots, of whom there were many in the south of Latin America. For them, he introduced an unusual military uniform - red shirts. His “red shirts” distinguished themselves more than once in battles against regular Argentine troops, winning the respect of the Uruguayan people.

Rio Grande and Uruguay became for the Italian revolutionary an excellent school for conducting guerrilla warfare on land and privateering at sea. The Garibaldians almost always faced superior enemy forces, with which they successfully fought, making lightning attacks at any time of the day or night, attacking the enemy on a march or in fortifications, while avoiding large clashes so as not to incur large losses. Garibaldi took care of his soldiers, which earned them their gratitude and love.

He convinced his compatriots that their military knowledge and ability to wield weapons would sooner or later be useful to Italy. Patriotism has always been one of the strongest traits of the Garibaldians. Giuseppe Garibaldi was not just an Italian democratic revolutionary, but also an internationalist, ready to stand up for the freedom of any people with arms in hand.

Having learned that the revolutionary movement, known in history as the “Risorgimento” (“Renaissance”), had once again revived in his homeland and the revolution had begun (1848-1849), Giuseppe Garibaldi and a group of like-minded people returned to Italy and soon formed a volunteer detachment of “red shirts” there too. numbering 3 thousand people. At the head of this detachment he participated in battles in Northern Italy and Southern Switzerland. This war turned out to be short-lived and unsuccessful for Italian weapons - the forces of the parties were unequal. After fighting in the Alps, Garibaldi had to flee to Switzerland.

In 1849, under the leadership of the democratic revolutionaries Mazzini and Garibaldi, the power of Pope Pius IX was overthrown in Rome and the Roman Republic was proclaimed. The commander of the 5th legion of “red shirts” became one of the organizers and leaders of the defense of Rome from the French expeditionary forces under the command of General Oudinot (the son of Napoleonic Marshal Oudinot), who, having landed in Civitavecchia, besieged the Eternal City.

The enemy had a numerical superiority and had powerful artillery, and in the event of a prolonged siege and assault, the inevitable disasters of war awaited the Romans. In addition, artillery shelling could inevitably lead to civilian casualties and destruction of city neighborhoods. The French's first attempt to capture Rome ended in failure - its 20,000-strong garrison repelled the attack. General Oudinot began his siege. On July 3 of the same year, Giuseppe Garibaldi, at the head of five thousand of his soldiers, left Rome - the French command guaranteed them free movement outside the Eternal City after the ceasefire, fearing that the Garibaldians would be supported by armed citizens.

However, when the Red Shirts found themselves outside of Roman lands, they began to be constantly attacked by Austrian, French and Neapolitan troops and suffered heavy losses.

After the fall of the Roman Republic, Garibaldi in July 1849 led a 4,000-strong detachment of Red Shirt volunteers who went to the aid of revolutionary Venice. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, he fought his way through the ring of enemy troops to Piedmont. In heavy battles, the Garibaldian detachment, which the enemy was literally pursuing on its heels, suffered heavy losses. An attempt to reach Venice by sea was unsuccessful.

The Venetian armed uprising in Italy against the Viennese Habsburg dynasty was brutally and quickly suppressed by Austrian troops. Garibaldi was never able to come to the aid of the rebellious Venice with his detachment. The commander of the Red Shirts was arrested by the Piedmontese authorities and faced a military trial.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, with the help of friends, managed to escape from his native Italy. He ended up in the United States, where he worked for a time in a candle factory, and then moved to the Republic of Peru and there again became the captain of a merchant ship sailing in the Pacific Ocean. During the Argentine intervention against Uruguay, an Italian émigré was among the defenders of the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo. In 1854, Garibaldi returned legally to Italy, settled on the island of Capri, had a commission-free rent and became the captain of the first Italian steamship.

During the Austro-Italian-French War of 1859, Garibaldi commanded a volunteer corps of Alpine riflemen. During the fighting, the Garibaldian riflemen inflicted defeats on the Austrian troops in Lombardy, on the plains and in the mountains, liberating most of it. In that war, it was they who defended the national honor of Italy, showing high examples of military valor and fearlessness. Giuseppe Garibaldi was again talked about throughout the country.

The hero of that war became one of the most active and famous participants in the Italian Revolution of 1859-1860. The center of the struggle against Austrian rule was Piedmont (Kingdom of Sardinia). Giuseppe Garibaldi, secretly enlisting the support of the Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II and his prime minister Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, began to act.

