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39-564: Based on limited available evidence, there have been disputes on the details of what was agreed upon at the meeting, but as years passed it became apparent that the agreement had opened the way for the Franco-Piedmontese military alliance  [ fr ] , on 28 January 1859, and for the Second Italian War of Independence (that became a vital step towards Italian unification , which was achieved within ten years of

78-406: A Milanese newspaper. The meeting itself took place on 21 July 1858, with a first four-hour session starting at 11:00 and a second session running from 16:00 until 20:00. It was a Tuesday. The venue was a moving one: the two men sat together, without support staff, in a small horse-drawn carriage as it undertook a slow passage round and round the little town. Neither man wanted the blame for causing

117-588: A coastal city and an important port belonging to the Duchy of Modena, by which time a wider war with Austria would have been triggered. Napoleon III stated that the Austrians must be completely ejected from the Italian peninsula, and Cavour agreed. The discussion then moved on to agreement on a political structure for the Italian peninsula following the removal of Austria. These four Italian states would have formed

156-582: A confederation, modeled on the German Confederation , of which the honorary presidency would be given to the Pope. As Cavour later reported to his king, On the matter of force levels for the war, the Piedmontese military commander Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora had produced a plan involving an army of 160,000 men, provided 50:50 by France and Piedmont-Sardinia, and a military campaign focused on

195-539: A regional power in terms of the Po Valley, but France was a European great power . Nevertheless, Cavour was entirely upbeat over the agreement. The tensions between the disparate objectives and expectations of the parties are nevertheless clear. Cavour believed that by controlling " Italia Alta ", the Northern Italian Kingdom, Piedmont-Sardinia would have practical political and economic control over

234-675: A revolutionary mob in Milan , and in October was promoted general and appointed Minister of War. After suppressing the revolt of Genoa in 1849, he again assumed in November 1849 the portfolio of war, which, save during the period of his command of the Crimean expedition (where he commanded at the siege of Sevastopol and the battle of the Chernaya ), he retained until 1859. He took part in

273-565: A series of documents entitled Un po' più di luce sugli eventi dell'anno 1866 ("More light on the events of 1866"), a step which caused irritation in Germany, and exposed him to the charge of having violated state secrets. Meanwhile, he was sent to Paris in 1867 to oppose the French expedition to Rome, and in 1870, after the occupation of Rome by the Italians, was appointed lieutenant-royal of

312-772: A war. There was discussion of whether the presence of an Austrian military garrison in Bologna (in the Papal States ) might justify war against Austria, but the French Emperor was in the end reluctant to use this as a pretext. There were Austrian troops not only in Bologna, but also in Rome and the Papal States , preserving the status quo; in Rome, there were also French troops for broadly similar reasons, and parallels between

351-633: The Third Italian War of Independence in June, took command of an army corps. He is largely credited of the hesitant conduct of the first phases of the Italian invasion, which, despite the large Italian superiority, led to the defeat in the battle of Custoza on 23 June. Accused of treason by his fellow countrymen, in particular by other high-rank generals, and of duplicity by the Prussians, he eventually published in defence of his tactics (1873)

390-533: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Alliance franco-sarde " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for

429-530: The Emperor (and another physician) called Henri Conneau . On 9 May 1858, Conneau was able to confirm to Nigra that the alliance proposal had the full support of the Emperor himself. Further talks now took place in Turin involving Conneau, Cavour, and King Victor Emmanuel. At this point, a suggestion came from the Emperor for a meeting between himself and Cavour at Plombières-les-Bains , a fashionable health resort in

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468-690: The Modenese citizenry in such a scheme seems never to have been in doubt. The king of Piedmont-Sardinia would respond by graciously declining the appeal in the terms in which it was put, but he would nevertheless send a threatening communication to Francis V of Modena. The communication would be seen as interference in the Austrian sphere of influence and would provoke outrage in Vienna. As such, Austria's response would be correspondingly provocative. Piedmont-Sardinia would then find itself obliged to occupy Massa ,

507-501: The Papal States. Napoleon III concluded that his earlier plan to secure French domination of central and southern Italy through his alliance with Piedmont-Sardinia could only be achieved at an unacceptable military and economic cost. On a personal level, he seems to have been genuinely (and very publicly) horrified by the slaughter involved in fighting wars in an industrial age, notably at the battles of Magenta and Solferino . He

546-498: The Po Valley. The emperor had his plan, however, involving 300,000 men of whom 200,000 would be French, and he spoke in terms of a military campaign pushing right through to Vienna . After a mid-afternoon break, the two climbed back into their little carriage around five o'clock. The Emperor turned to the proposed marriage between his cousin, Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, with Victor Emmanuel's eldest daughter. Cavour had already been fully briefed by his king on this matter. He highlighted

