Sa die de sa Sardigna, today 28 April is the Sardinian People's Day established by the Regional Council of the island in 1993. The anniversary recalls the revolt of the Sardinian Vespers of 28 April 1794 which forces the viceroy Vincenzo Balbiano and the Savoy officials to flee from Cagliari. The Sardinian people ask the Piedmontese for greater involvement in civil and military employment together with greater autonomy with respect to the decisions of the local ruling class. But the Piedmontese government does not accept the requests of the Sardinians who rebel against the rulers of the Royal House of Savoy.
The Sardinian People's Day
This year, after the pandemic crisis, the island is once again celebrating the Sardinian people's day with great honor with a whole series of events: from historical re-enactments to religious and institutional celebrations. The President of the Region Christian Solinas greets this important day. “Every 28th April we proudly recall history to keep alive the memory of the great and glorious Sardinian people. Sa Die is a day of freedom and redemption that after two years of pandemic we can finally return to celebrate all together. The hope is that it will be an opportunity to restart and share a moment of reflection on the past and a stimulus for the future. This, so that Sardinia returns to being the land of the Sardinians and none of them should be forced to leave it for any reason ".
Sa die de sa sardigna
The rebellion movement begins in the 1793s and then pervades the whole island in the following years. Discontent is spreading because Sardinia has given its contribution by opposing revolutionary France against the European states and therefore against Piedmont. In XNUMX a French fleet, in fact, tried to take over the island, disembarking in Carloforte and subsequently insisting also in Cagliari. The Sardinians resist by all means, in defense of their land and of the Piedmontese ruling also on the island. The strenuous resistance to the French stirred the spirits and feeds many hopes for new concessions from the Piedmontese government, given the loyalty shown to the Savoyard royal house. But the concessions don't come.
The Sardinians oppose Napoleon
A bitter disappointment despite the Sardinians in 1793 opposing the advance of Napoleon Bonaparte which attacks Sardinia on two fronts: the Cagliari and the archipelago de La Maddalena. The Sardinians thwarted the French conquest plan and in exchange asked for access to public office, to create a Council of State in Cagliari and to set up a ministry for Sardinian affairs in Turin. The decided 'no' of the Savoy rulers unleashes the revolution that remains etched in the history of the island as the revolt of the Sardinian Vespers.