From his Alpine shooters, who distinguished themselves in the war against the Austrians, Giuseppe Garibaldi formed the historically famous detachment “One Thousand” (1,170 people), which came to the aid of Sicily, which rebelled against the power of the Neapolitan king. On May 11, 1860, the Garibaldi detachment, which included volunteers from other countries, landed on the Sicilian coast at Cape Marsala and moved to the capital of the island, the city of Palermo.

Near the city of Calatafimi, a corps of the Neapolitan army under the command of General Landi (about 3,500 people), reinforced with field artillery, was waiting for the Garibaldians. The Neapolitans occupied advantageous positions, well entrenched in the hills around Calatafimi. On the night of May 15, the “red shirts”, who had 4 cannons, with the support of Sicilian partisans - “picciotti”, suddenly attacked the enemy and forced hand-to-hand combat on him. The fighting on the hills near the city outskirts lasted six hours, and in the end the Neapolitan troops were driven out of their positions and put to flight. "Thousand" lost only 18 people killed and 128 wounded.

As a result of the victory in the Battle of Calatafimi over the regular troops of King Francis II, Sicily was completely liberated in May 1860.

Then hostilities were transferred to southern Italy. The British helped the Garibaldians cross the Strait of Messina. The “Red Shirts” made an equally successful campaign against the capital of the Bourbon dynasty, Naples, and on September 7, Giuseppe Garibaldi, at the head of his fighters, entered the city. Soon after this, the entire Italian south was liberated from Bourbon rule. After the defeat at Calatafimi, the Neapolitan army no longer offered serious resistance to the revolutionary troops.

All of Italy glorified Giuseppe Garibaldi as a great national hero, and he, unexpectedly for many, transferred the conquered territories to the rule of the Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II, who on February 18, 1861 proclaimed their lands the Kingdom of Italy. Thus, united Italy, due to the inconsistency of the Republican Garibaldi, who let go of the revolutionary initiative, became a new European monarchy.

The fame of Giuseppe Garibaldi also reached the shores of North America. United States President Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the federal army, which was fighting against the Confederate army at that time without much success. Across the Atlantic Ocean there was a long and bloody war between northerners and southerners. Garibaldi refused because the American president was slow to abolish slavery in his country.

The national hero of Italy had other concerns at that time. The Roman (Papal) region and Venice still remained outside the united country. He decided to force them to join the rest of Italy by force of arms. In 1862, Garibaldi, at the head of a small detachment of volunteers, launched a campaign against Rome, but in the battle of Aspromonte he was defeated by papal regular troops under the command of General Pallavicini and was seriously wounded. Russian surgeon N.I. saved him from amputation of his leg. Pirogov.

During the Austro-Italian War of 1866, Giuseppe Garibaldi again commanded volunteer units. In the battles in the Venetian region and in the Tyrol against the Austrian troops, Garibaldian troops of 38 thousand people, advancing from the city of Brescia, liberated part of South Tyrol from the Austrians, inflicting a number of defeats on the enemy: at Lodrone, Monte Azello, Condino, Ampola and Bezzazza .

However, Prussia, represented by Chancellor Bismarck, opposed the annexation of the Tyrol and Trentino-Alto Adige to the Kingdom of Italy. The concentration of a 127,000-strong Austrian army on its border forced the Italian king Victor Emmanuel II to give Garibaldi the order to retreat from the conquered positions at Bezzazza.

The Austro-Italian War ended with the annexation of the Venetian region to the Kingdom of Italy. Now, of all Italian territories, only the Papal (Roman) region was not annexed to Italy. The following year, 1867, Giuseppe Garibaldi made a second and final armed attempt to liberate Rome from papal authority, which also ended in military failure.

On November 3, 1867, near the city of Mentana in the Papal States, north of Rome, a battle took place between the Garibaldians (4 thousand people) and the combined forces of papal and French troops (9 thousand), commanded by Generals Chancellor and de Filey. The Red Shirts fought bravely, but by the end of the battle they had used up all their ammunition and were defeated. On that day, the French actually tested a new type of firearm - Chassepot needle guns and modern artillery. The advantage of the French and papal soldiers in weapons greatly affected the result of the stubborn battle.

The Garibaldians in the battle of Mentana lost 400 people killed and wounded, 900 people were captured. Giuseppe Garibaldi was captured and sent to prison in the fortress of Varignano. The remnants of his defeated detachment, pursued by the enemy, retreated from the Papal States to the territory of the Italian Kingdom. This is how the second campaign of the Garibaldians against papal Rome ended unsuccessfully.

