Page 147 - Il Risorgimento e l'Europa - Attori e protagonisti dell’Unità d’Italia nel 150° anniversario - Atti 9-10 novembre 2010

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Austria and the Unification of Italy

Prof. Wolfgang ETSChMANN*

uring the campaigns in Northern
D Italy in the years 1848/49, the
Austrian Army under the command of
Field-Marshal Radetzky was able –
albeit not without difficulties and some
defeats in the spring of 1848 – to regain
control of the provinces of Lombardy
and Venice and to secure the domi-
nance of the Habsburg monarchy in
Northern Italy.
The Quadrilateral (“Festung-
sviereck”) was not only a system of
military fortifications in Northern Italy,
but also a powerful symbol of this
1
dominance.
Austria´s position in Europe in the Johann Bernhard von Rechberg,
second half of the fifties of the 19th ministro degli esteri austriaco
century had become more and more
isolated. The repercussions of the revolution in the Habsburg monarchy and
the political and diplomatic fiasco during the Crimean War led to a dramatic
situation, which showed Austria was really without strong allies and partners
in European arena.
Although some sources assume that Austria would have been able to con-
tinue its fight against French and Piemontese troops east of the Mincio in the
summer 1859, with a firm base in the region of the Quadrilateral and the
operational aim that the loss of the province of the Lombardy should have
been only temporarily, in reality the Austrian forces were quite exhausted and

* Wolfgang Etschmann. Professor Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military History Mu-
seum) Vienna.
1 Christoph Hackelsberger, Das k.k. österreichische Festungsviereck. München 1980.