A charismatic hero to millions of Italians, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) led the fight for Italian unification and independence. Famous for his military acumen, fervent patriotism, and red-clad followers, Garibaldi emerged as a symbol of resurgent nationalism—not just in Italy, but across nineteenth-century Europe.
The Italian leader was born, ironically, in France. He spent his youth in Nice, a French coastal city with a large Italian-speaking population, and became a merchant sailor as a teenager. After coming into contact with Italian revolutionaries while at sea, Garibaldi joined the underground Young Italy movement, a prounification group, in the 1830s.
At the time, Italy was divided into dozens of small, weak states, many of them hereditary monarchies. In addition, the pope personally controlled a large region of central Italy known as the Papal States. The prounification forces, influenced by other liberal movements in nineteenth-century Europe, sought to introduce democracy across Italy and abolish the Papal States.
Garibaldi was sentenced to death in 1834 after participating in a failed uprising. He fled to South America, where he volunteered to fight in the Uruguayan civil war and adopted the red-shirt uniform for which he became famous. He briefly returned to Italy in 1848, but was forced back into exile in northern Africa, England, and Staten Island, where he lived for about two years.
His major victories would not occur until 1859 and 1860, after he aligned himself with Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878), the king of Piedmont-Sardinia, and the French emperor Napoléon III (1808–1873). Together, they were able to establish the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. But it was a painful compromise for Garibaldi, who had supported democracy and was annoyed that his home city of Nice was returned to France in exchange for Napoléon’s support.
After the war, Garibaldi toured Europe, where he was acclaimed as an inspiration to participants in other nationalist movements. He served in the Italian parliament and retired to an island off Sardinia, where he died at age seventy-four.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- At least one Italian-speaking city-state—San Marino—opted to remain independent instead of joining the newly reunited Italy. San Marino, at only twenty-four square miles, is one of the smallest sovereign countries in the world.
- Thousands of streets and squares in Italy are named after Garibaldi.
- After the outbreak of the US Civil War in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) offered the Italian command of the Union Army. Lincoln eventually withdrew the offer when Garibaldi demanded that the president explicitly state that the purpose of the war was to abolish slavery.