Both times Giuseppe Garibaldi was captured by the papal authorities and both times he was released thanks to widespread international support.

Nevertheless, the military labors of Giuseppe Garibaldi in unifying the fatherland yielded results. Venice and the Eternal City became part of Italy. On October 2, 1870, Rome officially became part of the Kingdom of Italy and, after a plebiscite, was declared the capital of the state.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, General Giuseppe Garibaldi commanded the French Army of the Vosges (its headquarters was in the city of Dal on the Doubs River near the Swiss border), which inflicted a number of defeats on the Prussian troops. His two sons and many former “red shirts” who volunteered to join the French army fought with him.

In the spring of 1870, the Vosges Army stopped the attempt of Prussian troops to cross the Doubs River and gain a foothold on its left bank. Seeing the futility of further attacking efforts in the southern direction, the Prussian command suspended the offensive on the positions of the Vosges Army.

Although France was completely defeated by Prussia in that war, the fighting against the Germans in the Vosges, especially at the beginning of the war, was a credit to French weapons. In that war, the Prussian army approached Paris, where a popular uprising began. General Giuseppe Garibaldi welcomed the formation of the Paris Commune.

Participation on the side of Republican France in the war against the Kingdom of Prussia became the last page in the military biography of Giuseppe Garibaldi, and it closed with victorious lines.

In 1874 he was elected to the Italian Parliament. Garibaldi performed parliamentary duties for two years, and then, due to old age, retired from political and social activities. He spent the last years of his life on the island of Caprera.

The name of revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi became a symbol of the struggle of the Italian people for freedom and national independence in the 19th century. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, Italian internationalist volunteers were united in the Garibaldi Brigade. During the Second World War, the partisan detachments that fought in Italy against Hitler's troops and the fascist army of Mussolini proudly bore the name of the national hero on their battle banners, calling themselves the Garibaldi brigades.

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This man left a major mark on the history of his country. Some accused him of starting the civil war for the independence of the Italian Republic, while others considered him a talented commander who saved his homeland. We are, of course, talking about the legendary politician Giuseppe Garibaldi. Today, not everyone knows about his personality and the exploits he accomplished. But those who lived during the era of the USSR remember very well how they called Giuseppe Garibaldi. He was a people's hero, a liberator warrior, and a revolutionary. Many squares, streets and avenues currently bear his name. Giuseppe Garibaldi established himself as an experienced general who had to fight on three continents: Africa, South America and Eurasia. In his worldview, he adhered to the views of idealist philosophers.

But what else is known about Giuseppe Garibaldi? Naturally, it would be inappropriate to talk briefly about such a colorful figure, so we will dwell on his biography in detail. And there were a lot of interesting things in it.

Years of childhood and youth

Garibaldi Giuseppe is a native of Nice. He was born on July 4, 1807. The details of the genealogy of the national hero of Italy were of interest to many scientists, but the revolutionary himself was little interested in this issue. It is known that Giuseppe Garibaldi was born into a sailor's family. His father was engaged in commerce, sailing the Mediterranean on his sailing vessel. The parents doted on their son. They surrounded him with maximum care and affection. And young Giuseppe reciprocated their feelings. The future hero treated his mother with tenderness and trepidation. “She is a real ideal, and I tried never to contradict her,” Giuseppe Garibaldi later wrote. A brief biography of history shows that the revolutionary carried his love for his parents throughout his entire life, filled with adventures and bright events.

First feat

Already in childhood, Giuseppe declared himself as a brave and sympathetic boy. One day, when he was only seven years old, he and his cousin went hunting near the Var River.

Approaching the ditch, Giuseppe saw women caressing their laundry. And suddenly one of the washerwomen, having lost her balance, fell into the water. The next moment the boy rushed to the rescue and saved the woman.

As for the upbringing of the young man, it cannot be considered “aristocratic.” Disciplines such as fencing, horse riding, and gymnastics were not included in his “program.” But he mastered them on his own, using the trial and error method. As a teenager, Giuseppe was seriously interested in swimming, and he also learned this activity without outside help. And over time, the young man became an experienced swimmer.

Adventure gone wrong

In general, the teenager often got bored with school. He was more attracted to adventures and exploits. At one point, he invited his friends to take a boat trip to Genoa. They agreed, and the journey actually took place, albeit partially. Having reached Monaco, Giuseppe and his friends were forced to return. The further path was blocked. The fact is that Garibaldi’s father “found out” about his son’s plans. And he was told about them by a monk who saw the young men sailing away on a rented boat. But, despite some of the young hero’s antics, the characterization of Giuseppe Garibaldi does not contain anything negative or seditious.

