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Prelude to the Sulphur War of 1840: The Neapolitan Perspective

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1. John Henry Temple, the Viscount Palmerston and British foreign secretary, to Sir William Temple, British envoy to Naples, 27 October 1837, Papers Relative to the Sulphur Monopoly in Sicily (London 1840), no. 2, 2, Archivio di Stato di NapolilArchivio Borbone, ASN/AB, f. 1013. Palmerston to Guglielmo Ludolf, Neapolitan ambassador to London, 12 October 1838, ibid., no. 26, 47.
2. Until 1815, the British spent about L12,000,000 per year in Sicily. Denis Mack Smith, Modern Sicily after 1713 (New York 1968), 255.
3. For a detailed account of the Treaty of 1816 and its negative impact on the Neapolitan economy, see Ernesto Pontieri, 'Sul Trattato di Commercio Anglo- Napolitano del 1845', Il Riformismo Borbonico nella Sicilia del Sette e dell' Otto cento (Naples 1965), 281-97.
4. Ibid., 288.
5. His reforms extended the 10 per cent tariff reduction to Neapolitan ships, reduced custom duties on exports and increased them on imports. Ibid., 293.
6. By 1740, the Cornelius Debb method facilitated the production of sulphuric acid used for the manufacture of bleach, brass, textiles and tin. In 1797, the first plant for the production of artificial soda opened in Marseilles.
7. By the end of 1838, there were approximately 1,000,000 cantars of sulphur in reserve. One cantar equalled 79.342 kilograms. Vincenzo Giura, La Questione degli zolfi siciliani (Geneva 1973), 21. Statistics for the production, price and export of sulphur are in 'Notizie statistiche sullo stato delle solfare di Sicilia al gennaio 1838', Archivio di Stato di NapolilMinistero Agricultura, Industria e Com ercio, ASN/MAIC f. 173.
8. 'Exposé sur la question des souffres' (Paris 1840), ASN/AB, f. 1017, 3; and Ludovico Bianchini, Storia economico-civile di Sicilia (Palermo 1841), 360.
9. John Wood, British merchant, to Antonio Franco, Minister of Sicilian Affairs, 30 March 1837, Archivio di Stato di Napoli/Ministero Affari Esteri [ASN/ MAIC] f. 4132; and 'Exposé', 6.
10. 'Primo progetto del Sig. Taix', ASN/MAIC, f. 174.
11. 'Risoluzione del Consiglio di Stato 15 Dicembre 1834', ibid.
12. Among the supporters of the sulphur monopoly was Antonio Lucchesi- Palli, the Prince of Campofranco and the Lieutenant General of Sicily since 1834.
13. 'Parere dei cinque dissidenti', ibid.
14. 'Parere della maggioranza della commissione' and 'Delle zolfatare in Sicilia e de' nuovi provedimenti per la industria e lo spaccio del solfo', ASN/AB, f. 1018, 7.
15. Headquartered in Naples, the Consulta functioned as an advisory unit and included representatives from the departments of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Finance, Interior and Justice. Iole Mazzoleni, Fonti Documentarie e Bibliografiche dal secolo X al secolo XIX (Naples n.d.), 257-8.
16. The notarized agreement and contract are in ASN/AB, f. 1015; and ASN/ MAIC, ff. 173-4.
17. Taix to Ferdinand, 23 November 1837, submitted to the Consulta on 6 December 1837; ASN/MAIC, f. 174.
18. Among the opponents were Antonio Franco, the Secretary of State for Sicilian Affairs, and Antonio Statella, the Prince of Cassaro and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
19. The other two dissenters were Giustino Fortunato, Procurator General and soon to become a member of the cabinet; and Francesco d'Andrea, Minister of Finance.
20. The majority included the following consultants and members of the com mission: Francesco del Carretto, Director of the Police; the Prince of Cassaro; Onorato Gaetani, the Duke of Laurenzana and Lieutenant General of Sicily since 1837; Nicola Parisio, Minister of Justice; and Nicola Santangelo, Minister of the Interior.
21. Pontieri. 329-30.
22. The Sardinians reduced their customs rate by one-third for any flag. The Austrians levied a surtax on Neapolitan tonnage and the Norwegians raised their duties on Neapolitan imports. Ibid., 334.
23. Michele Solimene, Sul Trattato di Reciprocanza tra l'Inghilterra, la Francia, e il Regno delle Due Sicilie (Naples 1840), 63-4, 73-6, and 106-13.
