Alternative History
Register
Advertisement
Silvestro Marconi
132836988.nOsXialL
President of Cisalpina
In office
1862–1869
Succeeded byRodrigo Vertucci
President of Lombardia
In office
1854–1862
Preceded byWIP
Councillor for Cisalpina
In office
1862–1869
Succeeded byEdoardo Vertucci
Councillor for Lombardia
In office
1860–1862
Preceded byRodrigo Vertucci
Member of Lombard Parliament
In office
1848–1854
Succeeded byWIP
Personal details
Born Silvestro Marconi
16th October, 1823
Milan, Lombardia
Died 22nd February, 1869
Political party Federal Democratic Party
Profession Politician
Religion Roman Catholicism


Silvestro Marconi is a Federalist Councillor and President for Cisalpina in the in the Interactive AAR A Federation of Equals.

Biography[]

The son of a wealthy landowner, Silvestro was sent to a prestigious university, where he learned liberal ideas. At the breakout of the Revolution, he briefly fought as a soldier against the Royalists before retiring and running for a seat in the Parliament of the newly created State of Lombardia as a moderate liberal in the Slavic and Romanian Party, which he won. He fiercely opposed the Lombard Secession and was rewarded by being elected as Lombardia's president in 1854, in a special election that occurred after the previous president resigned. After the coup in 1854, he became an ardent supporter of federalism and the idea of a single Danubian identity. He was reelected as President of Lombardia in 1856. During the Civil War he supported the Republicans and also met Rodrigo Vertucci, who had fled to Milan to escape the turmoil in Vienna. They became close friends and continued to stay in touch. When Rodrigo Vertucci resigned as a Councillor for Lombardia, Silvestro was appointed to fill his seat, and won the race for it in the 1860 election as well as the race for President of Lombardia, in which he was unchallenged.

Soon afterward, Silvestro was appointed Ambassador to Prussia by the newly elected President Gabriel Soukup-Valenta but resigned after being unable to fulfill his duties while also serving as President of and Councillor for Lombardia. It was at this time that Silvestro realized the need for the Italian states to unite in the face of growing Italian pan-nationalism abroad. Together with Councillor for San Marco Giovanni Arpaio, he negotiated a merger of the two states to form the State of Cisalpina. After a referendum on the merger and a vote on admitting Cisalpina as a state in Congress,  the State of Cisalpina officially came into existence on October 1st, 1862 and Silvestro became the interim president of the new state. In the summer of 1861, Silvestro proposed a bill calling for a Referendum on Federal Monarchies which would finally settle the issue of monarchies within the Federation. In the face of fierce opposition from the right and with the help of Minister of the Interior Aurel Sykora, the bill barely passed both houses of Congress on August 30th, 1861. Nearly one year later, the controversial referendum was held to much violence between monarchists and republicans. In its aftermath, Silvestro once again worked with Minister Sykora to fight for the upholding of the referendum's results. Alas, their efforts failed and Congress narily voted against upholding the referendum. During the uprising of the Danubian Revolutionary Brigades in early 1863, Silvestro refused to support Minister Sykora in once again attempting to uphold the results of the referendum and instead supported negotiations between President Valenta and the DRB.

During the election of 1864, Silvestro ran for election as President of Cisalpina against Pier Paolo Arpaio while also acting as Imre Than's running mate in the concurrent federal presidential election. He defeated Pier Arpaio and was elected for a full term as President of Cisalpina. His first term saw the peaceful integration of Lombardia and San Marco and the passage of the Italian Language Act, which aimed to create a single Italian language which would take elements of both Lombard and Venetian. During the election of 1868, Silvestro was re-elected as President of Cisalpina, having run unopposed. With the start of his second term, he rallied the federal government to allow Cisalpina to oversee a referendum in Trieste to determine its future. However, the outbreak of the Wallachian War prevented this from happening, as Silvestro went back to Milan to oversee the state militia and lead the state through the war. This would prove to be an ill-fated decision, as he was captured by the French Army during the French occupation of Lombardia. Silvestro was beheaded on February 22nd, 1869, after a show trial which found him guilty of organizing armed resistance and of treason against the French state.

Positions Held[]

1848 -1854 - Member of Lombard Parliament

1854 - 1862 - President of Lombardia

1860 - 1862 - Councillor for Lombardia

1860 - Ambassador to Prussia

1862 - 1869 - President of Cisalpina

1862 - 1869 - Councillor for Cisalpina

1863 - 1869 - Deputy Leader of the Federal Democratic Party

Advertisement