Editing Victor Emmanuel II (section)

===Wars of Italian Unification===
{{main|Second Italian War of Independence}}

The Italo-French campaign against Austria in 1859 started successfully; however, sickened by the casualties of the war and worried about the mobilisation of Prussian troops, Napoleon III secretly made a treaty with [[Franz Joseph of Austria]] at [[Villafranca di Verona|Villafranca]] whereby Piedmont would only gain [[Lombardy]]. France did not as a result receive the promised Nice and Savoy but Austria kept [[Veneto|Venetia]], a major setback for the Piedmontese, in no small part because the treaty had been prepared without their knowledge. After several quarrels about the outcome of the war, Cavour resigned, and the king had to find other advisors. France only gained Nice and Savoy after the [[Treaty of Turin (1860)|Treaty of Turin]] was signed in March 1860, after Cavour had been reinstalled as Prime Minister, and a deal with the French was struck for plebiscites to take place in the Central Italian Duchies.

Later that same year, Victor Emmanuel II sent his forces to fight the papal army at Castelfidardo and drove the Pope into [[Vatican City]]. His success at these goals led him to be [[excommunicated]] from the Catholic Church until 1878 when it was lifted just before his death. Then, [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] conquered Sicily and Naples, and Piedmont–Sardinia grew even larger. On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially established and Victor Emmanuel II became its king.

Victor Emmanuel supported [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]]'s [[Expedition of the Thousand]] (1860–1861), which resulted in the rapid fall of the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]] in southern Italy; however, the king halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, still under the [[Papal States]], as it was under French protection. In 1860, through local plebiscites, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna decided to side with Piedmont–Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in the [[Marche]] and [[Umbria]] after the victorious [[battle of Castelfidardo]] (1860) over the Papal forces.

The king subsequently met with Garibaldi at [[Teano]], receiving from him the control of southern Italy. Another series of plebiscites in the occupied lands resulted in the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as the first [[King of Italy]] by the new Parliament of [[Unification of Italy|unified Italy]], on 17 March 1861. He did not renumber himself after assuming the new royal title, and [[Turin]] became the capital of the new state. Only [[Lazio]], [[Veneto]], and [[Trentino]] remained to be conquered.[[Image:With Victor Emmanuel.jpg|thumb|Victor Emmanuel meets [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] in [[Teano]].]]