Leslie Massey
Austria has had a long history of influence and control over parts of Italy, especially in the north of the country. The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, commonly called the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1815 to 1866. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in recognition of the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine's rights to the former Duchy of Milan and the former Republic of Venice. The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia included the provinces of Milan, Venice, Bergamo, Brescia, and Padua, among others. In the late 18th century, the Austrian Empire controlled the regions of Lombardy, Venetia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and parts of Trentino-Alto Adige and Emilia-Romagna. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria gained control over the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, which included Venice, Milan, Mantua, and Trento. However, as a result of the Italian unification movement in the mid-19th century, Austria lost control over most of Italy, except for the region of South Tyrol.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time Period | Late 18th century, 1748, 1797, 1803, 1805, 1810, 1815, 1835, 1848, 1851, 1855, 1857, 1859, 1866, 1876, 1882, 1903, 1910, 1911, World War I |
| Parts of Italy Controlled by Austria | Lombardy, Venetia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia-Romagna, Milan, Mantua, Venice, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, Trentino, Istria, South Tyrol |
| Other Entities Involved | Republic of Genoa, Duchy of Modena and Reggio, Parma, Cisalpine Republic, Republic of Venice, Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, Kingdom of Sardinia, France, Germany, Italy |
| Type of Control | Military, Political, Economic, Social, Cultural |
| Impact on Austria | Loss of privileged position, painful political defeat, severe economic blow |
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What You'll Learn
- Austria controlled Lombardy-Venetia from 1815 to 1866
- Austria lost Milan and Mantua to the Cisalpine Republic in 1797
- Trentino and Istria inflamed Italian nationalism in the 1870s
- Austria gained a portion of the Republic of Venice in 1797
- Austria lost the Venetian Province to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805
Austria controlled Lombardy-Venetia from 1815 to 1866
Austria's influence in Italy dated back to the Middle Ages, especially in the north of the country. Following the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy's collapse in 1805, the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine laid claim to the former Duchy of Milan and the former Republic of Venice. The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, which united these lands into a single kingdom ruled by the Austrian Emperor.
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was a constituent land (crown land) of the Austrian Empire from 1815 to 1866. It was ruled by Emperor Francis I from its formation until his death in 1835, followed by his son Ferdinand I from 1835 to 1848. The kingdom was then ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria for the rest of its existence. The office of viceroy, usually held by an Austrian Archduke, was abolished and replaced by a governor-general.
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was made up of two parts: Lombardy and Venetia. Lombardy included the provinces of Milan, Como, Bergamo, Brescia, Pavia, Cremona, Mantua, Lodi-Crema, and Sondrio. Venetia included the provinces of Venice, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, Rovigo, Belluno, and Udine. The kingdom had a population of 5,024,117 people, consisting of various ethnic groups, including Italians (Lombard-Venetians), Friulians, Germans, Slovenians, and Jews.
The local administration of the kingdom was Italian in language and staff, with Italian being used in internal and external communications and documents. Civil servants employed in the administration were predominantly Italian, with only about 10% recruited from other regions of the Austrian Empire. However, the German language was the command language of the military, and top police officials were native German-speakers. The highest governorships were reserved for Austrian aristocrats.
The Austrian administration in Lombardy–Venetia enjoyed the support of the rural population and the middle class educated at the universities of Pavia and Padua, who were able to pursue careers in the administration. However, the Austrian authorities had to contend with the Italian unification (Risorgimento) movement. The region of Lombardy was ceded to France in 1859 after the Second Italian War of Independence, which then immediately ceded it to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Lombardy–Venetia was finally dissolved in 1866 when its remaining territory, including Venetia and Mantua, was incorporated into the recently proclaimed Kingdom of Italy following the kingdom's victory against Austria in the Third Italian War of Independence. The territory was formally transferred from Austria to France and then to Italy on 19 October 1866, with a plebiscite marking the Italian annexation on 21–22 October 1866.
