Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
 | King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. |
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Victor Emmanuel II (
Italian:
Vittorio Emanuele II;
March 14,
1820 –
January 9,
1878) was the
King of
Piedmont,
Savoy and
Sardinia from
1849–
1861. On
February 18,
1861, he assumed the title as
King of Italy to become the first king of a
united Italy, a title he held till his death in
1878.
Victor Emmanuel was born in
Turin. During the reign of his father,
Charles Albert, the kingdoms of Sardinia and Piedmont were united. Charles Albert went to war in
1848 against the
Austrian Empire (which ruled most of northern Italy), but was defeated at the
Battle of Novara the following year. Charles Albert
abdicated and Victor Emmanuel became king of Sardinia–Piedmont on
March 24,
1849.
Under his command, and with the skillful action of his minister,
Count Cavour, the
Kingdom of Sardinia grew to include whole Italy (1860 – 1870), through the process of Italian Unification and thus Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy became
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. However
Count Cavour, his trusted advisor, did most of the work, and was very powerful. Some of his goals were to a) industrialize, i.e. railroads, b) reduce the influence of the Catholic Church, c) economic reform through a new tax system and d) better foreign affairs, using diplomacy to make allies, i.e. Franch intervention in the Austrian war with Piedmont. Victor Emmanuel II was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church after the Italian army attacked Rome and forced
Pope Pius IX to retreat and from Vatican City.
Victor Emmanuel would keep the former ordinal number though he became the first king of Italy, in order to maintain the dynastical continuity. However, this proved to be unpopular with the newly unified southern Italians as it seemed to be a Piedmontese takeover.
Sardinia joined Britain and France in a war against Russia, to get their "good will". After ingratiating himself with Napoleon III at the Congress of Paris, following the end of the Crimean War, as well as gaining British support,
Count Cavour arranged a secret meeting with
Napoleon III of France. They met at Plombieres in 1858 where they agreed that if France would help Sardinia battle against Austria for the lands of Venetia and Lombardy, France would be given Nice and Savoy.
Cavour and Napoleon III fought against Austria in 1858, and were winning the war, however, there were serious casualties for France. Napoleon III secretly made a treaty with Francis Joseph of Austria at Villafranca, where Sardinia gained Lombardy â€" but no more. France got Nice and Savoy. Austria kept Venetia, which displeased Sardinians; the treaty had been made without their knowledge. Soon after this Cavour died, and the king had to find other advisors. The alliance with France ended, but Italy was united between 1861 to 1870. In 1861 the north lead by Victor Emannuel and the southern insurgencies lead by Garibaldi united in 1861. In 1866 Italy lost battles against Austria, but due to her alliance with Prussia received Venetia via France as the intermediary in 1866. After two failed marches on Rome, led by Garribaldi, Italian Forces finally took the city in 1870 due to French pre-occupation with a possible Franco-Prussian war. Venice was given to Piedmont by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian war in 1866. Italian Unification was thus not complete till Rome was made capital in 1871.
In
1842 he was married to a cousin,
Maria Adelaide of
Habsburg (b.1822-d.1855) and had children including:
*
Marie Clothilde 1843-
1911, who married
Napoleon Joseph 1822-
1891 (
the Prince Napoleon). Their grandson Louis was the pretender of
Bonaparte.
*
Umberto (b.1844-d.1900), later King of Italy.
*
Amedeo (b.1845-d.1890), later King of Spain.
* Oddone Eugenio (b.1846-d.1866), Duke of Montferrat.
*
Maria Pia of Savoy 1847-
1911, married
Louis of Portugal.
* Carlo Alberto (b.1851-d.1854), Duke of Chablais.
* Vittorio Emanuele (1852).
Rosa Theresa Vercellona Guerrieri (nicknamed
La Rosina) was once Victor Emmanuel's mistress. The Count of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda was probably their (illegitimate) son.
*
Giuseppe Garibaldi*
Giuseppe Mazzini*
Count Cavour*
September Convention*
External link: Genealogy of recent members of the House of Savoy*
View of Venezia Square Victor Emmanuel II monument