585-517: The agreement). The Plombières Agreement was an agreement concerning a future war in which France and Piedmont would ally themselves against Austria to remove and exclude Austrian influence from the Italian peninsula. In its place, Italy, which Klemens von Metternich , a previous Austrian chancellor, had reportedly dismissed on various occasions as a "[mere] geographical expression", would be divided into two spheres of influence to be dominated respectively by Piedmont and France. As events turned out,

624-501: The entire Italian peninsula. In contrast, Napoleon was convinced that France would have control over the southern two-thirds of Italy and would thereby be able to exercise de facto control over Piedmont-Sardinia. They could not both be right. The treaty creating a formal alliance  [ fr ] was signed on 28/29 January 1859 at Turin by Victor Emmanuel II and at Paris on 26 January 1859 by Napoleon III. Not everything agreed verbally at Plombières six months before surfaced in

663-498: The first character; please check alternative capitalizations and consider adding a redirect here to the correct title. If the page has been deleted, check the deletion log , and see Why was the page I created deleted? Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_franco-sarde " Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora ( Italian pronunciation: [alˈfɔnso la ˈmarmora] ; 18 November 1804 – 5 January 1878)

702-919: The 💕 Look for Alliance franco-sarde on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Alliance franco-sarde in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use

741-417: The garrisoning of Bologna and of Rome were uncomfortably close. It then transpired that Napoleon had a proposal of his own. The Duchy of Modena and Reggio presented a more promising casus belli . Its ruler was Francis V , an Austrian ally and one of the many great-grandsons of the eighteenth-century Empress Maria Theresa . Francis had decided not to acknowledge Napoleon III as emperor of France following

780-495: The idea of restoring Austrian-sponsored rulers. The French themselves had no wish or incentive to provide practical military or other support to the Austrians for such a restoration in defiance of their alliance with Piedmont. In practical terms, therefore, following the so-called Second Italian War of Independence the Piedmontese retained control of both Italia Alta, the northern Italian kingdom agreed at Plombières, and of central Italy. Alliance franco-sarde From Misplaced Pages,

819-566: The impending war. Cavour noted that Napoleon began by stating that he was determined to support Piedmont-Sardinia with all his strength in a war against Austria, on the condition that the war was not in support of a revolutionary cause and could be justified in diplomatic terms and, more importantly, before public opinion in France and in Europe. Violations of trade treaty obligations by Austria were considered by Napoleon to be insufficient grounds for

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858-426: The latter's coup d'état at the start of the decade. Francis of Modena had inadvertently set himself up as eminently dispensable in the eyes of Napoleon. As they traveled round the streets of Plombières, Cavour and Napoleon devised a plan to provoke an appeal for protection from the Modenese citizens to the king of Piedmont-Sardinia, and a demand for the annexation of their duchy to Piedmont-Sardinia. The co-operation of

897-416: The marriage of Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy , daughter of the Piedmontese king, Victor Emmanuel II , to Prince Napoléon Bonaparte. Reflecting the international sensitivities involved, negotiations progressed outside the "usual" diplomatic channels. To confirm his approval of the proposal, Cavour sent his diplomat, Costantino Nigra , to Paris, where Nigra made contact with another friend and confidant of

936-451: The marriage on which Napoleon was so keen. Progressing the alliance without marriage would be an enormous political error. The meeting ended with a handshake, accompanied by the Emperor's injunction: "Have faith in me, as I have faith in you." It appears from Cavour's report of the meeting that Napoleon III had prepared very carefully for it, and dictated the terms of the secret "Plombières Agreement" that resulted. Piedmont-Sardinia might be

975-593: The marriage was celebrated at Turin between Prince Napoléon Bonaparte and Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy. Following a series of provocative military movements near the Austro-Piedmontese frontier by Piedmont-Sardinia, and having become aware of the Franco-Sardinian alliance, the Austrians took the initiative by issuing the Ultimatum of Vienna on 23 April 1859. The Austrian ultimatum required

1014-472: The scope of the September Convention by a note in which he claimed for Italy full freedom of action in respect of national aspirations to the possession of Rome, a document of which Visconti-Venosta afterwards took advantage when justifying the Italian occupation of Rome in 1870. In April 1866 La Marmora concluded an alliance with Prussia against Austria-Hungary , and, on the outbreak of

