Cavour, Napoleon III and the War with Austria

1857- 1860

Post Crimean War- Plots1858- Orsini Assassination attempt- 10 dead, wounding 150

Orsini repented and urges publically that Napoleon III assist the Italian cause- Orsini’s speech is printed publically by Napoleon III (same in Piedmont)

This leads to a secret meeting between Cavour and Napoleon III at Plombieres (Alps)

No historical documentation of the meeting, except for Cavour’s letters to Victor Emmanuel

Easily one of the most unusual meetings of leaders in modern History

PlombieresAims (for each side)

-Political?

-Territory?

-Economic?

-Aristocratic?

Secret agreements leads to the public treaty- Franco-Piedmontese Treaty Jan. 1859

War with AustriaA pretext must exist for a war- Napoleon would not support ‘revolutionary’ causes (Piedmont mobilizes- for ‘drill’

The National Society- 1858 Cavour meets with Garibaldi- his involvement makes the plan/war more Italian than Piedmontese

*small events often cause turning points in history-

Austria issues an ultimatum to Piedmont- disarm immediately (what’s with Austria and ultimatums?)

War with AustriaPiedmont refuses to comply- Austria declares war on Piedmont April 1859 (well there ya go Cavour…) France declares war on Austria

“Second War of Italian Independence”- the first war of the railway age

Magenta- Inside Lombardy- Austria is defeated by the French army (Piedmont arrived after)- Milan was now in the hands of Piedmont/France

*Solferino- Eastern Lombardy- French/Piedmont force defeats Austria

VillafrancaNapoleon wrote to Franz Joseph after Solferino- Truce- why?

Austria and France agree peace terms- Cavour doesn’t know

July 11 1859- Peace treaty- same day Cavour resigns- however this begins the unification of Italy under Piedmont

Cavour argued with Victor Emmanuel that the war should be continued- luckily for once Emmanuel was the smarter one (Browning source)

Cavour sort of disappears for 6 weeks….but events will bring him back

Immediate Consequences of the War (1859)-Sparked nationalist revolts throughout central Italy

-Duke of Tuscany (Leopold II) flees, as do the leaders of Modena and Parma

-Magenta, Parma, Modena and the Romagna (part of the Papal states) form the state of Emilia

-See terms of Villafranca- territorial? Political?

-There was mass confusion after the war- French people wanted more out of Austria, the British (Lord Palmerston) stressed more support for the Italian cause

Return of Cavour-January 1860 Victor Emmanuel appoints Cavour as PM again (after 7 others!)

-March 1860 a deal (to sort out everything after the war with Austria) with Napoleon III is reached:- Treaty of Turin

-Piedmont gains Tuscany and the state of Emilia- France gets Nice (uhoh…) and Savoy

-*Plebiscites were held in those areas to allow the people to vote on the provisions in the treaty

-The Pope excommunicated all involved- Cavour, Victor Emmanuel and many more

PlebiscitesTuscany- 386, 445 voted for annexation 14, 925 against

Emilia- 427, 512 for annexation 756 against

Savoy- 130, 583 for unity with France 235 against

Nice- 24, 448 for unity 160 against

hmm….

The Kingdom of Italy?Events in the south of Italy will play the final act in the story of Italian History

Here we see the final major player- Garibaldi

Mazzini- the heart

Cavour- the brain

Garibaldi- the sword