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Austria lost Milan and Mantua to the Cisalpine Republic in 1797
Austria has historically held significant influence over Italian states, especially in the north of the country, since the Middle Ages. In 1714, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Austria gained control of the Duchy of Milan and Mantua in northern Italy, along with the kingdoms of Naples and Sardinia in southern Italy. However, in 1734, during the War of the Polish Succession, Austria lost Naples and Sicily but acquired the Duchy of Parma.
In 1797, Austria's control over parts of Italy was further diminished as they lost Milan and Mantua to the newly formed Cisalpine Republic, a French client state, as per the Treaty of Campo Formio. This treaty was signed by Napoleon, who had invaded Italy in 1796 with the aim of forcing the First Coalition to abandon Sardinia and Austria to withdraw. The loss of Milan and Mantua to the Cisalpine Republic marked a significant shift in the balance of power in Italy, with Napoleon consolidating Austrian holdings and setting up new republics with new codes of law and the abolition of old feudal privileges.
The Cisalpine Republic, centred on Milan, was composed of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, and small parts of Tuscany and Veneto. It was the predecessor of Napoleon's Italian Republic, which was also headquartered in Milan. The Cisalpine Republic lasted from 1797 to 1802 and was a sister republic of Napoleonic France, with Napoleon himself as its president.
Following the dissolution of the Cisalpine Republic, Austria regained control over various Italian territories. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria regained Milan, Mantua, Venice, and Trento, which were incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a constituent land of the Austrian Empire. This kingdom was ruled by the Austrian emperor through viceroys appointed by the Imperial Court in Vienna and resident in Milan and Venice. However, Austrian rule in northern Italy clashed with rising Italian nationalism, leading to the three Wars of Italian Independence between 1848 and 1866, which ultimately resulted in Italian victory and the dissolution of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia in 1866.
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Trentino and Istria inflamed Italian nationalism in the 1870s
Austrian rule in northern Italy in the 1870s clashed with the rising tide of Italian nationalism. Trentino and Istria were two such regions that inflamed Italian nationalism during this period. Trentino, or the prince-bishopric of Trent, had been annexed into Austrian-ruled Tyrol in 1803 and remained under Austrian control until it was ceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1859. However, after the Kingdom of Sardinia's victory in the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, Trentino was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.
Istria, on the other hand, was a region on the Adriatic Sea that had been contested between Italy and Austria for centuries. The Istrian Italians felt a strong cultural and ethnic connection to the rest of Italy, which fueled their desire for unification with the Kingdom of Italy. These sentiments were further inflamed by the continued Austrian occupation of ethnically Italian areas, such as Trentino, even after the unification of Italy in 1871.
The Italian nationalists, led by figures like Giuseppe Mazzini, sought to liberate Italy from Austrian occupation and indirect control. They promoted the concept of "'Romanità' (the Romanness), emphasizing the contributions of Roman culture to Italian and Western civilization. The nationalists wanted to establish a united Italy as a "Third Rome," a utopia of an ideal Italian republic based in Rome.
The Austrian presence in Italian territories and their attempts to prevent Italian unification efforts fueled Italian nationalism and led to three Wars of Italian Independence between 1848 and 1866, culminating in an Italian victory. However, tensions persisted in the 1870s as Austria continued to rule over Italian-inhabited lands, leading to further fortifications along the Italian border and even calls for preventive wars by Austrian Archduke Albrecht in 1876.
The situation in Trentino and Istria, along with other Italian-speaking regions under Austrian control, planted the seeds of Italian irredentism, a movement that sought to bring all ethnically Italian areas under Italian rule. This irredentism played a significant role in Italy's intervention in World War I, as they sought to gain the irredent territories through their alliance and eventual victory in the war.
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Austria gained a portion of the Republic of Venice in 1797
The Republic of Venice was a powerful sovereign state and maritime republic in Northeast Italy. It was based in the lagoon communities of the city of Venice and was a leading economic and trading power during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. By the late Middle Ages, it held significant territories in the mainland of northern Italy, known as the Domini di Terraferma, along with most of the Dalmatian coast on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.
