Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 843: Federazione Italiana 1

6th December 1670

The attention of Europe was completely attracted by the Russian Empire, which declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The headlines of all the newspapers in Europe were about the new Russo-Ottoman war that had just kicked off.

The reactions to the decision taken by the Tsarist Russian Empire were varied.

John II Casimir Vasa, the Grand Duke of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Charles X Gustav, King of Sweden, collectively let out a sigh of relief after they understood that the giant bear did not choose them as its meal. For a moment, they were all worried and were preparing to request support from the rest of the European countries to resist the aggressive Russian Empire. Thankfully, it did not have to come to that.

Most of Europe has taken a wait-and-see attitude about the war, but resistance forces of the Ottoman Empire, who were in the Balkan region, are overjoyed. They have been fighting for freedom for many decades, but to no avail. However, now with a giant like the Tsarist Russian Empire taking the lead and coming at full force, their fighting spirit is ignited, and their hope for freedom is rekindled.

When all of this was transpiring, unknown to anyone, a huge undercurrent was surging in the Italian Peninsula.

Republic of Venice

The atmosphere in the parliament was very tense.

Doge Giovanni Morosini carefully read the dozens of reports, strategic plans, intelligence, and briefings on his table, one by one, while the luxuriously dressed gentlemen sitting around him did the same.

No one talked for several hours. Even the old men like Marco Molin, Antonio Erizzo, and Lorenzo Barbarigo did not complain, as there was nothing but the rustle of paperwork the whole time.

Finally, after reviewing everything, Giovanni Morosini initiated the signing procedure for the Declaration of Unification Bill.

"Gentlemen, today marks an important milestone in the history of Italy and its people. The culmination of a decade of hard work is about to bear fruit."

"I believe all of you have reviewed the strategies of allowing the Italian Peninsula to be unified under a single organisational framework, and the intelligence necessary to get the things done is also provided."

"As you have read, some entities within the peninsula are easy to convince and the groundwork has already been laid down, while others need some hard persuasion to get the job done." "However..." his voice trailed off as his eyes became stern and ruthless, "there are some entities controlled by foreign powers directly who are not so easy to persuade. For these entities, there is no better alternative other than to take it by force."

He leaned back on his chair, adjusted his mood, and continued, "With that being said, we already knew that the unification was going to be hard. It was going to be tough, arduous, rough, and our victory had to be hard-fought. But are we willing to step back?"

"No!"

The top oligarchs of Venice nodded one by one. The moment the idea of Italian unification was put on the table and they were tempted, they already knew that they had set themselves up for a heavy task, and now, after nearly 10 years of spending countless resources and creating thousands of connections and relationships, they were not going to step back at the last moment just because a few states disagreed with the proposal.

"You said it very well, Your Excellency, the Doge. How can we be willing to step back just because a few traitors are not willing to obey?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

"Time will prove that their decision today is the most idiotic decision they have ever taken. Mark my words, going against the general trend of Italian unification that we have orchestrated over the span of a decade is like a ship sailing into the eye of a whirlpool. No matter how much it resists, it cannot escape the inevitable fate of destruction."

"So please, state the next course of action. All five families will give you full support and obey you unconditionally."

As if to show their own determination, Dante Counterini, the new patriarch of the Counterini family, Antonio Errizo, the patriarch of the Errizo family, Lorenzo Barbarigo, the patriarch of the Barbarigo family, and Nico Grandingo, the new patriarch of the Grandingo family, all half-knelt.

There was no doubt in their minds about the ability of the Doge because they had seen with their own eyes his capability over the last 15 years. In name, it could be said that they participated in setting up the groundwork and creating a web of interests for Italian unification, but they all knew the truth—that it was Giovanni Morosini who was the architect of most of their plans. At most, they just polished his plans here and there and were responsible for getting things done. Not to mention the Bharatiya Empire, the biggest defence supplier of the Republic of Venice, has a very good relationship with Giovanni Morosini. If they, at the last moment, acted arbitrarily and tried to occupy the fruits of his labour, not to mention whether they could unify Italy, it would be doubtful if they could still be alive. They all knew that Giovanni was only kind and amiable on the outside, but in his heart, he was an absolute ruthless fellow who had gotten to the position of Doge after walking through the bloody path of politics.

