Armies Of The Italian Wars Of Unification 1848-70 (1): Piedmont And The Two Sicilies

In the 1840s, post-Napoleonic Italy was `a geographical expression` - not a country, but a patchwork of states. The north (Savoy/Piedmont, and Venice ) was ruled by Austria-Hungary, and most of the minor central states were more or less clients of Austria. From Naples, a Spanish-descended Bourbon monarchy ruled the south - `the Two Sicilies.` The European `Year of Revolutions`, 1848, saw popular uprisings against the regimes all over the peninsula. These were eventually crushed (First War of Independence, 184849); but they left King Victor Emmanuel of Savoy/Piedmont - and his able minister Cavour - determined to liberate and unify the country, while royal authority in the Two Sicilies was left deeply unpopular.