Third Italian War of Independence
{{Infobox military conflict | image = Custozza1866.jpg | image_size = 320px | caption = Austrian Uhlans charge Italian Bersaglieri during the Battle of Custoza. Painting by Juliusz Kossak | partof = the wars of Italian unification and the Austro-Prussian War | conflict = Third Italian War of Independence | date = 20 June – 12 August 1866() | place = Lombardy–Venetia | casus = Sardinian refusal to comply with Austrian demand for demobilization | territory = Veneto, Friuli and Mantua annexed by Italy | result = Italian victory | combatant1 = Supported by: | combatant2 = | commander1 = | commander2 = Johann II | strength1 = Mincio Army 11 infantry divisions 1 cavalry division Total: 120,000 men Po Army 5 infantry divisions Total: 80,000 men Garibaldi's forces Volunteer battalions Total: 20,000 men Total: 220,000 men | strength2 = South Army V, VII, IX Corps 2 cavalry brigades Liechtenstein Army Total: 80 men Total: 130,000–190,000 men | casualties1 = 11,197 1,633 battle deaths 3,926 wounded 553 missing 5,085 captured | casualties2 = 9,727 1,392 battle deaths 4,471 wounded 691 missing 3,173 captured }} The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria conceding the region of Venetia (present-day Veneto, Friuli and the city of Mantua, the last remnant of the Quadrilatero) to France, which were later annexed by Italy after a plebiscite. Italy's acquisition of this wealthy and populous territory represented a major step in the Unification of Italy. Background Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy had been proclaimed King of Italy on 17 March 1861 but did not control Venetia or the much-reduced Papal States. The situation of the , a later Italian term for part of the country under foreign domination that literally means unredeemed'', was an unceasing source of tension in the domestic politics of the new kingdom and a cornerstone of its foreign policy. The first attempt to seize Rome was orchestrated by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1862. Confident in the king's neutrality, he set sail from Genoa to Palermo. Collecting 1,200 volunteers, he sailed from Catania and landed at Melito, Calabria, on 24 August to reach Mount Aspromonte with the intention to travel northward up the peninsula to Rome. The Piedmontese general Enrico Cialdini, however, sent a division under Colonel Pallavicino to stop the volunteer army. Garibaldi was wounded at the Battle of Aspromonte and taken prisoner, along with his men. The increasing discord between Austria and Prussia over the German Question turned into open war in 1866, which offered Italy an occasion to capture Venetia. On 8 April 1866, the Italian government signed a military alliance with Prussia through the mediation of French Emperor Napoleon III. Italian armies, led by General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, were to engage the Austrians on the southern front. Simultaneously, taking advantage of their perceived naval superiority, the Italians planned to threaten the Dalmatian coast