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Austro-Sardinian War

Second Italian War of Independence
Part of the wars of Italian Unification
Napoléon III à la bataille de Solférino..jpg
Napoleon III at the Battle of Solferino, by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier Oil on canvas, 1863
Date 29 April 1859 – 11 July 1859
Location Lombardy-Venetia
Result Allied victory
Armistice of Villafranca (12 July 1859)
Territorial
changes
Sardinia annexed Lombardy from Austria
France gains Savoy and Nice from Sardinia
Belligerents
Second French Empire France
Kingdom of Sardinia Kingdom of Sardinia
Supported by:
Italy United Provinces of Central Italy
Austrian Empire Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
France Napoleon III
Kingdom of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II
Kingdom of Sardinia Giuseppe Garibaldi
Austrian Empire Franz Josef I
Austrian Empire Ferenc Gyulay
Strength
French:
170,000 infantry
2,000 cavalry
312 guns
Sardinian:
70,000 infantry
4,000 cavalry
90 guns
Austrian:
220,000 infantry
22,000 cavalry
824 guns

The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 (French: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859 and played a crucial part in the process of Italian unification.

The Piedmontese, following their defeat by Austria in the First Italian War of Independence, recognised their need for allies. This led Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, to attempt to establish relations with other European powers, partially through Piedmont's participation in the Crimean War. In the peace conference at Paris following the Crimean War, Cavour attempted to bring attention to efforts for Italian unification. He found Britain and France to be sympathetic, but entirely unwilling to go against Austrian wishes, as any movement towards Italian independence would necessarily threaten Austria's territory Lombardy–Venetia. Private talks between Napoleon III and Cavour after the conference identified Napoleon as the most likely, albeit still uncommitted, candidate for aiding Italy.

On 14 January 1858, Felice Orsini, an Italian, led an attempt on Napoleon III's life. This assassination attempt brought widespread sympathy for the Italian unification effort, and had a profound effect on Napoleon himself, who now was determined to help Piedmont against Austria in order to defuse the wider revolutionary activities that the governments inside Italy might allow to happen in the future. After a covert meeting at Plombières, Napoleon III and Cavour signed a secret treaty of alliance against Austria: France would help Sardinia-Piedmont to fight against Austria if attacked, and Sardinia-Piedmont would then give Nice and Savoy to France in return. This secret alliance served both countries: it helped with the Sardinian (Piedmontese) plan of unification of the Italian peninsula under the House of Savoy, and weakened Austria, a fiery adversary of Napoleon III's French Empire.


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