Sea

And having matured a little, the young man discovered a great desire for sea travel.

However, Giuseppe's father was not happy about this, secretly hoping that his son would become a doctor or lawyer. But the young man did not give in to his father’s persuasion and went to sea. But these were far from the only goals of Giuseppe Garibaldi that he managed to achieve in his life. Well, the route of the young man’s debut journey by sea ended in the Ukrainian Odessa. After this cruise, Giuseppe no longer had the slightest doubt that he would connect his life with the sea.

The liberation movement is gaining momentum

By the age of sixteen, the young man from Nice had already explored the length and breadth of the Mediterranean Sea. In the early 20s, the political situation in southern Europe changed radically. Suddenly, pockets of the liberation movement flared up. Greek rebels began to fight against the Turkish occupation. The Hellenes had a serious chance of victory. Giuseppe joined the ranks of the rebels and immediately came to the attention of Turkish intelligence officers, who established round-the-clock surveillance of him even in his hometown. The young man understood that he had to flee the country, otherwise his family might suffer. He took a merchant ship and, under the pretext of purchasing grain, went to Russian Taganrog.

Fateful meeting

Some time later, in one of the taverns in the city, Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose biography is of great interest to historians, will hear the speech of an Italian named Mazzini. He will speak to those gathered about the difficult political situation in which his native republic finds itself. Mazzini, who had the skills of oratory, immediately attracted the attention of Giuseppe.

After this, the young man will decide to seriously participate in the liberation movement of Europe. In 1931, while in Marseille, the captain of a merchant ship got to know Mazzini better and began to actively contact him.

Riot in Piedmont

The Italian patriot, propagating the ideas of the utopian socialist Saint-Simon, “infects” Garibaldi with them. Giuseppe, having finally believed in the justice of the liberation movement, took part in the “Piedmontese” rebellion in 1934. According to the organizers, this political action was to transform into a revolution. But these expectations were not met. The court severely punished the rebels, and the captain of the merchant ship managed to avoid the death penalty only because he managed to leave Italy in time.

South America

In the period from 1836 to 1848, Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose biography contains many interesting and remarkable things, lived in exile in South America. During that period, the continent was also “in fever” from insurgent revolutions. The national hero of Italy takes part in some of them. For example, he fought on a ship belonging to the Rio Grante Republic for its autonomy against Brazil. It was then that he met his soulmate, Anna Maria Ribeiro da Silva, who would become not only his devoted wife, but also his faithful comrade-in-arms for the rest of his life.

After some time, Giuseppe resigns from the Rio Grante army and goes with his wife and son to the capital of Uruguay. Here he works in areas “unusual” for himself.

He was both a trade representative and a teacher, but Giribaldi was never able to get used to the conditions of peaceful life. And soon fate gives him the opportunity to realize himself in “military affairs.” In Uruguay, the liberation movement against the Argentine ruler Juan Miguel de Rosas is gaining momentum. And it’s not hard to guess what Giuseppe Garibaldi did in such conditions? Naturally, he joined the rebels and began to fight for the independence of Uruguay. A year later, the national hero of Italy began to command the “scarlet collars” - the detachment with which he won the battle of San Antonio. In 1847, Garibaldi, while defending the Uruguayan capital from the enemy, met Alexandre Dumas (father). It is he who will glorify the exploits of the general from Nice.

Italy

At the end of the 40s of the century before last, the revolutionary returns to Italy and begins to fight on the side of those who defend the ideas of separatism of the republic. First of all, the activities of Giuseppe Garibaldi were directed against the policies of the Roman Pontiff, but the army did not side with him. Then the commander decided to strike the forces of the monarch of Sardinia, Charles Albert. But he failed to win the confrontation with the king and Garibaldi retreated with his army to Milan. And there his ideological inspirer Giuseppe Mazzini, who was ready to help Garibaldi, fought the liberation wars. Charles Albert, realizing that he could not cope with two armies, agreed to compromise. Then the commander began to wage war with the Austrians and continued it almost until the end of the summer of 1848, after which Garibaldi, under enemy pressure, was forced to take refuge in Switzerland. But a few months later, Giuseppe returned to Nice, where he created the “second Italian Legion” numbering about four hundred soldiers. In the winter of 1948, he was already in Rome, where riots and riots began against the policies of the main clergyman.

The Pope was forced to urgently leave Italy, and Garibaldi began to lead the Roman Assembly, and his first step in this post was a call to recognize the sovereignty of the Italian Republic. The Papal States eventually received a different name. But soon a French army arrived, led by General Oudinot, who wanted to return the Roman Pontiff to the throne. The Austrians, led by Marshal Radetzky, and the troops of the Sicilian king Ferdinand II were also ready to encroach on the independence of Italy. The French decided to storm Rome. But Garibaldi's troops interfered with their plans, and the enemy was forced to retreat. Some time later, Giuseppe entered into confrontation with the Sicilian army and defeated it. He wanted to continue the offensive and destroy the enemy on his territory, but Mazzini did not support his comrade-in-arms.

Relations between him and Garibaldi began to worsen. Mazzini used liberal methods in politics, and his associate was a supporter of radical measures.

Rome became "papal" again

The French army, having received reinforcements, again attempts to capture Rome. General Oudinot managed to occupy the main defensive installations, and the capital of Italy was actually in his hands. Power again passed to the Pope. Mazzini fled to England, and Garibaldi rushed to Venice, simultaneously fighting with the Austrian invaders. In the summer of 1849, his wife dies of malaria, and a few weeks after this, the leader of the liberation movement learns that the last stronghold of the revolution, the young Republic of San Marco, has lost its independence. Thus, Italy was unable to gain sovereignty. Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose brief biography was presented in many textbooks on Soviet history, decided to head for Sicily. Having reached the kingdom, the revolutionary fell into the hands of the authorities, was arrested, and then deported from the country.

After the failed revolution

But the ruler of Piedmont did not want Garibaldi to return to his homeland and again begin to excite the masses. Then the national hero of Italy goes to Tunisia, and after some time to Morocco. But, having lived on the African continent for only a few years, Garibaldi unexpectedly goes to the United States, where he decides to return to his original occupation - maritime trade. Giuseppe transported goods to Australia, China, Peru, and New Zealand.

Sardinia

Only in 1854 Garibaldi received the right to return to his homeland. The revolutionary bought an estate on the island of Caprera and settled on it. But the idea of ​​a liberation movement still haunted Garibaldi. He makes an attempt to rescue the Neapolitan monarch, who came from the Bourbon royal dynasty, from “political isolation,” but ultimately it was unsuccessful. In the late 50s, already on the initiative of the authorities, Giuseppe began to fight on the side of the militia against the Austrian occupiers. Garibaldi was able to rally a powerful volunteer army around himself and drive the enemy back to the borders of Tyrol. Thanks to this military operation, the territory of Lombardy was annexed to Piedmont. After peace was established in southern Italy, the revolutionary focused his attention on the center of the country. The fact is that Florence declared autonomy. He secured the military support of the Sardinian king in case Garibaldi decided to attack the papal borders. Moreover, the monarch put forward a condition: mandatory victory in this campaign. But then the “Sardinian” ruler changed his mind and abandoned the idea of ​​helping the revolutionary.

In the 60s, the territory of Nice went to France, after which Giuseppe spoke in parliament, where he criticized the decision of the ruler of Piedmont.

Another liberation campaign

The revolutionary began to hatch a plan for the occupation of Naples and Sicily. Moreover, he understood that he would have to rely solely on his own strength, since the authorities would not approve of his plans.

But they were supported by the people, which gave strength to the commander. Arriving in Sicily with his troops, Garibaldi declared himself the rightful ruler of the island. The local population swore allegiance to him. And in the fall of 1860, Giuseppe occupied Naples and declared himself as the king of the two Sicilies. The revolutionary then initiated a plebiscite, as a result of which it was decided that the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies would become part of Sardinia. A few days after the referendum, Garibaldi met with the monarch of the Sardinian kingdom and announced to him the decision of the people. In November 1860, the new ruler of the two Sicilies, Victor Immanuel II, and the national hero of Italy entered Naples.

In 1962, Garibaldi took part in another military operation. According to the king's plan, he was supposed to fight the Austrians in the Balkans. But at the last moment the revolutionary changed his mind and sent his troops to Rome. The ruler of Italy fielded a powerful army against Garibaldi. In the battle, Garibaldi was wounded and captured, and after some time was released. The revolutionary eventually returned to the island of Caprera. Then Giuseppe traveled for some time, was engaged in literary work, taking a break from military banalities.