However, by the 18th century, the city of Venice largely depended on the tourist trade, and the Stato da Màr was largely lost. In the spring of 1796, Piedmont fell, and the Austrians were beaten from Montenotte to Lodi. Napoleon's army crossed the frontiers of neutral Venice in pursuit of the enemy. By the end of the year, the French troops were occupying the Venetian state up to the Adige, with Vicenza, Cadore, and Friuli held by the Austrians.
In 1797, Napoleon aimed for Austrian possessions across the Alps. In the preliminaries to the Peace of Leoben, the terms of which remained secret, the Austrians were to take the Venetian possessions as the price of peace. On 17 April 1797, Napoleon signed a preliminary armistice at Leoben in Styria with the representatives of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II. In the secret annexes of the treaty, the territories of the Terraferma were conceded to the Habsburg empire, in return for French possession of the Austrian Netherlands.
On 12 May 1797, Ludovico Manin, the last doge of Venice, formally abolished the Most Serene Republic of Venice after 1,100 years of existence. The French and the Austrians had secretly agreed on 17 April in the Treaty of Leoben that in exchange for providing Venice to Austria, France would receive Austria's holdings. Thus, in 1797, Austria gained a portion of the Republic of Venice, which was partitioned between Austria and France, with the Austrian-annexed part forming the new Venetian Province.
In the following years, France and Austria fought for dominion over the city. In 1805, Austria lost the Venetian Province to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and Trento to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1810. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Venice, Milan, Mantua, and Trento fell again to Austria, with the former three included in the newly formed Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.
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Austria lost the Venetian Province to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805
Austria's influence in Italy dates back to the Middle Ages, particularly in the north of the country. The Austrian presence in Italy was not a case of colonisation, but rather a complex interplay of political and military interests.
In 1797, Austria lost Milan and Mantua to the newly formed Cisalpine Republic, but gained a portion of the Republic of Venice, which was partitioned between Austria and France. The Austrian-annexed part of Venice then became the Venetian Province. However, this control was short-lived as, in 1805, Austria lost the Venetian Province to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. This loss was formalised by the Treaty of Pressburg on 1 May 1806, when the territory of the former Republic of Venice was annexed to Italy.
The Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1805 and was fully influenced by revolutionary France. It covered Piedmont and the modern regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino, South Tyrol, and Marche. Napoleon I also ruled other parts of northern and central Italy, including Nice, Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, as part of the French Empire. The Kingdom of Italy was born when the Italian Republic, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, became a kingdom, with Napoleon I as the King of Italy.
Following the loss of the Venetian Province, Austria continued to have a presence in Italy, particularly in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, which was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1815 to 1866. This kingdom was created by the Congress of Vienna, which recognised the Austrian Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty's rights to the former Duchy of Milan and the former Republic of Venice, after the collapse of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The kingdom was ruled by the Habsburg Emperor of Austria and administered in Italian, with civil servants predominantly Italian, although the highest governorships were reserved for Austrian aristocrats.
Tensions between Austria and Italy continued, with Italian nationalism clashing with Austrian interests, leading to the three Wars of Italian Independence between 1848 and 1866, which ultimately resulted in an Italian victory. In 1866, the remaining territory of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy, marking the end of Austrian rule in this region.
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Frequently asked questions
In the early 1800s, Austria controlled the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, which included the regions of Lombardy, Venetia, Milan, and Mantua. They also controlled Trento, which was annexed into Austrian-ruled Tyrol in 1803. After losing Lombardy in 1859, Austria retained control of Venetia until 1866 when it was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy.
While Austria did not colonize Italy in the traditional sense of the word, some sources argue that they became a foreign colonizer in Italy by preventing unification efforts and maintaining control over Italian-inhabited lands.
After the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, Austria gained control of a portion of the Republic of Venice, which was partitioned between Austria and France.
