1849-1866 Italian

The Risorgimento ('rising again') was a movement in the 19th Century aiming to unify the Italian states into a single Kingdom of Italy.  After the Napoleonic Wars, rule of these states had been restored to Austria, a move opposed by many.  After the failure of liberal and republican revolutions in 1848 (1st Italian War of Independence), leadership of the unification movement passed to Piedmont. With French help, the Piedmontese defeated the Austrians in 1859 (2nd Italian War of Independence) and united most of Italy under their rule by 1861. The annexation of Venetia in 1866 (3rd Italian War of Independence) and papal Rome in 1870 marked the final unification of Italy and hence the end of the Risorgimento period.