Ricasoli II Cabinet

The Ricasoli II Cabinet held office from 20 June 1866 until 10 April 1867, a total of 294 days, or 9 months and 21 days.[1] It was also known as the Government of National Reconciliation, because it led Italy during the Third War of Independence.

Ricasoli II Cabinet
8th Cabinet of Italy
Date formed	20 June 1866
Date dissolved	10 April 1867
People and organisations
Head of state	Victor Emmanuel II
Head of government	Bettino Ricasoli
Total no. of members	9
Member party	Historical Right Historical Left
History
Predecessor	La Marmora III Cabinet
Successor	Rattazzi II Cabinet

History

As Prime Minister, Ricasoli refused Napoleon III's offer to cede Venetia to Italy, on condition that Italy should abandon the Prussian alliance, and also refused the Prussian decoration of the Black Eagle because La Marmora, author of the alliance, was not to receive it.[2]

Upon the departure of the French troops from Rome at the end of 1866 he again attempted to conciliate the Vatican with a convention, in virtue of which Italy would have restored to the Church the property of the suppressed religious orders in return for the gradual payment of 24,000,000. In order to mollify the Vatican he conceded the exequatur to forty-five bishops inimical to the Italian régime. The Vatican accepted his proposal, but the Italian Chamber proved refractory, and, though dissolved by Ricasoli, returned more hostile than before. Without waiting for a vote, Ricasoli resigned office and thenceforward practically disappeared from political life.[2]

Government parties

The government was composed by the following parties:

Party		Ideology	Leader
	Historical Right	Conservatism	Bettino Ricasoli
	Historical Left	Liberalism	Urbano Rattazzi

Composition

Office	Name	Party		Term
Prime Minister	Bettino Ricasoli		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
Minister of the Interior	Bettino Ricasoli		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Bettino Ricasoli		Historical Right	(1866–1866)
	Emilio Visconti Venosta		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
Minister of Grace and Justice	Francesco Borgatti		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
	Bettino Ricasoli		Historical Right	(1867–1867)
	Filippo Cordova		Historical Left	(1867–1867)
Minister of Finance	Antonio Scialoja		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
	Agostino Depretis		Historical Left	(1867–1867)
Minister of War	Ignazio De Genova		Military	(1866–1866)
	Efisio Cugia		Military	(1866–1867)
Minister of the Navy	Agostino Depretis		Historical Left	(1866–1867)
	Giuseppe Biancheri		Historical Right	(1867–1867)
Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce	Filippo Cordova		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
Minister of Public Works	Stefano Jacini		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
	Giuseppe Devincenzi		Historical Right	(1867–1867)
Minister of Public Education	Domenico Berti		Historical Right	(1866–1867)
	Cesare Correnti		Historical Right	(1867–1867)

References

1. "II Governo Ricasoli / Governi / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico". storia.camera.it. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Steed, Henry Wickham (1911). "Ricasoli, Bettino, Baron". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 287–288. Endnotes:
   • Tabarrini and Gotti, Lettere e documenti del barone Bettino Ricasoli, 10 vols. (Florence, 1886–1894)
   • Passerini, Genealogia e storia della famiglia Ricasoli (ibid. 1861)
   • Gotti, Vita del barone Bettino Ricasoli (ibid. 1894).