Memoirs of the Empress Eugenie

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER HI THE SECOND EMPIKB AND ITALIAN UNITY The cause of Italian unity played an important part in the foreign policy of the Second Empire. At times, it even had much influence on the home affairs of France. It deeply interested both the Emperor and the Empress. The latter regarded rather its religious...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER HI THE SECOND EMPIKB AND ITALIAN UNITY The cause of Italian unity played an important part in the foreign policy of the Second Empire. At times, it even had much influence on the home affairs of France. It deeply interested both the Emperor and the Empress. The latter regarded rather its religious side, in so far as it concerned the Pope and the old States of the Church. The Emperor cared more for the political aspect of the question, with all its many ramifications. But the first consequence of the Italian war, with all its troubles, little and big, rather wearied the Emperor. Oh this complicated Italian business, he used to say at this time; I have wished more than once that I had never gone so far into it. In the following pages some of these consequences are touched upon briefly by the aid of notes and conversations, and impressions of various kinds received at the time and strengthened and made more distinct by reading, personal interviews with distinguished Italians and several journeys into that delightful land of histori-;cal charm and natural beauty. The war had ended victoriously; all parties at home seemed to join in the triumph of our armies, and to lay aside for a time their private spites and demands. But the political side of the Italian question was still full of difficulties; the interiQr situation of Italy remained confused and obscure. It was not sure whether all the clauses of the treaty of Villa- franca would be carried out, and it was feared that there might be trouble over some of them. What will be the fate of the young Italian Confederation? Will the Italian sovereigns be reestablished in their domains? Will the Pope still possess the States of the Church? Will the partisans of Italian Unity now be contented with what has been a...