BleakChesneyWold

                Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) Makes a Stand   This is a follow up to the previous  Battle of Solferino 1859  post from this blog.  Series 2 of the Netflix series  The Empress,  based upon the life of Empress Elizabeth of Austria ( better known as 'Sisi') ended with the start of the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, has to fight off the French under Napoleon III and their Italian allies led by Victor Emanuel II of Piedmont from taking the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia, part of the Austrian Empire. Series 3  of The Empress  will presumably open with the Battle of Solferino in Lombardy. Technically a French and Piedmontese victory. Yet the horror of the battlefield was one of the factors that led to Napoleon III agreeing a peace treaty with Franz Joseph at Villa Franca, and leaving the campaign. A Swiss observer to the carnage at the...

                               " What a terrible thing War is "  (attributed to) Napoleon III                                    The village of Solferino, is located in the province of Mantua, Lombardy, in the north of Italy, and lies some 10 km south of Lake Garda. Also the site of a battle that took place on 24th June 1859, the highlight of the Second Italian War of independence, and a key date for  the overall Italian Unification process. The armies of the Austrian Empire were defeated by the French along with their allies, the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia. Solferino was the largest European battle since the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1814. Two emperors, Napoleon III and Franz Joseph, were with their forces at Solferino,as was King Victor Emmanuel II. Certainly from the French side, the railwa...