Last battles

But already in the second half of the 60s, the revolutionary took up arms again. Garibaldi took part in the Austro-Prussian-Italian War, winning a number of brilliant victories. Then he makes a final attempt to capture Rome, but not by military means, but through agitation and propaganda against the policies of the Pope. For attempting to overthrow the government, the revolutionary was exiled to the island of Caprera. The revolutionary escaped from exile, then was again arrested and “transported” to his island. Only in the early 70s was papal power overthrown, but he could not take part in this action. The great commander died on his native estate on June 2, 1882. The personality of Giuseppe Garibaldi can hardly be overestimated in the history of his native country. It was he who did everything possible to ensure that Italy eventually gained its long-awaited independence. And the people of the Apennine Peninsula still honor and remember the exploits of their hero. This is evidenced, for example, by the monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, erected in Rome. As has already been emphasized, streets and avenues are named in honor of the revolutionary. Until the last days of his life, he cared about prosperity and happiness for his people.

The national hero of Italy, a legendary personality, a member of the Risorgimento liberation movement - all this is about the revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. His name became the personification of freedom and unification. The Fascist Party, like the communists and liberals, considered him the founder of their ideology. Many streets in the world are named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, monuments are erected to him, he is revered.

Brief biography of Giuseppe Garibaldi

The revolutionary was born in 1807 in Nice, which at that time was part of Italy. Giuseppe's father owned a sailboat and used it to transport goods over short distances around the country. From a young age, the boy tried to expand his horizons; he early became acquainted with the works of Dante and Petrarch, he was interested in the details of the battles and military campaigns of Napoleon and Hannibal. Knew many foreign languages, for example, French, English and Spanish.

From the age of 15, Garibaldi sailed on merchant ships. As a sailor, he visited Russia and traveled around the Mediterranean Sea. In 1821, Greece began its struggle for independence from Turkish oppression. In 1828, unrest swept across Italy, and the authorities responded with mass repressions and executions. Upon returning from his next flight, Giuseppe felt the heavy atmosphere of his native land, believed that he might be under surveillance and tried to leave Nice as soon as possible.

The turning point for Garibaldi was his acquaintance in 1833 with Emile Barro, a supporter of the utopian movement, and with a representative of the Young Italy organization. These meetings greatly influenced the formation of Giuseppe's views. After the unsuccessful Mazzinist uprising in 1834, Garibaldi, fearing arrest and death penalty, went to South America. There he actively fights for the independence of the Latin American republics, fights on the side of the Republicans, becomes a Freemason and an ardent opponent of the Catholic Church. However, he has maintained contact for 13 years with his like-minded people from Italy.

Soon Garibaldi returns to Italy to take part in the war with Austria. However, this conflict ends in the defeat of the Italian army. Throughout the first half of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi fought for the proclaimed Roman Republic against the French and Neapolitans, who were trying to stop the conflict. On July 3, 1849, fell under the yoke of the French army, the revolutionary detachment retreated to the north, eager to soon continue the fight for freedom.

However, Garibaldi decided not to give up under any circumstances. The strongest troops were sent to defeat his detachment. He had to go to Venice to find support among supporters of his ideas. As soon as he reaches Piedmont, Garibaldi is arrested and expelled from the country.

In 1859, Victor Emmanuel II became king, who was going to start a war against Austria to liberate Italian lands. Garibaldi returns to his homeland and accepts an invitation to take part in the campaign. The Austrian army was defeated. As a result of the war, part of central Italy is annexed to Piedmont, and the territory of Nice goes to France.

In 1860, Garibaldi leads a force of more than a thousand people to unite the lands of Italy. He receives permission from Victor Emmanuel II and sets off with his squad to the shores of Sicily. Soon the enemy troops were defeated, and the commander's detachment triumphantly entered Palermo, the capital of Sicily. After numerous battles, the entire territory of the island comes under the control of Garibaldi.

After the end of the war in 1861, the lands of the kingdom were annexed to Sardinia. However, Garibaldi's main goal was the return of Rome. This decision of the commander was vehemently opposed by Victor Emmanuel II. He was categorically against the invasion of those lands that belonged to the Pope.

In 1866, after another war with Austria, thanks to Garibaldi, Venice returned to Italy. Soon the commander again makes an attempt to annex Rome and begins to look for like-minded people who could support him. However, Garibaldi is arrested, but manages to escape from the convoy and again try to gather volunteers for the next trip to Rome. Giuseppe is defeated by the French army outside the city. It took several years for the French to leave Roman territory, as the war with Prussia began. The Italian army took advantage of this moment, occupied the city and annexed it to its territory.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, the idol of the revolutionaries, died in June 1882 on the island of Caprera. The name of a man who devoted himself entirely to the struggle for the freedom of his homeland remains forever in the memory of independent Italy.