Giovanni Morosini was immediately overwhelmed. Despite being the Doge of the Republic of Venice for nearly two decades, he had never seen such a scene, but he was extremely thankful for the support he was getting.

"Gentlemen, I swear by the name of Morosini, I will not let down the trust all of you have placed in me, and I will, even if it means my death, make sure that there will be an entity that unifies Italy."

The very same day, the legendary bill for the unification of Italy was signed by the six oligarchs of Venice, namely Morosini, Contarini, Molin, Errizo, Barbarigo, and Grandingo, which became the first domino that set off a chain reaction that eventually led to a complete centralization and unification of Italy far into the future.

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Hidden under everyone's noses, the Venetian Republic began to pull the strings in the gigantic spider web it had woven in the Italian Peninsula for the past decade.

The first one to bear the brunt was the neighbouring Spanish colony of Milan, currently ruled by Antonio de Guzman, Marquis of Ayamonte.

"Antonio de Guzman was woefully unaware of what was happening, but unknown to him, in the cities of Vigevano, Cremona, Alexandria (Alessandria), Pavia, among others, military-aged men who had been secretly trained by the Republic of Venice mysteriously gathered in groups of 20 in abandoned houses, where they found a full supply of weaponry as well as instructions sealed with the emblem of the Venetian Republic."

The Roman vassal of Piedmont was ruled by the Duke of Savoy, currently Duke Charles Emmanuel II. Charles Emmanuel was a staunch Italian; he hated that he had to take refuge under the Holy Roman Empire to get support to maintain his political and military stability. But when the Venetian delegate came to him with the prospects of a unified Italy nearly 8 years ago, he hesitated because the prospect was enticing. But at the same time, failure to win would mean treason against the Holy Roman Empire and the end of the Savoy family. Not to mention, he did not know if it was even possible to unify Italy, or whether Venice had the ability to unify Italy. He didn't doubt the might of the Venetian Republic, as in recent years, it had shown the edge of its previous glory and strength when it dominated the Mediterranean. But still, the unification of Italy was no small matter. And most importantly, if unification were possible, he was worried about how power in the unified Italy would be divided. If he had to make a choice, he did not want to give up his current powers.

However, thankfully, although he did not immediately agree to the proposal of the Venetians, he did not make it public either. He felt like there was room for manoeuvre and discussion, as he believed the Venetian plan was very bold, and he wanted to see how things went. As years passed by, he was very thankful for his decision. Because, as the negotiations and discussions continued, he learned that although Italy would be unified, it would be unified under an economic entity formed by the culmination of economic resources from all the member states.

He was told that, in the vision of the Venetians, all the member states of unified Italy would maintain their independence when it came to internal policies, and the rulers of the states would continue to rule their states however they wished. But 10% of all the gross domestic income would be allocated to the governing body, which would be called Federazione Italiana (Italian Federation), responsible for maintaining a fixed military to protect the interests of all member states, as well as to act as a diplomatic voice for Italy.

The leader of Federazione Italiana would be changed every five years, elected from the leaders of member states, voted on by high-achieving people of society, like the nobles, military professionals, artists, educators, intellectuals, medical professionals, etc. Due to him being not only the Duke of Piedmont, but also the Duke of Sardinia, he was given the opportunity to be the second president of Federazione Italiana with the recommendation and public support of Giovanni Morosini, who would naturally take charge as the first president of Federazione Italiana.

Although Charles Emmanuel II would have loved to be the first president of Federazione Italiana, he also knew how to be pragmatic. The groundwork the Venetians laid over the last decade for the purpose of Italian unification was extraordinary, and he was more than certain he had only seen the tip of it. Even thinking about what else the Venetians did behind the scenes made him shudder.

Although unsure about the consequences, he took a brave step forward and finally agreed with the Venetians to merge his two territories into Federazione Italiana after it was formed, and he also promised to contribute his strength for the purpose of unification if needed.

Hence, that was exactly what he was doing. Receiving the signal from the Venetian side, he immediately summoned his general and admiral.

"Alexandro Romano, I need you to assemble the troops at the border and have them be ready to march at any time."

"Francesca De Luca, dispatch the Navy Fleet and have them patrol the waters of Corsica."

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