24. During a five-month period, Palermo lost 24,000 residents out of a popu lation of 166,000. Rosario Romeo, ed., Storia della Sicilia (Naples 1977), Volume VIII, 30.
25. Pietro Calà-Ulloa, 'Considerazioni sullo stato politico e economico della Sicilia', Pontieri, 'Ferdinando II di Borbone e la Sicilia: momenti di politica riformatrice', Il Riformismo, 232-42. At that time, Calà-Ulloa was one of the Neapolitan magistrates assigned to a Sicilian post in accordance with the law of exchange.
26. Auguste Tallenay, French chargé in Naples, to Louis Molé, French foreign minister, 17 November 1837, Armando Saitta, ed., Le Relazioni diplomatiche fra la Francia e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, Volume I (Rome 1973), 126.
27. Ferdinando Carlo was born in Palermo on 12 January 1810. He was the eldest son of Francis, the Duke of Calabria and later Francis I (1824-30). Styled the Duke of Noto at birth, and the Duke of Calabria after the accession of his father, he succeeded on 10 November 1830. He died in Caserta on 22 May 1859.
28. Harold Acton, The Last Bourbons of Naples (London 1961), 48.
29. The Sicilians were Antonio Mastropaolo and the Prince of Campofranco.
30. Pontieri, 'Ferdinando II di Borbone e la Sicilia: Momenti di Politica Riform atice', Il Riformismo, 258-62.
31. Ludwig Lebzeltern, Austrian ambassador to Naples, to Clemens von Metter nich, Austrian prime minister, 15 November 1833, Ruggero Moscati, Ferdinando II nei documenti diplomatici austriaci (Naples 1947), 29.
32. 'Le Roi de Naples a ... un mépris affecté pour la diplomatie et les relations diplomatiques auxquelles il affècte de n'attribuer aucune part d'importance et aucune utilité effective'. Joseph d'Haussonville, French chargé in Naples, to Nicho las-Jean Soult, Duke of Dalmatia and French foreign minister, 4 March 1840, Saitta, op. cit., 217.
33. Even a sympathetic observer detected this secretive style of the king who took offence when someone guessed his thoughts ('s'offendeva d'essere indovin ato'). Calà-Ulloa, Giuseppe de'Tiberiis, ed., Il Regno di Ferdinando II (Naples 1977), 63. French diplomats were even more explicit, commenting that Ferdinand derived pleasure from leaving his ministers in the dark ('Prend plaisir à laisser même ses ministres dans l'ignorance.'). Tallenay to Molé, 25 July 1837, ibid., 90.
34. Ferdinand disliked even the appearance of sharing authority. Tallenay to Molé, 13 April 1837, ibid., 77. The same source commented that the king was little disposed to listening to the advice of good men, seeing his advisers as persons who were ready to deny him power ('Sa méfiance excessive, son mépris pour les hommes le porte à ne voir dans ses conseilles que des gens prêts à lui disputer son pouvoir.'). Tallenay to Molé, 25 August 1837, ibid., 106.
35. 'The negotiations have been carried out without the concurrence of Prince Cassaro, who has received no official information on the subject.' Sir William Temple, British envoy to the Court of Naples, to Palmerston, 22 June 1838, Papers, no. 10, 16.
36. Temple to Palmerston, 16 April 1839, ibid., no. 34, 56.
37. Haussonville to Adolphe Thiers, French foreign minister, 14 April 1840, Saitta, op. cit., 250-2. French diplomats refer to intrigues of private interests which supported Taix-Aycard. Molé to Tallenay, 10 April 1837, 74. Support for Taix came from international quarters and had political undertones. Taix had the backing of the Bank of Laffitte and the Duchess of Berry who was the half sister of Ferdinand and the mother of the legitimist claimant to the French Crown. British sources may have had ulterior motives for discrediting Taix as they linked him to conservative interests. Calà-Ulloa calls Taix 'a political agent of the Duchess of Berry'. Giura, op.cit., 36, footnote 3. In a letter to Ferdinand, Taix referred to the Duchess of Berry as 'mon auguste protectrice'. 29 July 1839, ASN/AB, f. 820.
38. Luigi Crosa di Vergagni to Clemente Solaro della Margherita, Sardinian foreign minister, 16 April 1840, Nicomede Bianchi, Storia documentata della dip lomazia europea in Italia, Volume III (Turin 1867), 464.
