Victor Emmanuel II of Italy: Encyclopedia II - Victor Emmanuel II of Italy - Life

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy - Life

Victor Emmanuel was born in Turin. During the reign of his father, Charles Albert, the kingdoms of Sardinia and Piedmont were united. Charles Albert went to war in 1848 against the Austrian Empire (which ruled most of northern Italy), but was defeated at the Battle of Novara the following year. Charles Albert abdicated and Victor Emmanuel became king of Sardinia–Piedmont on March 24, 1849.

Under his command, and with the skillful action of his minister, Count Cavour, the Kingdom of Sardinia grew to include whole Italy (1860 – 1870), through the process of Italian Unification and thus Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy became Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. He was also excommunicated from the Roman Catholic faith after the Italian army attacked Rome and forced Pope Pius IX to retreat and form Vatican city.

Victor Emmanuel would keep the former ordinal number though he became the first king of Italy, in order to maintain the dynastical continuity. However, this proved to be unpopular with the newly unified southern Italians as it seemed to be a Piedmontese takeover.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki