What is Armistice of Villafranca?
{{complex|date=August 2024}} The '''[[armistice]]''' and '''preliminaries of Villafranca''' were signed on 11 July 1859 in [[:en:Villafranca_di_Verona|Villafranca di Verona]], in the [[Veneto]], by [[France]] and [[Austria]]. It put an end to the Austro-Franco-Sardinian War which constitutes for Italy, the [[:en:Second_Italian_War_of_Independence|second]] Italian [[:en:Unification_of_Italy#|War of Independence]]. After the difficult battles of [[:en:Battle_of_Magenta|Magenta]] (4 June) and [[:en:Battle_of_Solferino|Solferino]] (24 June), [[Napoleon III]] , without consulting his Sardinian ally [[Camillo Cavour|Cavour]] , proposed the armistice on 8 July and an interview on 11 July with the Emperor of Austria [[:en:Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria|Franz Joseph I]]. Although victorious, Napoleon III was frightened by the hecatomb (nearly 40,000 killed or wounded at Solferino) and the idea of having to continue an autumn and winter campaign against the Austrians entrenched in the [[Forteresses du quadrilatère|quadrilateral]]. Moreover, the government and the Empress send him alarming information about the state of French opinion, Which is execrable. [[États pontificaux|In particular, the Catholics, hitherto supported by the imperial regime, fear for the Papal States]] and the Pope's independence if Austria were eliminated from Italy. Finally, an anti-French feeling spread in Germany, where the Austrians were supported. The number of Prussian deaths is nearly 400 000 soldiers near the [[Rhine]], stripped of French troops. In Villafranca, it is agreed that Austria cedes [[Lombardy]] (except [[Mantua]] and Peschiera) to France, which restores it to the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. An Italian confederation under the presidency of Pope [[Pius IX]] was created, the Veneto under Austrian sovereignty being part of it. The [[Duke of Modena|dukes of Modena]] , [[Duke of Parma|Parma]], and [[Grand Duke of Tuscany|Tuscany]], driven away by revolutions, found their thrones. Cavour, not consulted, resigned on 10 July, while King [[V