39. The complete texts of Article IV and Article V are in 'Analysis of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between His Britannic Majesty and the King of the Two Sicilies, Signed in London, September 25, 1816', ASN/MAE, F. 4130. The Italian version of the Santangelo to Ludolf letter is dated 8 June 1838. Its translation is dated 8 July 1838; Papers, enclosure 1 in no. 13, John Kennedy, British chargé in Naples, to Palmerston, 9 July 1838, 18-31.
40. 'Differenze tra il Governo Inglese e quello di Napoli', ASN/MAE, f. 4130; and Ludolf to Palmerston, 17 September 1838, Papers, no. 25, 40-3.
41. 'Sulphur Trade in Sicily', ASN/MAE, f. 1430.
42. Ibid.
43. Alexander P. Fachiri, 'Expropriation and International Law', British Year book of International Law, Volume VI (1925), 159-71. Fachiri was a barrister at the Inner Temple and wrote in response to the expropriation dilemma at the end of the First World War.
44. Cassaro to Kennedy, 27 August 1838, enclosure in no. 24, Kennedy to Palmerston, 1 September 1838, Papers, 39.
45. Palmerston to Ludolf, 12 October 1838, ibid., no. 26, 46-8.
46. A copy of this reply which is not dated is in ASN/AB, f. 1013. Ludolf received the order to transmit these comments verbally. Palmerston's absence from London and Ludolf's illness and subsequent death prevented delivery. The hope of renegotiating the treaty may have persuaded Cassaro to drop this matter since he felt that it would have exasperated the Foreign Office 'to the limit'. 'Esposizione del Principe di Cassaro a Sua Maestá il Re di Napoli Relativa alla Questione delle Zolfatare di Sicilia' (15 January 1840), ASN/AB, f. 1016; ASN/ MAE, f. 4125; and Bianchi, 457.
47. Kennedy to Palmerston, 18 March 1839, Papers, no. 33, 56. By May, Taix had not paid half of what he owed and received permission to pay only one-third of the balance. Wood to Kennedy, 18 May 1839, ibid., enclosure in no. 36, Kennedy to Palmerston, 27 May 1839, 58.
48. '... come per incantesimo sopire a un tratto ogni rancore, troncare le contestazioni e soddisfare l'Inghilterra.' 'Esposizone', Bianchi, 458.
49. Kennedy to Palmerston, 27 May 1839, Papers, no. 36, 57; and Kennedy to Palmerston, 29 August 1839, ibid., no. 37, 59.
50. Kennedy to Palmerston, 5 November 1839, ibid., no. 42, 63.
51. Palmerston to Temple, 28 January 1840, Broadlands Papers, BD/SI/10.
52. The note from Cassaro to Temple began with the emphatic 'Sir, the sulphur business is solved!' and bore the annotation 'Written by verbal order of the King.' ASN/AB, f. 1016; and ASN/MAE, f. 4130.
53. MacGregor to Palmerston, 13 November 1839, Papers, no. 44, 63-4.
54. Temple to Cassaro, 15 March 1840, ASN/AB, f. 1016; and Papers, enclosure in no. 60, Temple to Palmerston, 17 March 1840.
55. 'Rispettoso voto del Principe di Cassaro sull'affare dei zolfi di Sicilia, trattato nel Consiglio ordinario di Stato del 16 marzo', ASN/MAE, f. 4125; ASN/AB, f. 1016; Bianchi, 463-72; and Moscati, 40-1.
56. His resignation was accepted on 23 March and was published in the Gazzetta on 24 March. Haussonville to Thiers, 24 March 1840, Saitta, op.cit., 229.
57. Even the French chargé felt that Ferdinand had reached the point of no return on 16 March. Haussonville to Dalmatia, 19 March 1840, ibid., 227.
58. 'Nota protestativa consegnata al Principe di Castelcicala ai 29 Marzo 1840', ASN/AB, f. 1013.
59. Temple to Palmerston, 29 March 1840, Papers, no. 66, 84.
60. Luigi di Regina, Neapolitan chargé in London, to Scilla, 7 April 1840, ASN/ MAE, f. 4130; and Giura, 72.
61. Calà-Ulloa, 90.
62. There was a 'steady and then (after 1840) spectacular growth of an integrated global economy, which drew ever more regions into a transoceanic and transconti nental trading and financial network centred upon Western Europe, and in particu lar upon Great Britain.' Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (New York 1989), 143.
63. This figure assumes that the war began on 10 April 1840, when Admiral Robert Stopford ordered his fleet to commence hostile operations; and ended on 23 July when the British government issued a recall to the fleet.
64. Metternich to Felix von Schwartzenberg, Austrian ambassador to Naples, 10 March 1844; Moscati, 56.

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