Editing Unification of Italy (section)

===Second Italian Independence War of 1859 and aftermath===
{{Main|Second Italian War of Independence}}
The Second War of Italian Independence began in April 1859 when the Sardinian Prime Minister [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour|Count Cavour]] found an ally in [[Napoleon III]]. Napoleon III signed a secret alliance and Cavour provoked Austria with military maneuvers and eventually led to the war in April 1859. Cavour called for volunteers to enlist in the Italian liberation. The Austrians planned to use their army to beat the Sardinians before the French could come to their aid. Austria had an army of 140,000 men, while the Sardinians had a mere 70,000 men by comparison. However, the Austrians' numerical strength was outweighed by an ineffectual leadership appointed by the Emperor on the basis of noble lineage, rather than military competency. Their army was slow to enter Piedmont, taking almost ten days to travel the {{convert|80|km}} to [[Turin]]. By this time, the French had reinforced the Sardinians, so the Austrians retreated.

[[File:San Fermo 1859 Gaildrau.jpg|thumb|left|[[Battle of San Fermo]]]]
The Austrians were defeated at the [[Battle of Magenta]] on 4 June and pushed back to [[Lombardy]]. Napoleon III's plans worked and at the [[Battle of Solferino]], France and Sardinia defeated Austria and forced negotiations; at the same time, in the northern part of Lombardy, the Italian volunteers known as the [[Hunters of the Alps]], led by [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]], defeated the Austrians at [[Battle of Varese|Varese]] and [[Battle of San Fermo|Como]]. On 12 July, the [[Armistice of Villafranca]] was signed. The settlement, by which Lombardy was annexed to Sardinia, left Austria in control of the Veneto and [[Mantua]]. The final arrangement was ironed out by "back-room" deals. This was because neither France, Austria, nor Sardinia wanted to risk another battle and could not handle further fighting. All of the sides were eventually unhappy with the outcome of the Second War of Italian Unification and expected another conflict in the future.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Avery|first1=Robert|title=The Victorian Web|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/history/risorgimento/3.html|access-date=27 March 2015}}</ref> In fact, Napoleon III and Cavour were mutually indebted: the first because he had withdrawn from the Second Italian War of Independence before the expected conquest of [[Venice]], the second because he had allowed the uprisings to spread to the territories of central-northern Italy, thus going beyond what was agreed with the [[Plombières Agreement]].
[[File:Les manifestations pro-italiennes à Nice du 1871.jpg|thumb|Pro-Italian protests in Nice, 1871, during the [[Niçard Vespers]]]]

Sardinia annexed Lombardy from Austria; it later occupied and annexed the [[United Provinces of Central Italy]], consisting of the [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], the [[Duchy of Parma]], the [[Duchy of Modena and Reggio]] and the Papal Legations on 22 March 1860. Sardinia handed Savoy and Nice over to France at the [[Treaty of Turin (1860)|Treaty of Turin]], a decision that was the consequence of the Plombières Agreement, on 24 March 1860, an event that caused the [[Niçard exodus]], which was the emigration of a quarter of the [[Niçard Italians]] to Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.montecarlonews.it/2017/08/28/notizie/argomenti/altre-notizie-1/articolo/un-nizzardo-su-quattro-prese-la-via-dellesilio-in-seguito-allunita-ditalia-dice-lo-scrittore.html|title='Un nizzardo su quattro prese la via dell'esilio' in seguito all'unità d'Italia, dice lo scrittore Casalino Pierluigi|date=28 August 2017|access-date=14 May 2021|language=it}}</ref>

[[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] was elected in 1871 in Nice at the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] where he tried to promote the annexation of his hometown to the [[Kingdom of Italy|newborn Italian unitary state]], but he was prevented from speaking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://storage.canalblog.com/76/72/572678/57843167.png |title=Times article dated February 13, 1871|access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref> Because of this denial, between 1871 and 1872 there were riots in Nice, promoted by the Garibaldini and called "[[Niçard Vespers]]",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philweb.it/i_vespri_nizzardi_del_1871_conferenza_storica_e_annullo_speciale-st1940.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909073731/http://www.philweb.it/i_vespri_nizzardi_del_1871_conferenza_storica_e_annullo_speciale-st1940.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 September 2012|title=I Vespri Nizzardi del 1871: conferenza storica e annullo speciale|access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref> which demanded the annexation of the city and its area to Italy.<ref>J. Woolf Stuart, ''Il risorgimento italiano'', Turin, Einaudi, 1981, p. 44 (In Italian).</ref> Fifteen Nice people who participated in the rebellion were tried and sentenced.<ref>Giuseppe André, ''Nizza negli ultimi quattro anni'', Nice, Editore Gilletta, 1875, pp. 334–335 (In Italian).</ref>