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) is the famous national hero of Italy, one of the main figures in its unification in the 19th century. The son of a sailor, Garibaldi was born in Nice (now France) and at an early age was a sailor himself. He took part in the conspiracy Mazzini 1834 and after its failure fled to France. Sentenced to death in Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi led a wandering life for many years, at one time in the service of the Bey of Tunisia, then in the service of the South American republics of Rio Grande do Sul and Montevideo. At first, he was the commandant of privateer ships (i.e., those that, in wartime, engage in piracy legalized by one of the parties to the conflict in its favor). Garibaldi then became commander-in-chief of the fleet of the Republic of Montevideo and head of the Italian detachment. In South America, he met a Brazilian woman named Anita, but could not marry her, since she was already married.

Garibaldi in the revolution of 1848

Having received news of the start in Europe revolution 1848 and the national movement in Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from America to Europe in April 1848 and landed in Nice at the time when the first, happy, period wars with the Austrians in Northern Italy was over. Garibaldi wanted to enter the service of the Sardinian king Karl Albert, but his proposal was rejected. However, the Milan Defense Committee instructed him to assemble a detachment of volunteers. When did the truce between Charles Albert and the Austrian marshal end? Radetsky, Garibaldi repeatedly offered vigorous resistance to the Austrians, but in the end had to succumb to their numerical superiority and retreat to Switzerland. The courage he showed in these clashes earned him great popularity among the Italians. Garibaldi was offered to defend the rebel Sicily against the King of Naples Ferdinand II.

Giuseppe Garibaldi. Photo ok. 1861

At the end of 1848 Giuseppe Garibaldi entered service provisional government in Rome. Elected to the Roman parliament, Garibaldi proposed the abolition of papal power and the proclamation of the city as a republic and then returned to his legion, located in Rieti. The Italians owe their victories over the French who besieged Rome mainly to Garibaldi. He inflicted a heavy defeat on the French on their first offensive, and by defending the position at Porta San Pancrazio (2 May) he forced General Oudinot to formally besiege the city. He also distinguished himself by successfully attacking the Neapolitans at Palestrina and Velletri. When the French, thanks to their numerical superiority, took Rome, Garibaldi withdrew his army to Tuscany. Here he was pursued by the Austrians, and with difficulty he managed to get into Piedmont. At the same time, faithful Anita, who accompanied him on his dangerous flight, died. At the end of the revolutionary events, the Sardinian government forced Garibaldi to leave Italy.

Garibaldi and the unification of Italy

Garibaldi lived for some time in Tangier, but in 1850 he went to New York, where he was forced to work in a soap factory, and then to South America, where he became a ship captain and sailed the Pacific Ocean. In 1854, Garibaldi returned to Sardinia again, bought part of the rocky island of Caprera, moved there with his family and took up farming.

Garibaldi's March on Rome 1862

However, the Papal States still retained their independence, although after the events of 1860 it was greatly reduced in size. The inviolability of the papal possessions was guaranteed by the French government of Napoleon III, but Italian patriots dreamed of completing the complete reunification of their homeland. At the end of June 1862, Giuseppe Garibaldi went to Palermo, raised the entire population against Napoleon and papal authority and called on the inhabitants to march to Rome. Although the Italian government was strongly against him, Garibaldi soon gathered 3-4 thousand volunteers and landed on the mainland in Calabria in August. Government troops moved against him. At the Battle of Aspromonte, Giuseppe Garibaldi was seriously wounded in the leg, captured, taken to the island of Palmeria and imprisoned in the fort of Varignano. On October 5, he and his comrades received an amnesty. Due to a severe wound received at Aspromonte, Garibaldi had to undergo an extremely difficult operation, from which he recovered very slowly.

Garibaldi in the Austro-Prussian-Italian War 1866

When the Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866 broke out, Garibaldi immediately offered his services to Victor Emmanuel and received command of an army of volunteers, which initially numbered 15 thousand people, but then this number more than doubled. Garibaldi led military operations against the Austrians in South Tyrol, but in July 1866 he was defeated at Lake Garda and in September resigned his command, returning to Caprera.

