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The Expedition of a Thousand Red Shirts — what was it and what did it bring?
“For your freedom and our freedom” — with this slogan Garibaldi marched with his detachment of volunteers to liberate the country from Austrian rule and reunite a shattered Italy. This event went down in history as the Expedition of a Thousand Red Shirts.
Giuseppe Garibaldi was a figure as colorful as he was controversial. A declared enemy of Austria, an opponent of the papacy and the Napoleonic legend. In his time he preached eminently unpopular views, but this did not prevent him from gaining support for his cause. A great patriot, he was ready to die for the tricolor banner of his homeland.
Four months — just how long it took Garibaldi to subjugate a country of 9 million people. He failed to fulfill his greatest dream, which was the rebirth of Italy as a republic, but the march of the red shirts inevitably became the cause of the fall of the former aristocratic world.
Who was Giuseppe Garibaldi?
Giuseppe Garibaldi was born on July 4, 1807 in Nice. He grew up in a simple family of Ligurian sailors. Already as a 14-year-old he sailed on the family ships. On land, young Giuseppe was looked after by Arena — a veteran of Napoleonic campaigns. He taught the boy Italian history, Roman history and introduced him to the…
