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1849- August 24th
Venice falls to Austrian forces that have crushed the rebellion in Venetia and other northern Italian states. The First Italian War of Independence was fought in 1848 and 1849 between the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and the Austrian Empire. The war saw major battles at Custoza and Novara in which the Austrians under Joseph Radetzky attained victory. -
1852- July 11
Napoleon III meets with Franz Joseph and backs out of the war. Among other land negotiations, Lombardy will be transferred to Sardinia. During the first years of the Empire, Napoleon's government imposed censorship and harsh repressive measures against his opponents. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until 1859. Thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. -
1852- November 10
Treaty of Zurich ends conflict in northern Italy for a time; Sardinia occupies some central Italian states.The dates and circumstances of the end of Byzantine rule in Sardinia are not known. Direct central control was maintained at least through c. 650, after which local legates were empowered in the face of the rebellion of Gregory the Patrician, Exarch of Africa and the first invasion of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. -
1860- February 18th
Victor Emmanuel II assumes title of King of Italy with an Italian parliament under him. Victor Emmanuel II (Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso, when he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878. The Italians gave him the epithet Father of the Fatherland. -
1860- March 20
Sardinia annexes central Italian states by giving Nice and Savoy to the French, now only four states remain in Italy: Austrians in Venetia, the Papal States, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies lasted from 1815 until 1860, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia to form the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. -
1860- May 14th
After many victories, Garibaldi names himself dictator of Sicily.The Dictatorship of Garibaldi (or Dictatorial Government of Sicily) was the provisional executive that Giuseppe Garibaldi appointed to govern the territory of Sicily during the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860. It governed in opposition to the Bourbons of Naples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb_kZVK7gzY -
1861- June 6th
Official Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. Subsequently, the Parliament declared the creation of the Kingdom of Italy on February 18, 1861 (officially proclaiming it on March 17, 1861) composed of both Northern Italy and Southern Italy -
1862- August 28th
Garibaldi meets government troops at Aspromonte, and is honorably imprisoned, with his army being disbanded, however Garibaldi is soon released. The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the province of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). The literal translation of the name means "rough mountain".
