J - 143 : The Bourbons, the Risorgimento and the Mafia

Garibaldi's Entrance into Naples on 7 September 1860 - the Bourbon King fled the same day

This summer, we sail from Malta to Pozzuoli, following the coast of Sicily, Calabria and Campania. There is significant Mafia presence in these regions. Whilst the Mafia made few headlines lately, it is there. Influential, powerful, wealthy and silent. In 2020 we sailed along these coasts on our way from Malta to Athens. I talked about the Mafia’s sad usefulness in one of my blogs: how a dysfunctional state with a large informal economy makes its existence necessary. How came it into being though? 

This Map is 10 Years old - Does Anyone have a newer?

Reading up on the Bourbon Kings, the “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies” (Sicily and Southern Italy) monarchs from 1734 to 1860, gave me interesting insight. For more than 1’000 years, kings here came from the outside and establish their rule by force. They were not natives. Arabs, Normans, Byzantine and Spanish all fit the pattern. For many centuries, southern Italy was also the Christian border line with the Muslim world – the economic consequences were severe. Papal bulls prohibited it from trading with Muslims. When its ancient trade links were cut, its domestic product dripped to subsistence level. The Spanish monarchs financed the construction of fortifications and occasionally rebuilt towns like Modena after earthquakes.

Spain heavily fortified towns (Syracuse) with Bastions & Artillery but otherwise invested little

However, once the Ottoman threat subsided by the middle of the 17^th century, “The Kingdom of Both Sicilies” became a side show – and Spain an “absentee” lord. Local barons and the land-owning gentry stepped in to take care of government duties. But with no funds, poverty everywhere and little taxable income.

The Royal Palazzo di Caserta was modelled after Versailles. Construction started in 1742 for this 1'800 Bedroom Palace 35 kilometers north of Naples. Charles VII desired to have all his Nobles from the Two Sicilies living around him like his late Relative Louis XIV from France

The Bourbon Kings were absolute monarchs in the style of Louis XIV, another Bourbon King. When Louis XIV centralized power in France a century earlier, his kingdom was rich, his tax base solid. France’s healthy economy allowed him to build his own army and a centralized administration. He did not need the consent of his nobility. He could govern as “L’État, c’est Moi!” (“I am the State”) The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was in a different position. Poor, with little to export and barely enough to eat, the expenses for defense and the Bourbons' luxury life style were a huge burden on people and deeply unpopular. There was never enough money to build a proper administration outside Naples and Palermo, nor for developing the country. The local gentry had to take matters in their own hands. Their rules were implemented by local enforces, often criminal elements the gentry had hired. The line between government and criminal world started blurring.

50'000 or 1/8 of Naples Population lived in absolute

Poverti in the Streets of Naples - Photo late 19th Cent.

The Napoleonic wars accelerated the development. After France occupied Southern Italy  in 1806, people’s ire turned against the French occupiers. Rather than complying with the new French regime, they created clandestine, parallel governments. Across the Straits of Messina, where in 1799  the Bourbons had fled to and lived in usual splendor, the mood turned sour too. Meddling in Sicilian affairs, the Bourbon king quickly made enemies of the local gentry. He became as unpopular as the French. The Sicilians wanted to go their own way and even adopted a constitution in 1812. But with the exception of Great Britain, no big power supported Sicilian independence.

Siege of Gaeta north of Naples in 1806 during the French Invasion

When Napoleon’s regime came to an end in 1815, the Congress in Vienna restored Bourbon rule over the Two Sicilies. Silicy's constitution was abolished, absolute rule re-introduced. The gap between Bourbon rulers and the people never closed. The parallel government by the land-owning gentry became firmly established. Of course, they looked after their own interest. The base for the future Mafia was laid.

  Artist Impression of the Palermo Rebellion in 1822

The Sicilian opposition against Bourbon rule resulted in  violent rebellions in 1822 and 1848 respectively. Both were suppressed with brutal force.  Where did the unarmed people turn to? They teamed up with the clandestine gangs and secret societies. Given circomstances, Italian revolutionary Garibaldi decided to force Italian unification and landed with 1’089 supporters in Marsala (we visited in 2020) on Sicily’s western tip. He knew how unpopular the Bourbon King was and rightly assumed that Sicily would fall like a house of cards.

Garibaldi landing in Marsala - Artist Impression - his Followers were not so well equipped

Upon news of his arrival, Sicilian patriots and revolutionaries formed alliances with proto mafia bands like the “Gabelotti” (tax collectors)  and the “Campieri”  (field workers) to form support units for Garibaldi. They attacked supply trains of the Bourbon army, seized isolated posts in the country side and made communication between the various Bourbon units almost impossible. Every courier was intercepted. The Bourbon Army did not last long. Even though 143’000 men strong, they were easy pickings for the revolutionaries. By end of May 1850, less than a month after the landing, Palermo was liberated. On 7 September 1860, Garibaldi and his troops entered Naples. The Bourbon King Francis II fled. On 2^nd of October, Garibaldi won the final Battle of the Volturno. The war was over. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was no more. Risorgimento lead to the Italian State as we know it today.

King Francis II fled Naples on 7 September 1860

The Unification of Italy though allowed the proto mafia to consolidate its powers. In the chaotic transition from Bourbon to Savoy rule, there was no other authority than the land owning gentry and their gangs of enforcers. The new Italian King, Umberto II, was far in the north. He had neither troops nor any administration in the south. For Southern Italy, the Risorgimento should be called the “unfinished” or “superficial revolution”. Whilst the Bourbon regime was removed, the clandestine shadow structure remained. The Mafia as we know it came into existence. It lived by its own rules but formally pledged allegiance to the new Italian King.

Human Trafficking and Cybercrimes should be added

to this ten Years old Chart

Today, the Mafia and related groups are called “oppressors of people”. But this falls short. In the dirt-poor Italian South they built businesses which benefitted many. The absence of a meaningful administration allowed it to create a thriving smuggling business, to corrupt politicians to divert tax revenue into their pockets and prevent any major land reform. The Mafia became an important employer. And still is today, despite the many statements to the contrary by the official Italian government. Maybe human trafficking and large scale drug smuggling will break its neck. Maybe. A proper development of the South certainly would.