Ever since Pius IX revived the idea of Italy, the Liberals in the Kingdom of Sardinia had been enjoying good times.
The subsequent uprising in Sicily gave them an even smoother ride, while the Papal States' holy war and the Kingdom of Sardinia's decision to send troops pushed them to the peak of their fortunes.
These "Carbonari remnants" began to imagine that perhaps Carlo Alberto and Pius IX would accept their constitution.
Carlo Alberto did indeed appoint a group of Liberal officials, and even pardoned the Carbonari who had once opposed him.
The king's series of "wise" actions convinced them that the day they hoped for was not far off.
The Liberals and the domestic bourgeoisie began to return the favor, praising Carlo Alberto's good name in newspapers and public gatherings.
But the king had always had only one thing on his mind: how to get rid of the troublesome people in his country.
Although Carlo Alberto had strictly forbidden anyone from revealing the defeat, Eusebio and Ettore de Sonnaz had both, almost at the same time, sought out newspaper offices before the campaign.
Besides the newspapers' professional reporters, the army had also been accompanied by a large number of so-called freelance stringers.
Marshal Radetzky had sent them all back under the pretext that they were noncombatants.
And so rumors spread, with true and false reports flying everywhere. On top of that, Austrian intelligence agents stirred the pot, and the public learned the news even before the official authorities did.
By this point, Carlo Alberto's reputation lay in tatters. He simply declared that the Liberals and Jesuit priests had misled him.
The Kingdom of Sardinia would always be a friend to the Austrian Empire. Then he launched a high-profile crackdown on the country's Liberals.
For a time, the entire Piedmont