The War of 1859.
King Victor Emmanuel
(Museo San Martino) |
After
his failed attempt to assassinate Napoleon III in 1858, Felice Orsini,
the Italian liberal, wrote a letter from his prison cell urging the
French Emperor to support Italy in her struggle for independence, a
subject never far from Napoleon’s thoughts as he had been a member
of the Carbonari when young, and had always harboured the idea of, ‘sovereign
states based on racial and linguistic unity collaborating in the
general purpose of prosperity and peace.’
At a meeting with Piedmont’s Prime Minister, Camillio Carvour at
Plombiéres in July 1858, Napoleon agreed to join Italy in a war
against Austria. If successful Piedmont would gain Lombardy, Venetia
and the two Duchies of Modena and Parma, with France gaining Savoy and
Nice in gratitude for her assistance, the rest of Italy would remain
the same. It was also proposed that the
enfant terrible, Prince
Napoleon, or Plon-Plon, as he was known in the family, the son of
Jerome Bonaparte and Catherine of Wurttemburg should marry the
Princess Clothide, daughter of Victor Emmanuel, thus cementing the
alliance. Cavour would provoke Austria into becoming the aggressor by
stirring up trouble in Lombardy, thereby enabling the French to
intervene without ruffling the feathers of the other great powers. All
of this almost came to nothing when Austria showed extreme caution
when Cavour’s planned insurrection was triggered off
Expecting
an immediate Austrian response, Victor Emmanuel had ordered the
mobilisation of the Piedmontese army in March 1859, and much to his
chagrin he now realised that with no sign of Austrian retaliation
forthcoming he would be isolated since the French would only intervene
if Franz Joseph tipped his hand and became the aggressor. As it turned
out the Austrians shot themselves in the foot by sending an ultimatum
to the Piedmontese demanding immediate demobilisation of their army,
this in turn was curtly rejected allowing the French to intervene on
the side of Piedmont, while Austria was now seen as the aggressive
party in the eyes of Europe.
