s even before the end of the
summer Bakounin had despaired of success. In his opinion, the Spanish
revolution miscarried miserably, "for want," as he afterward wrote, "of
energy and revolutionary spirit in the leaders as well as in the masses.
And all the rest of the world was plunged," he lamented, "into the most
dismal reaction."[22]

France and Spain, having now failed to launch the universal revolution,
Bakounin's hopes turned to Italy, where a series of artificial uprisings
among the almost famished peasants was being stirred up by his
followers. Their greatest activity was during the first two weeks in
August of the next year, 1874, and the three main centers were Bologna,
Romagna, and Apulia. In spite of the fact that the followers of Mazzini
were opposed to the International, an attempt was made in the summer of
1874 by some Italian socialists (Celso Cerretti among others), to effect
a union in order that by common action they might work more
advantageously against the monarchy. Garibaldi, to whom these socialists
appealed, at first disapproved of any reconciliation with Bakounin and
his friends, but later allowed himself to be persuaded. A meeting of the
Mazzinian leaders to discuss the matter convened August 2 at the village
of Ruffi. The older members were opposed to all common action, while the
younger elements desired it. However, before an agreement was reached,
twenty-eight Mazzinians were arrested, among them Saffi, Fortis, and
Valzania. Three days later, the police succeeded in arresting Andrea
Costa, for whom they had been searching for more than a year on account
of his participation in the International congress at Geneva. Although
these events were something of a setback, the revolutionists decided
that they had gone too far to retreat. It was then that Bakounin wrote:
"And now, my friends, there remains nothing more for me but to die.
Farewell!"[23] On the way to Italy he wrote to his friend, Guillaume,
saying good-by to him and announcing, without explanation, that he was
journeying to Italy to take part in a struggle from which he would not
return alive. On his arrival in that country, however, he carefully
concealed himself in a small house where only the revolutionary
"intimates" could see him.

The nights of August 7 and 8 had been chosen for the insurrection which
was to burst forth in Bologna and thence to extend, first to Romagna,
and afterward to the Marches and Tuscany. A group of Bologn