84 EMPLOYMENT OF THE PLEBISCITE [382 



Verona, freed themselves and joined the government of 

 Venice. 



The people of Piedmont were highly enthused over the 

 Lombardo- Venetian successes, and began to see in Charles 

 Albert the man destined to free Italy forever from Austrian 

 influence and to unite all Italian provinces under the flag 

 and House of Savoy. He was implored by the populace to 

 send Piedmontese troops to Lombardy and, in fact, Milan 

 asked for his succor. His proclamation "to the people of 

 Lombardy and Venetia " was the reply.'' " A few days 

 later the Piedmont army crossed the Ticino and trium- 

 phantly traversed Lombardy in the direction of the 

 Minicio."® 



In the general enthusiasm the sentiment for fusion grew 

 rapidly. Plebiscites in Piacenza, Parma and Modena " set 

 the example of immediate annexation with Piedmont."' 



Venice, under Manin, favored a republican form of gov- 

 ernment and for this reason wavered long, but reverses on 

 the battlefield finally forced the issue. For the sake of pro- 

 tection the Venetian cities of Padua, Vicenza, and Treviso, 

 with the reluctant consent of Venice, decided for annexa- 

 tion to Lombardy." But at that time annexation to Lom- 

 bardy meant fusion with Piedmont, since Milan, through a 

 plebiscite, held in the closing days of May, had declared 

 itself for annexation with Piedmont.^^ A vote taken at the 

 request of Milan in Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and Rovigo, 

 on June 4, "gave an overwhelming majority for immediate 

 annexation."" 



Still the city of Venice itself held out, until Manin finally 

 sacrificed republican principles for the sake of unity. At 

 first "the government . . . refused to hold a plebiscite, but 



^ Ibid., pp. 168-169. 



8 Ibid., p. 169. 



9 Ibid., p. 179; B. King, A History of Italian Unity, being a Polit- 

 ical History of Italy from 1814-1871, New York, 1899, vol. i, pp. 

 244. 247. 



'" King. vol. i, p. 246. 

 " Ibid., pp. 243-244. 

 12 Ibid., p. 246. 