Garibaldi's March on Rome 1867

Military events, however, revived plans to annex the remnants of the Papal States to Italy. Although, due to the September Convention between France and Italy in 1864, Victor Emmanuel could not do anything against Rome, Garibaldi drew up a project to march on Rome on his own. The government found out about this. Giuseppe Garibaldi was arrested (September 1867) and taken to Caprera. But his followers continued the work he started. Finally, he himself managed to escape from Caprera in terrible danger and at night in a small boat made his way between the Italian cruisers. Through Florence, Garibaldi reached the Papal States. Through the battles of Monterotondo, Garibaldi achieved some favorable results. But Napoleon III sent General Falla to help the pope, and Garibaldi, who did not want to lay down his arms, was defeated at Mentane, November 3, 1867, by the combined forces of French and papal troops. The next day, Garibaldi's troops retreated into Italian territory and laid down their arms. On the way to Florence, Garibaldi was arrested and again imprisoned in Varignano, from where, however, he was soon released and received permission to return to Caprera.

Here he wrote anti-church novels: “Clelia, or the Government of Priests” and “Volunteer Cantoni”. Giuseppe Garibaldi's novels are directed against the papacy and the Catholic clergy. He himself appears in them alternately as an atheist and a believer, an aristocrat and a plebeian; either he declares himself an ardent champion of the teachings of Christ and preaches universal peace and forgiveness, or he expresses the desire that the entire globe be given over to fire and sword.

Garibaldi in the Franco-Prussian War

The proclamation of the third republic in France (1870) inflamed Garibaldi so much that he, along with his sons, Menotti and Ricciotti, hurried to Tours to meet the inspirer of the new French government Gambetta, who entrusted him with command over the volunteer troops in the southeastern theater of the Franco-Prussian War. But Garibaldi, weakened by years and wounds, could neither stop Manteuffel’s Prussian army nor give aid to Bourbaki’s French. The Prussian brigade held him in Dijon. Garibaldi's actions in the Franco-Prussian War were considered by many to be frankly mediocre. When the famous Italian patriot was elected as a deputy of the French National Assembly, which met in Bordeaux, he received such an insulting reception there that Garibaldi hastened to resign as deputy.

The last years of Garibaldi's life

In subsequent years, Giuseppe Garibaldi was a deputy from Rome in the Italian parliament and worked hard to regulate the Tiber and improve the soil of the so-called Agro Romano. In 1874, the Italian parliament voted to grant Garibaldi a pension of one million lire, which he initially rejected, citing the financial disorder of his homeland, but accepted in 1876, under family influence.

In the last years of his life (and perhaps earlier), Garibaldi became close to Freemasons. In October 1876 he received the lifelong title of “Grand Master of the Sovereign Sanctuary of Egypt.” By 1881, Giuseppe Garibaldi became the “great hierophant” of two large Masonic organizations at once: the Eastern Rite of Memphis and the Egyptian Rite of Misraim. In order to strengthen his leadership of both “charters”, he decided to merge them into one, but he was not entirely successful.

Garibaldi died on Caprera in June 1882 and was buried there with great solemnity.

Personality and family of Garibaldi

Garibaldi was of average height, strongly built, with expressive features. He usually wore the famous red shirt and a round, black bridal hat. Passionate love for the national cause, energy and courage in the execution of a conceived enterprise, idealism of aspirations, great personal courage - these are the brilliant personal qualities that are usually attributed to Giuseppe Garibaldi by his admirers. However, it should be noted that as a leader, Garibaldi was successful mainly in chaotic, anarchic revolutionary battles. In cases of battles with organized military forces of neighboring states, he did not show any outstanding talents and, as a rule, suffered defeats. The established idea of ​​​​the “nationality” and “democracy” of Garibaldi is greatly shaken by his connection with Freemasonry - an organization that, as we know, chose as its tactics secret, behind-the-scenes actions of a narrow circle of influential persons, not based on any mass approval. “Elitist” motives and glorification of political violence often creep into Garibaldi’s literary works, most of which do not have the slightest artistic significance.

Monument to Garibaldi in Nice

From Anita Garibaldi had two sons: Menotti and Ricciotti (both later became deputies of the Italian House from the extreme left), and a daughter Teresita (married to General Canzio). In 1860, Garibaldi married the Milanese Countess Raimondi, who deceived him in the most shameful way. He broke up with her on her wedding day, did not recognize her child, and achieved, although only 17 years later, that his marriage was declared invalid. Then Garibaldi married his granddaughter’s former nurse, having already had two children from her. The government gave his widow and each of his five children a pension of 10,000 lire.

After his death, his autobiographical notes and correspondence were published: “Epistolario di Giuseppe Garibaldi.”

Monuments to Giuseppe Garibaldi are located in almost all, even small, cities of Italy. Two grandiose monuments, on horseback, were erected by Garibaldi on the Janiculum Hill in Rome and Milan.