Parte Nove
September, Pietro di Castagna, nephew of Prime Minister di Castagna, in a joint government partnership opens up “Barone di Castagna” arms. A joint venture between the di Castagna family, Prima, the Italian government and with 20% ownership going to German rising star rifle manufacturer Mauser, “Barone di Castagna” or BDC as it is to become known as, opens up its first plant in Reggio Calabria.
The French elections are over and the election of a monarchist majority to the new National Assembly enrages the public. The newly elected National Assembly begins the process of moving from Bordeaux to Versailles having decided that the capital city is too turbulent for them to meet there. Their absence creates a power vacuum in Paris as well as suspicion about the large royalist majority National Assembly's intentions.
October, antagonism between the conservative provisional Government of National Defence and the far left radicals in Paris finally erupts into open fighting in the streets of Paris. The Capital is seized by the commune, which hoists the red socialist flag victoriously over the city. The new council makes many decrees including: the separation of church and state, the remission of rents owed for the entire period of the siege (during which, payment had been suspended), the abolition of night work in the hundreds of Paris bakeries, the granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of National Guards killed on active service, the free return, by the city pawnshops, of all workmen's tools and household items valued up to 20 francs, pledged during the siege, the postponement of commercial debt obligations, and abolition of interest on the debts, and the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it were deserted by its owner; the Commune, nonetheless, recognized the previous owner's right to compensation.
Simultaneously with the Paris Commune, uprisings in Lyon and Marseille go off. Grenoble (in Italian hands) experiences some mild uprisings due to the news but they are quickly suppressed by the many thousands of well trained Italian troops.
November, di Castagna and Bismarck are forced to release PoWs to France so as to allow the safety and integrity of the country against the rising communes in the three major cities. di Castagna, joyously realizing Italy’s future destiny as a forerunning major European power, sets out to tweak his now famous l'azione di riforma dei soldati, 1862. Italy now has a standing army of 300,000 and estimates say it can muster 1,000,000 on mass mobilization. di Castagna puts forth a proposition on changing the order of Italy’s battalions. He reasons by saying at current, Italy’s 10 main battle squads are a mix of Italians from all over the country whereas the effective Prussian model uses 12 main battalions each with men from their own region. He does, however, see the flaw in this. Italy’s armies are done as they are on purpose. The regional model used to fail in Italian terms as it encouraged regionalism, something that hindered unification. di Castagna is confident that his government has creative a substantial amount of Italian identity and the fear of such harsh regionalism is without grounds. di Castagna also makes plans to raise the Italian military budget to 40% of the GDP in the near future. This, being a figure that used to stand in Italy before unification in the early 1860s made this drop (though di Castagna’s government has seen it grow tremendously, whereas it now stands at around 30%). The PM also proposes the re-equipment of infantry and artillery with more modern weapons, fortifications and barracks. In a speech made this month, he calls the army “an embodiment of national virtues and defender of both internal and external order”.
December, to compete directly against government backed BDC and to keep it from expanding into heavy armaments and ammunition, Italian company Gio. Ansaldo & C
[1] goes into a joint venture with German company Krupp
[2] to produce a new variety of field gun.
French government forces engage the Parisians and begin besieged the city's powerful defences, and pushing back the National Guards. A gate to the city falls late in the month. Government forces take the prosperous western city with little trouble while in the poorer east, each Quartier fights to the death.
January, many Papal Catholic (PC) orders such as the Jesuits begin getting expelled from many major cities. Seizure of Papal Catholic lands and assets begin getting confiscated en mass as the Old Catholic (OC) movement begins to grip Italy (due largely in part to anti Pope Propaganda). A secular court is also set up for cases involving the clergy.
January 24th, di Castagna announces the creation of the Universita Reale d’Italia (Royal University of Italy or URI) in Rome. The University will channel the brainpower of all the great scientists, artists and Mathematicians of Italy and Europe. Outside of the main building will be a large Statue of Nike from Germany as a gift of friendship. An identical Italian statue will be sent to Germany. The campus will also house a new hall built for the Old Catholic clergy.
January 26th, di Castagna and wife Vittoria take a carriage ride around Rome to inspect the city’s mass renovation, goaled at turning the city into a capital worthy of the new Italy. As the carriage makes its way into Piazza Barberini, a loyal crowd swarms the carriage. di Castagna enjoys public displays of affection towards himself and waves to the crowd. Just as the Prime Minister puts his hand back into the carriage, the flock of heads immediately around the carriage duck for cover as the bang cannot be heard too well over the yells of the crowd. The crowd catches on quickly to what has gone on. The carriage driver immediately orders the horses to run but this is impossible with the crowd only feet away. The few Carabinieri run to the right side of the carriage to attack the gunman. There is no need however as the crowd is already in the process of mulling him and the Carabinieri instead must try to pull the man out of the hostile mob. Vittoria di Castagna is the only one to attend to her pain ridden husband leaning into her arms as she yells for God and her husband. The situation becomes a complete mess with the di Castagna carriage unable to move in the pandemonium and the extent of Francesco di Castagna’s wound unknown.
[Notes]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gio._Ansaldo_&_C.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krupp
[3] I know there hasn't been a part up in a while, this one may be a bit short but the peace is taking a bit longer than expected and my schedule isn't helping in the slightest.