24 June 1859
Italian unification

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The northern Italian state of Piedmont-Sardinia, with French help, invades neighbouring Austrian-ruled Italian territories. The British prime minister Palmerston is sympathetic to the Italian nationalist movement and also wishes to contain French influence there. Britain helps block Austrian troop deployment, and Piedmont-Sardinia takes control of areas across northern and central Italy.

In 1860, Italian nationalist troops under Giuseppe Garibaldi take Sicily. The British Navy escorts his troops across the Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland, where they win successive victories, leading eventually to the complete unification of Italy.

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