[Sardinian reply to Austrian Ultimatum.] No. 292.-SARDINIAN REPLY to the Austrian Ultimatum. 26th April, 1859.* (Translation as laid before Parliament.) THE question of the Disarmament of Sardinia, which constitutes the basis of the demand which your Excellency addresses to me, has been the subject of numerous negotiations between the Great Powers and the Government of the King. These negotiations led to a proposition drawn up by England, to which France, Prussia, and Russia adhered. Sardinia, in a spirit of conciliation, accepted it without reserve or afterthought. Since your Excellency can neither be ignorant either of the proposition of England nor the answer, I could add nothing in order to make known the intentions of the Government of the King with regard to the difficulties which were opposed to the assembling of the Congress. The decided conduct of Sardinia has been appreciated by Europe. Whatever may be the consequences which it entails, the King, my august master, is convinced that the responsibility will devolve upon them who first armed, who have refused the propositions made by a great Power, and recognised as just and reasonable by the others, and who now substitute a menacing summons in its stead. * An Austrian Army crossed the Ticino on the same day (26th April), and entered Sardinian Territory. [War. Austria and Sardinia.] No. 293.-AUSTRIAN MANIFESTO and DECLARATION OF WAR against Sardinia. Vienna, 28th April, 1859. (Translation as laid before Parliament.) TO MY PEOPLE, I HAVE ordered my faithful and gallant Army to put a stop to the inimical acts (" anfeindungen") which, for a series of years, have been committed by the neighbouring State of Sardinia against the indisputable rights of my Crown, and against the integrity of the realm placed by GOD under my care, which acts have lately attained the very highest point. By so doing I have fulfilled the painful but unavoidable duty of a Sovereign. My conscience being at rest, I can look up to an omnipotent God, and patiently await His award. With confidence I leave my decision to the impartial judgment of contemporaneous and future generations. Of the approbation of my faithful subjects I am sure. When more than 10 years ago the same enemy, violating international law and the usages of war, and without any cause being given, invaded the Lombardo-Venetian territory with an army, with the intention of seizing upon it, although he was twice totally defeated by my gallant army, and at the mercy of the victor, I behaved generously, and held out my hand to a reconciliation (No. 215). I did not appropriate to myself one inch of his territory; I encroached on no right which belongs to the Crown of Sardinia, as one of the members of the European family of nations. I insisted on no guarantees against the recurrence of similar events. The hand of peace which I, in all sincerity, extended, and which was taken, appeared to me to be a sufficient guarantee. The blood which my army shed for the honour and right of Austria I sacrificed on the altar of peace (“dem frieden brachte Ich das blut meiner armee zum opfer"). The answer to this forbearance, which has hardly had an example in history, was a resumption of hostility, and an agitation carried on by all the expedients of perfidy, increasing from year to year, against the peace and welfare of my Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom. Well knowing how much I ought to value the priceless boon of peace for my people and for Europe, I patiently bore with these new [War. Austria and Sardinia.] hostilities. My patience was not exhausted wher the more extensive measures which recently I was forced to take, in consequence of the revolutionary agitation on the frontiers of my Italian Provinces, and within the same, were made an excuse for a higher degree of hostility. Willingly accepting the well-meant Mediation of friendly Powers for the maintenance of Peace, I consented to become a party to a Congress of the 5 great Powers. The 4 points proposed by the Royal Government of Great Britain as a basis for the deliberations of the Congress, were forwarded to my Government, and I accepted them, with the conditions which alone were calculated to bring about a true, sincere, and durable peace.* But in the consciousness that no step on the part of my Government could, even in the most remote degree, lead to a disturbance of the peace, I required at the same time that the Power which was the cause of the complication, and had brought about the danger of war, should, as a preliminary measure, disarm. Being pressed thereto by friendly Powers, I at length accepted the proposal for a general disarmament. The Mediation failed in consequence of the inadmissible nature of the conditions on which Sardinia made her consent dependent. Only one means of maintaining peace remained. I addressed myself directly to the Sardinian Government, and summoned it to place its army on a peace footing, and to disband the free corps. Sardinia did not accede to my demand: therefore, the moment for deciding the matter by an appeal to arms has arrived. I have ordered my army to enter Sardinia.† I am aware of the vast importance of the measure, and if ever my duties as a monarch weighed heavily on me it is at this moment. War is the scourge of mankind. I see with emotion that the lives and property of thousands of my subjects are imperilled, and deeply feel what a severe trial war is for my realm, which, being occupied with its internal development, greatly requires the continuance of peace. But the heart of the monarch must be silent at the command of honour and duty. On the frontiers the enemy stands in arms, in alliance with the revolutionary party, openly announcing his intention to seize upon the possessions of Austria in Italy. To support him, the Ruler over France, who, under futile pretexts, interferes in the legally established relations of the Italian Peninsula, has set his troops in * See note, page 1411. [War. Austria and Sardinia.] movement. Detachments of them have already crossed the frontiers of Sardinia. The Crown which I received without spot or blemish from my forefathers has already seen trying times. The glorious history of our country gives evidence that Providence, when the shadows of a revolution, menacing to the highest good of humanity, appear about to spread over this quarter of the world, has frequently used the sword of Austria in order to dispel those shadows with its lightning. We are again on the eve of a period when the world is threatened with an overthrow of everything subsisting, and that not by parties only, but from thrones downwards. If I draw the sword, that sword receives a consecration, as a defence for the honour and the good right of Austria, for the rights of all peoples and States, and for all that is held most dear by humanity. To you, My People, whose devotion to the hereditary reigning family may serve as a model for all the nations of the earth, I now address myself. In the conflict which has commenced you will stand by me with your oft-proved fidelity, devotion, and self-sacrifice. To your sons, whom I have taken into the ranks of the army, I their commander, send my martial greeting. With pride you may regard them, for the eagle of Austria will, with their support, soar high in honour. Our struggle is a just one, and we begin it with courage and confidence. We hope that we shall not stand alone in it. The soil on which we have to do battle was made fruitful by the blood lost by our German brethren when they won those bulwarks which they have maintained up to the present day. There the crafty enemies of Germany have generally begun their game when they have wished to break her internal power. The feeling that such a danger is now imminent prevails in all parts of Germany, from the hut to the throne, from one frontier to the other. I speak as a Sovereign member of the Germanic Confederation when I call attention to the common danger, and recall to memory the glorious times in which Europe had to thank the general and fervent enthusiasm for its liberation. For GoD and Fatherland! Given at my residence and metropolis of Vienna, on this 28th day of April, 1859. FRANCIS JOSEPH. [War. Sardinia and Austria.] No. 294.-SARDINIAN PROCLAMATION of War with Austria. Turin, 29th April, 1859. (Translation as laid before Parliament.) PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM! AUSTRIA attacks us with a powerful army, which, while professing a love of peace, she has assembled to assault us in the unhappy provinces subject to her domination. Unable to support the example of our civil order, and unwilling to submit to the judgment of an European Congress, on the evils and dangers of which she alone is the cause in Italy, Austria violates her promise to England, and makes a case of War out of a law of honour. Austria dares to demand the diminution of our troops; that that brave youth, which from all parts of Italy has thronged to her standard of national independence, be disarmed, and handed over to her. A jealous guardian of the ancestral common patrimony of honour and glory, I have handed over to my beloved cousin Prince Eugène the Government of the State, while I myself again draw the sword. The brave soldiers of the Emperor Napoleon, my generous Ally, will fight the fight of liberty and justice with my soldiers. People of Italy! Austria attacks Piedmont because I have advocated the cause of our common country in the Councils of Europe, and because I have not been insensible to your cry of anguish. Thus she has violently broken those Treaties which she never respected; thus now all right is on the side of the nation, and I can conscientiously perform the vow made on the tomb of my illustrious parent. Taking up Arms in the defence of my Throne, of the liberty of my people, and of the honour of the Italian name, I fight for the rights of the whole nation. |