1053-452: The side of what was then seen as progressive liberalism , and confirm the nation's special revolutionary credentials. For France, however, Italian independence and Italian political unification were two very different things. Political unification would have been contrary to French interests because it would have risked reducing French influence on the Italian peninsula. The prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour ,

1092-506: The small ravine of Augronne  [ fr ] in the Vosges , reassuringly far from Paris or Turin, and off the beaten track of those following international diplomacy and politics. On 11 July 1858 Count Cavour left Turin, letting it be known that he was heading for Switzerland. Only the King and the Piedmontese military commander, General La Marmora , were aware that his final destination

1131-550: The total demobilisation of the Royal Sardinian Army . By failing to comply with this demand, the Piedmontese triggered a declaration of war by Austria, thereby fulfilling the French condition that their support for Piedmont-Sardinia would be contingent on Austria being the aggressor in any war. A succession of serious regional anti-Austrian pro-nationalist insurrections now broke out in Tuscany, Modena, Parma and

1170-459: The treaty: it was silent on the geo-political understandings covering central and southern Italy. On the military side, The treaty merely committed France to intervene alongside Piedmont-Sardinia in the event of aggression from Austria. In the event of any military events ending with the creation of a Kingdom of " Alta Italia ", the northern Italian kingdom envisaged at Plombières, France would be rewarded, receiving Savoy and Nice. On 30 January 1859,

1209-474: The unfortunate rumours in circulation about the character of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte and also drew attention to the age of the Princess, who was only fifteen. In the report he wrote to the King three days after the meeting, Cavour was nevertheless keen to stress the merits of the proposed marriage. The nature of future political and military alliances would be transformed if created without the underpinning of

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1248-507: The war of 1859 against Austria ; and in July of that year succeeded Cavour in the premiership. In 1860 he was sent to Berlin and Saint Petersburg to arrange for the recognition of the kingdom of Italy and subsequently he held the offices of governor of Milan and royal lieutenant at Naples , until, in September 1864, he succeeded Marco Minghetti as premier. In this capacity, he modified

1287-528: The war was triggered as agreed at Plombières, but its geopolitical aftermath was not precisely the one that had been envisaged. Emperor Napoleon III was keen to settle the "Italian question" and to revise the humiliations of the 1815 Congress of Vienna . He had long ago formed the view that this required a war against Austria . War with Austria could bring France military success, delivering glory to France and humiliation to Austria. Actively supporting Italian nationalist aspirations would place France firmly on

1326-507: Was Plombières, where nine days later the Piedmontese prime minister arrived on the evening of 20 July 1858. There is no surviving source for the meeting from Napoleon III. The only direct report of the discussions comes from Cavour. Cavour's report takes the form of a letter that he wrote to the King on 24 July 1858 from an overnight halt at Baden-Baden , while on his way home. This letter was made public in 1883 in La Perseveranza ,

1365-458: Was a friend both of Cavour and of Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte , cousin to the French Emperor. His presence in Turin was ostensibly part of a discrete European tour, visiting various European royal families to find a socially suitable wife for the Emperor's cousin. Bixio was also able to pass to his friend, the Piedmontese chief minister, French proposals for an alliance of the two states against Austria. The agreement would be reinforced through

1404-570: Was also aware of the risk to French security from an ambitious and opportunistic Prussia in the event of France becoming over-committed militarily in Italy. He, therefore, hastened to sign an armistice with Austria. The French and the Austrians signed the Armistice of Villafranca without consulting the Piedmontese, provoking outrage and rioting in the streets of Turin. Under the terms agreed at Villafranca between France and Austria, most of Lombardy

1443-695: Was an Italian general and statesman. His older brothers include soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora and Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora , founder of the branch of the Italian army now called the Bersaglieri . Born in Turin , he entered the Sardinian army in 1823, and was a captain in March 1848, when he gained distinction and the rank of major at the siege of Peschiera  [ it ] . On 5 August 1848 he liberated Charles Albert of Sardinia from

1482-505: Was aware of the French objectives and was looking for an opportunity to serve these, while simultaneously achieving his goal of lifting the oppressive burden of Austrian rule from as many Italians as possible The arrival in Turin of Jacques Alexandre Bixio in April 1858 provided Cavour with his opportunity. Bixio was a retired physician, originally from Liguria , with a taste for politics and ballooning: he had made his life in France. Bixio

1521-406: Was transferred from Austria to France. France immediately transferred these territories to Piedmont-Sardinia, receiving Savoy and Nice in return. This left the central Italian states, notably Tuscany and the Papal States, to be returned to the control of their former Austrian client-rulers. However, these central Italian territories were now occupied by Piedmontese troops who showed no enthusiasm for

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