The Second Italian War of Independence was fought in 1859 by the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, led by Prime Minister Cavour, and its ally France under Napoleon III against the Austrian Empire in northern Italy. The alliance rested on a secret agreement made at Plombières the year before. Austria declared war after an ultimatum, and French-Sardinian forces won hard-fought battles at Magenta and Solferino, whose heavy casualties moved the Swiss witness Henry Dunant to propose what became the Red Cross. Napoleon III then made a separate armistice at Villafranca, alarmed by the losses and by Prussian military moves. Sardinia received Lombardy but not Venetia, and central Italian states soon voted to join it, paving the way for the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Before and after
- 1859John Tyndall measures how gases trap heat
- 27 January 1859Birth of Wilhelm II
- 19 February 1859Birth of Svante August Arrhenius
- 8 April 1859Birth of Edmund Husserl
- from 27 April 1859 to 11 July 1859Second Italian War of Independence
- 6 May 1859Death of Alexander von Humboldt
- 22 May 1859Birth of Arthur Conan Doyle
- 24 June 1859The Battle of Solferino inspires the Red Cross
- 4 August 1859Birth of Knut Hamsun
More in Wars, politics & history
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.