Third Italian War of Independence

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Third Italian War of Independence
date June 20, 1866 to August 12, 1866
place Northern Italy , Adriatic Sea
output Italian diplomatic victory
consequences Austrian loss of Veneto
Peace treaty Peace of Vienna
Parties to the conflict

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Italy

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Austria

Commander

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Victor Emanuel II Alfonso La Marmora Giuseppe Garibaldi Giacomo Medici Carlo Pellion di Persano
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)

Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Franz Joseph I. Archduke Albrecht Wilhelm von Tegetthoff Franz von Kuhn
Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria
Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria
Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria

Troop strength
Italians: about 220,000 Austrians: at least about 130,000
Liechtensteiners : 80
losses

1633 dead, 5085 prisoners

1,392 dead, 3,173 prisoners

Battles of the Third Italian War of Independence (1866)
Andrea Appiani : Venezia che spera . Allegory of Venice (Leo), hoping for union with Italia.

The Third Italian War of Independence ( Italian Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana ) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Austria . It took place in 1866 at the same time as the Austro-Prussian War and ended with the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia being handed over to France after the end of the war and then coming to Italy through a plebiscite. The handing over of the wealthy and populous region of Veneto to Italy was a significant step in Italian unification .

Military situation

When the war broke out, the following factors hampered the unity of the Italian military:

  • The problematic merging of the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , the two largest parts of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1861 . Since the two states had previously fought, there were uncertainties in the allocation of the chain of command. In addition, the brigands in Sicily had taken a significant boost after the creation of the Kingdom of Italy.
  • An even stronger rivalry existed between the two navies, which were merged in 1861 to form the Regia Marina ("Royal Navy").

course

On April 8, 1866, the Italian government under the leadership of General La Marmora in Berlin concluded a military alliance with Prussia under Otto von Bismarck . With the mediation of France , which Vienna was difficult to move to neutrality , Italy joined the Prussian declaration of war on Austria. Both Prussia and Italy saw Austria as an obstacle on the way to their respective national unification.

Italy attacked in three areas: from Lombardy the Austrian fortress quadrangle Mantua - Peschiera del Garda - Verona - Legnago ; from Emilia-Romagna from Veneto; in the area of ​​the Alps the Trentino . The military course turned out to be extremely negative from the start: the battle of Custozza on June 24th and the naval battle of Lissa on July 20th ended with Italian defeats. Success was achieved in Trentino with Garibaldi's victory in the Battle of Bezzecca on July 21 and the Medici's invasion of the Valsugana .

After the Prussian victory in the Battle of Königgrätz , Austria finally had to capitulate. On August 12, 1866 in the Friuli Cormòns the truce between Austria and Italy signed.

Consequences of war

In the Peace of Prague of August 23, 1866, Berlin and Vienna provided for the transition of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto to Italy. After Napoleon III. had acted as a mediator between Prussia and Austria, Veneto and the fortress square had temporarily reached France. The surrender of Veneto to Italy was confirmed in the Peace of Vienna on October 3, 1866 between Italy and Austria, whereas Trentino and Istria remained under the Habsburg Monarchy. In order to avoid humiliation of the Italian population, who did not want to accept Veneto as a gift from France, a plebiscite was held on October 21 and 22, 1866 , in which the vast majority of those questioned were in favor of joining Italy. In September 1866 there was also the “seven and a half days revolt” (Rivolta del sette e mezzo) in the Sicilian city of Palermo . The Iron Crown of Lombardy was given to the King of Italy.

The unification of Italy came to an essential, albeit unfinished, conclusion with the capture of Rome (storming of Porta Pia ) on September 20, 1870.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berthold Seewald: Austria's last great triumph over Italy , May 25, 2020. Accessed on June 13, 2020. On welt.de.
  2. ^ Lie: zeit-Redaktion: Special exhibition: "1866: Liechtenstein at war - 150 years ago" . May 11, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ La III guerra d'indipendenza (ital.)
  4. ↑ A Monograph on Plebiscites: With a Collection of Official Documants

literature

  • Denis Mack Smith: Modern Italy. A political history. New Haven / London 1997.
  • Konrad Sturmhoefel : Illustrated history of the latest time. Volumes IX and X. Otto-Spamer-Verlag, Leipzig 1897.