Giuseppe Garibaldi: the biography in brief. Discover the travels, the most significant enterprises and the main battles of the hero of the two worlds.
Giuseppe Garibaldi is one of the leading figures of the Italian Risorgimento , known above all for his commitment in the fight for the unification of Italy, which culminated in the Expedition of the Thousand .He is one of the most famous Italian historical figures in the world, also known by the nickname ” Hero of Two Worlds ” for his various military enterprises not only in Europe but also in South America .
Before dealing with the most epic of his enterprises, let us briefly see the beginning of his tumultuous biography . He was born on July 4, 1807 in Nice, to Ligurian parents. At a very young age he joined Giovine Italia , a famous association that aimed, on a national scale, to achieve a united, democratic and republican Italy.
His parents wanted him to study, but from the very beginning Giuseppe showed little interest in studies, preferring a life at sea, eventually managing to convince his father to let him undertake the latter, embarking as a cabin boy in Genoa . Thus began Garibaldi’s countless travels throughout Europe and beyond.
The independence movements
In Marseille, having come into personal contact with Mazzini , he took part in the Mazzinian uprisings. Following the failure of the uprisings, he was sentenced to death in absentia and forced to flee to South America in 1836. Here he took part in political events and had the opportunity to show his value as a military commander. Here he fought against Brazil as a privateer and took part in the civil war that was bloodying Uruguay in those years.
Back in Italy, he clashed with the Austrians and then took refuge in Switzerland for a short time. Later in Montevideo he met his first wife, Anita, who abandoned her husband for him and completely changed her life.
When in 1848 he decided to return to Italy to join the revolutionary movement , Garibaldi was already celebrated as “the hero of two worlds”.
Expedition of the Thousand
Furthermore, the events of the Roman Republic and his participation in the Second War of Independence with various successes further increased his prestige, so much so that the patriots, who were organizing the Sicilian uprising, entrusted him with the command of the small expeditionary force.
On the morning of May 6, 1860, approximately 1,162 “Garibaldini” set sail from Quarto, near Genoa, to head for Sicily. Their conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was total.
After landing at Marsala, the red shirts – from the color of their uniform – defeated the Bourbon army at Calatafimi on May 15, 1860. This victory opened the doors for Garibaldi to conquer Palermo.
The riots
Having arrived in Salemi, General Garibaldi assumed dictatorship on the island in the name of Vittorio Emanuele II. In a month the entire island was conquered and on August 20 the patriots landed in Calabria. During the advance, thousands of Sicilian peasants joined the Thousand, hoping for positive changes on the economic and social level, which were however sacrificed by Garibaldi to the pressing need to win the war and lay the foundations for future stable political structures.
This led to numerous revolts, the most famous of which was in Bronte, which culminated in arrests and executions on the orders of Garibaldi’s right-hand man Nino Bixio.
Kingdom of Italy
On the continent, the march continued rapidly: at the beginning of September 1860 Garibaldi was already in Naples. Vittorio Emanuele II and Cavour , until then only external spectators of the war events in Southern Italy, decided to go into action once the defeat of the Bourbons was confirmed: only four days after the entry of Garibaldi’s men into Naples, the regular Piedmontese army invaded the Papal States and occupied Marche and Umbria.
Once the Two Sicilies were annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia on 21 October, on the 26th Garibaldi met Victor Emmanuel II, greeting him as King of Italy, a title he only fully acquired on 17 March 1861 with the birth of the Kingdom of Italy.
In the last ten years of his life Garibaldi actively dedicated himself to the political life of the country and then retired to Caprera where he died on 2 June 1882.
