wars of independence that had unified Italy was ordered to Milan. Infantry, cavalry and artillery were brought into the city, as well as railway troops because railway workers had gone on strike as well. The troops were mainly conscripts from rural and alpine areas, considered to be more reliable in a time of civil unrest than those from urban districts. With reserves, Bava Beccaris had 45,000 men at his disposal. On 7 May, 60,000 people went on strike, moving from the working-class neighborhoods in the outskirts of the city towards the city center of Milan. Bava Beccaris deployed his forces in the Piazza del Duomo, Milan's central square, determined to stop the strikers and force them back to the city outskirts and regain control over the central railway station. The troops met with fierce resistance while trying to remove the barricades that had been erected, and were bombarded with stones and tiles from the rooftops. Some of the demonstrators had acquired rifles from the workshops of arms manufacturers. General Bava Beccaris ordered his troops to fire on demonstrators and used the artillery as well. The streets were cleared. On 9 May 1898 the troops used artillery to breach the walls of a monastery outside Porta Monforte, but they found inside only a group of beggars who were there to receive assistance from the friars. According to the government, 80 demonstrators and other civilians were killed, as well as two soldiers. A total of 450 persons were wounded. The opposition claimed 400 dead and more than 2,000 injured people. According to The New York Times 300 people were killed and 1,000 wounded. Backlash Military tribunals were set up, over some of which Bava Beccaris personally presided, that sentenced about 1,500 people to prison. The conduct of the authorities was deemed by analysts to be "a travesty of justice and a mockery of legal procedure." Newspapers considered to be in opposition to the government were suppressed, and several Catholic and Socialist organizations were dissolved. Filippo Turati, one of the founders of the Socialist Party of Italy (PSI) in 1892, was arrested, accused of inspiring the riots, and given a 12-year prison sentence. In fact, he had been trying to calm down the situation with a pamphlet calling on the demonstrators to be "calm and patient" and arguing that the "days for street fighting are past." He was freed a year later, in