Italian Unification

After the battle at Waterloo, European Powers met at the Congress of Vienna and came to an agreement that Italy should be handed back to Austria, what it had been before Napoleon took over (1796).

Italy once again would be redivided:

• In the North Victor Emmanuel I was restored to power as the King, enlarged to include Savoy, and Genoa (an important port previously French).
• Lombardy and Venetia were joined together under a viceroy controlled from Vienna.
• The Central Duchies (Tuscany, Modena, Parma) were under the control of local Austrian Appointed rulers. Ferdinand III was Grand Duke of Tuscany.
• Papal States were returned to the Pope, however Austrian armed forces were also.
• King Ferdinand I restored in the South, controlling Naples and Sicily. He could not make any important changes without the approval of the Austrian governement.

Therefore it showed that Italy once again was mainly controlled by Austria. To prevent future French invasions, Austria had to control the majority of the Italian Peninsula.

Austrian Chancellor Metternich wanted to get Italians to forget about the thought of unity and constitutions.