Topic > Street Fights in Milan

The five days of Milan were a period of intense street fighting in Milan, a city in Italy, between Milanese against Milanese and Austrians. The Milanese and the Austrians fought under the command of the old Marshal Radetzky. These fighting led to the Austrian withdrawal from the city. Before the Five Days of Milan, tensions between the Austrian administration and the citizens of Milan had already been growing several months before the Five Days. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In September 1847, the police shot at a gathering of people in honor of the new archbishop of Milan, a certain Romilli. They also began singing hymns in the name of Pope Pius IX. In January 1848 the Milanese stopped using tobacco, the main trading commodity, which provided a lot of revenue to the state. Radetzky ordered his soldiers to smoke large cigars in the street, a “provocative move” that led to clashes with the population, which ended with 6 dead and 50 wounded (Ohio.edu). When the news of the Vienna revolution and Metternich's dismissal reached Milan on 17 March, it aroused great political enthusiasm, along with hope. After this news, a group of young free "radicals" decided to organize a large demonstration to demand freedom of the press, together with the establishment of a civil guard and the convening of a national assembly. On March 18, a rally of 10,000 people gathered, some of them armed, and invaded the government building. During the assault on the palace a guard was killed. This forced the governor, O'Donnell, to agree to their demands. When Radetzky ordered his troops to retake the occupied government buildings, intense bloodshed occurred. This insurrection spread randomly throughout Milan. The insurgents erected hundreds of barricades, around 1600 on the morning of March 19. The barricades were made of many things, from carriages to pianos and sofas. This slowed down the movement of the Austrian troops. These battles split into many more isolated engagements. This was advantageous for the Milanese because they could take possession of the enemy's weapons and ammunition. In these clashes it was above all the lower class that suffered the majority of Milanese deaths. This revolt against the Austrians brought to light the internal political differences within the Milanese themselves. On March 20, a republican group led by Carlo Cattaneo and Enrico Cernuschi led a war council to coordinate military operations. This prompted Count Gabrio Casati and other aristocrats to create a provisional government. The revolt brought out the political differences within the Milanese camp. On March 20, a republican group created a war council to direct military operations. This caused Count Gabrio Casati and other middle-class aristocrats to create a new provisional government, assuming power to prevent the Republicans from taking over. Previously they were also willing to accept two of Radetzky's truce proposals, but Cattaneo and the war council forced them to reject the proposals. Casati and his men also sent representatives to Turin to convince Carlo Alberto, then reigning, to stop and expel the Austrians from Lombardy, as well as to get rid of the "radical elements" and prevent them from creating a republican democracy. With the creation of the new provisional government, Cattaneo's group dissolved the war council, uniting it to form a new defense committee established by the new government. The Republicans and Democrats who led the country to military victory were defeated politically by the aristocrats and had to accept a lower place. The new defense committee posed.