The year 1848 was one of the most turbulent in Europe. Unrest prevailed in almost every major center on the continent. It all began with the revolution in Sicily when at the beginning of the year, massive crowds drove military troops off the island and declared a republic. The Sicilian revolution was suppressed on May 15 of the following year, but the consequences of that revolution can still be seen today.
Southern Italy in the first half of the 19th century was called the “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.” It was ruled by Bourbon King Ferdinand II. He was a typical 19th-century aristocrat, believing that the will of the people was something that could be ignored because the world was divided into important people born into money and power and the poor who did not deserve better. However, Ferdinand’s stance would provoke thousands of dissatisfied peasants and landowners who were unhappy with his leadership.
Sicily was predominantly an agrarian country. Thousands of peasants had experienced hunger in recent years due to poor seasons and were ready for revolt. Ferdinand tried to prevent this with reforms, but in practice, this caused another food shortage. That was enough. The poor peasants joined forces with wealthy landowners and demanded a constitution and guarantees for their rights from Ferdinand. When Ferdinand did not yield, the people began to riot. A revolution broke out in Palermo.
Army Driven Off the Island
The army was driven off the island, and a republic was declared. The Napoleonic-era constitution was reinstated, and they used the Italian tricolor as their flag. After Sicily, other revolutions erupted: those in northern Italy, then in France, and a few weeks later, all of Europe was burning. There was a sense of a new era in the air. However, the Sicilian revolution would be short-lived.
By the end of 1848, Ferdinand gathered his army in Naples and prepared a counterattack. The Neapolitan navy began bombarding Palermo, and Ferdinand transported criminals and thieves to the island to incite even greater unrest. By the end of the year, the revolution had been suppressed, and Ferdinand regained his southernmost possession.
A similar thing happened in the rest of Europe. After being caught unprepared in 1848, reactionaries across Europe managed to suppress the uprisings by 1849. When it comes to Italy, most liberals aspired to unification. Italy would not achieve this during the 1848 revolutions, but it would succeed two decades later.
The Sicilian revolution was the first revolt in Europe that year, causing a chain reaction. Although today the French revolution of 1848 is often cited as the main inspiration for the events in Europe, it is important to note that the story of 1848 does not begin in Paris but in the very south of Europe. In Sicily, they remember this with pride.