User:MaddieauLI/Second War Of Italian Independance

Second War Of Italian Independence

The second war of Italian independence, fought by France and Piedmont against Austria, broke out in 1859. It was led by Napoleon III on the French side and Franz Joseph on the Austrian side. Though it only lasted seven weeks, it was a particularly brutal war which took a lot out of the three countries. It was however an important step towards the Italian unification.

Origins

Following their defeat in the First Italian War of Independence, the Kingdom of Piedmont realised that it could not defeat the Austrians without allies. 1855 saw the Piedmontese join the Crimean War alongside Britain and France. By participating in the victory, although its contribution was marginal, Piedmont earned its place alongside the great European powers at the peace conference in Paris (1856). In Paris, Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour, Piedmontese Prime Minister, befriended Louis Napoleon III, Emperor of France, who was sympathetic towards the Italian cause but reluctant to go against Austrian wishes.

Curiously, it was an attempt at his life by Felice Orsini in 1858 which changed Napoleon’s mind, and on 21 July 1858, the Conte di Cavour was invited to a secret meeting with the Emperor. This encounter concluded the Pact of Plombières, which stated that should the Austrians attack Piedmont, France would retaliate on the Piedmontese side and in the case of their victory, France would receive Nice and Savoy.

Thus Piedmont mobilised its army near the Austrian border, provoking the Austrian Emperor, Franz Josef, into conflict (29 April 1859), hence pulling France into the war.

Main Personalities

Cavour played an important part in the second Italian war of unification. After his defeat against Austria, he knew he couldn’t win unless he found European allies. He brought Piedmont into the Crimean to gain the friendship of Britain and France and to get a seat at the peace conference in Paris. During the Plombiere meeting, he asked France and Britain to fight with him for the Italian unification but even though they didn’t disagree, they wouldn’t start the war. Cavour, after several private meetings with Napoleon III, (another main personality of the second Italian war on unification), knew he was most likely to help Italy. In January 1858, Felice Orsini, led an attempt to assassinate Napoleon because he felt Napoleon was inactive and betraying towards the Italian cause. Napoleon, thinking this attack was a sign for help, was now determined to help Piedmont and he signed a secret treaty of alliance against Austria.

Orsini’s attack was very important, if he hadn’t attempted to assassinate Napoleon, the latter would have never accepted the alliance against Austria.

Austria started a war with Sardinia in April 1859 drawing France into the conflict. This war involved Napoleon III of France and Camillio Benso, conte di Cavour, under king Victor Emmanuel II form the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia against Count Ferencz Gyulai and Emperor Franz Josef I from the Austrian Empire.

Main Events

Two major battles took place during the war: the Battle of Magenta and the Battle of Solferino.

The Battle of Magenta against the Austrians happened on the 4th of June, in Lombardy. Although the French were well armed compared to the Austrians, they were badly organised and had a shortage of provisions. The soldiers therefore had to wait a long time before the fighting could actually begin. This resulted in a narrow French victory.

The Battle of Solferino took place on the 24th of June, near Mantua, and once again ended with a French victory. The loss was horrendous: there were about 12,000 dead and 3000 wounded or missing.

Deeply affected by the two cruel and harsh battles, Napoleon decided to make an unexpected truce with Austria. Indeed, he felt that he would not win another battle, the Austrians having retreated into a group of fortresses which would be difficult to attack. He therefore met Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, at Villafranca without consulting Piedmont, to write an armistice. This badly upset Cavour, who later on resigned. In the end, Piedmont received Lombardy, and Venetia stayed in Franz Joseph’s hands, which meant Austria still had quite a lot of influence in Italy.

Consequences

France's 17 000 casualties at the battle of Solferino on 24th July 1859 soon decided Napoleon III's next move; on 11th July he concluded an armistice with Austria at Villafrance without including Piedmont's opinion on this. Cavour tried to convince King Victor Emmanuel to continue fighting the battle but he disagreed, thinking it too risky. This led to Cavour's resignation.

Lombardy, which France had fought for and won, was passed onto Piedmont thus expanding its territory. During the war, the rulers of Tuscany, Modena and Parma were obliged to leave; but when the war ended, never actually returned. The provisional governments in these states all voted for a fusion with Piedmont, therefore almost doubling its size.