Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1): Piedmont and the Two Sicilies Contributor(s): Esposito, Gabriele (Author), Rava, Giuseppe (Illustrator) |
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ISBN: 1472819497 ISBN-13: 9781472819499 Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) OUR PRICE: $18.00 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Military - Wars & Conflicts (other) - History | Europe - Italy - History | Modern - 19th Century |
Series: Men-At-Arms (Osprey) |
Physical Information: 0.2" H x 7.1" W x 9.6" (0.35 lbs) 48 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - Italy |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In the 1840s, post-Napoleonic Italy was 'a geographical expression'--not a country, but a patchwork of states. The north (Savoy/Piedmont, and Venice ) was ruled by Austria-Hungary, and most of the minor central states were more or less clients of Austria. From Naples, a Spanish-descended Bourbon monarchy ruled the south--'the Two Sicilies.' The European 'Year of Revolutions', 1848, saw popular uprisings against the regimes all over the peninsula. These were eventually crushed (First War of Independence, 1848-49); but they left King Victor Emmanuel of Savoy/Piedmont--and his able minister Cavour--determined to liberate and unify the country, while royal authority in the Two Sicilies was left deeply unpopular. Savoy/Piedmont endeavored to strengthen the relationship with France and Britain, by sending troops to fight alongside them in the Crimean War, 1854-56 and, as a result, it was actively supported by a French army in the Second War of Independence (1859), when the battles of Magenta and Solferino freed most of the north from Austrian rule. In the south, Garibaldi's 'Redshirts' led a successful rising against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1860). Eventually the south voted to join the north in a unified kingdom (February 1861); nevertheless, northern troops had to enforce this by a ruthless occupation during the 1860s--a little-known campaign. |