Peace of Vienna (1866)
The Peace of Vienna was concluded on October 3, 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Italian Kingdom . The peace treaty ended the Third Italian War of Independence .
On June 20, 1866, Italy, in accordance with the Prussian-Italian alliance of April 8, declared war on Austria's side on Prussia's side . Austria thus had to wage a two-front war. After the peace treaties in Nikolsburg and Prague between Prussia and Austria, the Austrian General Möring and the Italian General Revel negotiated in Venice to end the war in northern Italy .
Since Bismarck did not demand any Austrian territorial cession to Prussia, the main point was the cession of Veneto to Italy, which was thus largely able to complete its state unification. There were great difficulties with the military part of the contract, as the surrender of the fortresses and the replacement of the material gave rise to disputes. The country was already under Italian rule and had already been ceded, but the fortresses still remained in the hands of the Austrians. So it came to Verona and Chioggia to street battles against the Austrian troops. At the request of the French Emperor Napoléon III. the population voted on whether they wanted to belong to Italy and 671,757 votes were in favor, 69 against, 366 votes were invalid. Austria acknowledged then all the fortresses and gave the Iron Crown of Lombardy back to 1859 after Vienna had been taken.
The final treaty was then signed in Vienna on October 3, 1866, and ratified on October 12, 1866.
Reference
- Peace treaty between His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty and His Majesty the King of Italy , RGBl 116/1866 ( digitized via Austrian National Library)