Cronology of the events that led to the Unification of Italy

Italy was officially unified on March 17th 1861 when Vittorio Emanuele II was crowned King of Italy. The process of unification was long and difficult; it corresponded to the Italian historical period called “Risorgimento Italiano”. This refers to the years between the Congress of Wien in 1815 and the nomination of Rome as capital city of the new born country. During these years, scattered States became part of a bigger and unique country: Italy.

• September 1814 – June 1815: The Congress of Wien was a conference of ambassadors of European states, whose aim was to settle the consequences of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Italy was redesigned in the following parts: Piedmont, Genoa, Nice and Sardenia became the Kingdom of Savoy, Lombardy-Venetia, and Dalmatia became part of Austria, the duchy of Parma and Modena was re-established and the Pope and the Bourbon House controlled the centre and the south of Italy.
  

• 4 March 1848: The Royal Family of Sardinia, the House of Savoy, was settled in Turin, was considered a guarantee of moderatism having a modern Constitution, Statuto Albertino, which made Turin a stimulating and free political centre. Among the intellectuals and the politicians who attended the salons of Turin, was Camillo Benso, the Earl of Cavour, who appeared to be the most capable politician, as it was his diplomatic ability that allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to cultivate the important friendship with France. This ally was vital for its military help during the conquest of the independent States in the north and in the centre of the peninsula.

• 23 March 1848: the First Italian War of Independence was the beginning of the long conflict between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Empire.

• 29 April 1859: the Second Italian War of Independence was fought between the franco-piedmontese army against the Austrian army. It finished with the liberation of Lombardy from the coalition army.
  

• 5 May 1860: The expedition “dei Mille Garibaldini” led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who landed in Marsala, Sicily under the protection of Savoy and against the troops of King Francesco II of the Bourbons House, marked a turning point in the political settlement of the peninsula. This episode of the Italian history turned the Risorgimento into a movement which unified people coming from different social classes. It ended with the liberation of the Kingdom of “the Two Sicilies”. At the same time, the Savoy’s army attacked the regions in the centre. A plebiscite decided the annexation of Sicily and Naples, Umbria and Marche.

• 17 March 1861: Vittorio Emanuele II (1861-1878) was declared King of Italy and Turin was chosen as the capital city. The Kingdom of Italy existed until 1946 when, after the second world war and the defeat of Mussolini, the Italians opted for a republican constitution.

• 23 June 1866: The Third Italian War of Independence was fought between Austria and Prussia on one side and between Austria and Italy on the other. It ended with the annexation of Veneto and Fiuli-Venezia Giulia.
  

• 1861-1865: Turin is the capital city of Italy
  

• 1865-1871: Florence is the capital city of Italy
  

• October 1871: Rome is the capital city of Italy