THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WORLD LEADERS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

stood ready to assist, but only if he proved successful,
and he accepted this. Sailing from near Genoa on May 6
with about 1,000 men, he reached Marsala in Sicily on
May 11 and in the name of Victor Emmanuel proclaimed
himself dictator.
In August he crossed over the Strait of Messina and
landed on the mainland in Calabria. After a lightning
campaign, he moved up through Calabria and on
September 7, 1860, entered Naples, Italy’s largest city.
He then fought the biggest battle of his career, on the
Volturno River north of Naples. After his victory, he
held plebiscites in Sicily and Naples, which allowed him
to hand over the whole of southern Italy to King Victor
Emmanuel. In 1861 a new kingdom of Italy came into
existence.
Garibaldi was determined to seize Rome, which was
still under the rule of the pope, and make it Italy’s capi-
tal. Such action would have brought both France and
Austria against Italy, though, so the Italian government
was forced to intervene and take the radical Garibaldi
prisoner after his attempts in 1862 and 1867. In between
his attempts on Rome, the Italian government called on
Garibaldi for assistance when war broke out with Austria
in 1866, and once again he emerged from the war with a
good deal more credit than any of the regular soldiers. In
1870–71, Garibaldi led one final campaign, when he
assisted the French Republic against Prussia. When the
war was over, Garibaldi retired to Caprera, where he
spent the rest of his life.
Garibaldi was recognized as a champion of the rights
of labour and of women’s emancipation. Moreover, he
showed himself to be a religious freethinker and ahead of
his time in believing in racial equality and the abolition of
capital punishment.