Simplify the following text for a Grade 10 native English-speaking person.
Original: However , thanks to the contact he had had with Giuseppe Fanelli , he passed on to the other side of the barricade , siding with Bakunin and his Italian followers .
Simplified: And thanks to the friendship with Giuseppe Fanelli , he passed on to the other side of the barricade , with Bakunin and his Italian followers .