The death of the emperor, Charles VI, (1740) gave rise to a fresh war of succession, which lasted eight years, and covered with blood many regions of Europe. In Italy.the French and Spaniards attempted to wrest from Austria both Milan and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza; but the Empress Maria Teresa was aided by the king of Sardinia, Carlo Eman uele III. Maria Teresa then sought to recon quer Naples, but the army she sent out was de feated at Velletri (1744). Meanwhile the French and Spanish fought, in alliance with the republic of Genoa, renewing their attacks in Lombardy; but after a few successes they were repulsed. Also the Austrians advancing as far as Genoa placed heavy tribute and humiliations on the people, but the inhabitants of Genoa rose up and repulsed them (1746).
The following year the French and Spanish attempted to cross into Piedmont by way of the Colle dell'Assietta, but were routed. The only important change that took place in Italy in consequence of this war was the assigning of the duchy of Parma and Piacenza to Don Philip of Bourbon, son of the king of Spain.
After the Treaty of Aquisgrana, which sig-, nalized the end of this war, Italy enjoyed a long period of peace (from 1748-92), which the various states of the peninsula devoted to their internal development. A current of new thought had overrun the whole o: Europe through the writings of French authors; and these had given rise everywhere to a sort of tendency toward reform, animated by a prin ciple of toleration in matters of religion and by the idea of the need of a great social re generation to ensure a greater degree of jus tice among men. The governments ended by accepting these and sought to put them in prac tise, the more willingly because the abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the nobles and the clergy represented an advantage for the sovereigns and also pleased the people, who were thus freed from a thousand annoyances, burdens and vexations.
In Naples, Charles of Bourbon (1734-59) acquired a good character for his civil and ec clesiastical reforms. In the other branch of the Bourbons, at Parma, Duke Philip (1748-65), who introduced great reforms, was succeeded by his son Ferdinando, who abolished even those already established.
In Lombardy, on the other hand, under Maria Teresa (1740-80) was inaugurated a period of material and intellectual regenera tion; and Joseph II, who succeeded her in the government, prosecuted reforms with even greater energy than his mother. Thus also in
Tuscany, where Francis of Lorraine (1738 65) was succeeded by Peter Leopold (1765 90), who may justly be considered the greatest of the reform princes of Italy.
French Preponderance (1789-1815).— The breaking out of the French Revolution pro duced a two-fold effect on Italy. Her rulers, in terror, halted their reforms, whilst the peo ple, excited by the news from Paris, began to desire a change in the order of things with more eagerness than ever. Hence arose dis cords which daily became more aggravated, when arrests and torture were resorted to in order to suppress the revolutionary spirit.
Piedmont, together with Austria, opened the war against France in the summer of 1792, and the French were victorious, and in the same year, 1792, took Savoy and Nice. In 1796 the young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, separated the Austrian army from that of Piedmont; obliged King Victor Amadeus HI to make peace; then penetrated into Lombardy in pur suit of the Austrians, and by a series of bril liant victories secured possession of it. These events awoke Italy from her torpor, and en couraged the secret aspirations of the people. Reggio and Modena rose in insurrection against the Duke, and uniting themselves to Bologna and Ferrara, which had been wrested by the French from the rule of the Pope, they organ ized a republic, called Cispadana, which adopted the Italian tricolored flag, with the white and red of the French flag but with green substi tuted for blue.
Bonaparte also invaded the Pontifical States, obliging the Pope to subscribe to burdensome conditions of peace; then he pursued the Aus trian army across the Alps as far as Leoben, at which place Austria decided to conclude pre liminaries of peace (April 1797). Just at this time, in Verona, the populace and the peasantry rose in arms against the French and butchered them. This insurrection was quickly wiped out in blood, but General Bonaparte made use of it as a good pretext for an attack on the aristocratic republic of Venice, and by threaten ing war, he compelled it to transform itself into a democratic government. In Genoa also, by Bonaparte's orders, the ancient form of govern ment was abolished and the Ligurian League restored in imitation of the French govern ment. Lombardy, which had been retaken from Austria, was made part of the Republica Cispadana and they became one republic, called the Cisalpine Republic.