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which countries/empires did the italians have to fight or make deals with to gain control of the entire italian peninsula?

To gain control of (or unify) the Italian peninsula in the 1800s, Italian nationalists and the Kingdom of Piedmont‑Sardinia mainly had to fight or negotiate with Austria, France, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, plus a few smaller duchies.

Below is a focused breakdown in a forum‑style “Quick Scoop,” keeping the story tight but complete.

Main powers involved

  • Austrian Empire
    • After the Congress of Vienna (1815), Austria directly ruled Lombardy‑Venetia and dominated many other Italian states, making it the main enemy of unification.
* Italian nationalists fought Austria in several Wars of Independence (1848–49, 1859, 1866) before its influence in Italy was finally broken.
  • France (ally, then obstacle)
    • Piedmont’s Cavour made a secret deal with Napoleon III of France (Plombières, 1858): France would help drive Austria from northern Italy in exchange for Nice and Savoy.
* France helped win battles like Magenta and Solferino (1859), but later protected the Pope in Rome, delaying full Italian control of the peninsula until France withdrew its troops during the Franco‑Prussian War (1870).
  • Papal States
    • The Pope directly ruled a wide swath of central Italy, including Rome, and opposed losing temporal power.
* Central regions gradually voted to join the new Kingdom of Italy in 1860, but Rome itself only fell to Italian troops in 1870, when they entered through the “Breached” Porta Pia after French protection ended.
  • Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
    • This Bourbon kingdom controlled southern Italy and Sicily, forming the entire southern half of the peninsula.
* Giuseppe Garibaldi’s “Expedition of the Thousand” (1860) overthrew the regime; his volunteers conquered Sicily and the south, then handed these territories over to King Victor Emmanuel II to be united with the rest of Italy.

Smaller Italian states they absorbed

All of these had to be pressured, overthrown, or persuaded into joining:

  • Kingdom of Sardinia–Piedmont
    • Technically the core of unification, not an opponent: it led the process and became the nucleus of the new Kingdom of Italy.
* It absorbed or unified with most other Italian states via wars, plebiscites, and diplomacy.
  • Duchies in the North and Centre
    • Duchy of Parma, Duchy of Modena, and Grand Duchy of Tuscany all experienced revolutions and plebiscites in 1859–60 that removed their rulers (often Austrian‑linked dynasties).
* These states then voted to join Piedmont, enlarging the new Italian kingdom across central‑northern Italy.
  • Kingdom of Lombardy‑Venetia
    • Legally a kingdom under the Austrian crown; Lombardy was gained after the 1859 war with Austrian defeat, while Venetia was obtained after the Austro‑Prussian War (1866), in which Italy sided with Prussia.

Simple timeline of “who they dealt with when”

  • 1848–49: First War of Independence – failed attempts to expel Austria from the north.
  • 1859: Second War – with French help, Austria loses Lombardy; central duchies revolt and join Piedmont.
  • 1860: Garibaldi topples Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , then cedes the south to King Victor Emmanuel II.
  • 1866: Third War – Italy allies with Prussia; gains Venetia from Austria.
  • 1870: French troops leave Rome; Italy defeats remaining Papal resistance, annexes Rome, and finally holds the entire peninsula.

One‑glance table of key players

Power Role in unification How Italy dealt with them
Austrian Empire Main foreign ruler in northern Italy (Lombardy‑Venetia) Fought in multiple Wars of Independence (1848–49, 1859, 1866)
France Crucial early ally, later protector of the Pope Secret alliance vs. Austria; later had to wait for French withdrawal from Rome
Papal States Controlled central Italy and Rome Territories annexed by revolts and plebiscites; Rome seized in 1870
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Ruled southern Italy and Sicily Overthrown by Garibaldi’s volunteers and absorbed into the kingdom
Parma, Modena, Tuscany Small duchies in north‑central Italy Dynasties deposed in 1859–60; populations voted to join Piedmont
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In short: to unify the Italian peninsula, Italians had to wrest land and influence from Austria , bargain and sometimes clash indirectly with France , dismantle the Bourbon regime in the south, and finally break the temporal power of the Papal States in Rome.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.