VICTOR EMMANUEL II (Vino= EMANUELE, ve-to're-i) a-man-oo-E11), king of Sardinia, 1849-61 and of Italy 1861-79: b. Turin, 14 March 1820; d. Rome, 9 Jan. 1878. He was the eldest son of Charles Albert (q.v.), icing of Sardinia, was trained in military science and in the campaign of 1848-49 against Austria was commander of a brigade. After the battle of Novara, Charles Albert abdicated in favor of his son., Nictor Enunanuel, who thereupon be came king of Sardinia, 23 March 1849. The new king soon showed himself faithful to the Con stitution in his negotiations with Austria and finally received the title of the honest king (Re galantuomo). With the aid of wise numsters, among whom was the celebrated Cavour, he regulated the finances, reorganized the army, secularized the Church property, gave a stimulus to trade and commerce and prepared his coun try. to assert its independence in an effort to unite Italy. To this end, and in order that Sar dinia might claim to be a power in European politics, he sent 17,000 troops to the Crimea (1855) to fight with France and England wainst Russia. In the Congress of Paris (1856) Sardinia took part and her demands that Aus tria should deal more leniently with the Italian provinces which she occupied were supported by France and England. Cavour also entered into an alliance with Napoleon III when they met at Plombieres, securing France as an ally against Austria when that power invaded Piedmont 23 April 1859. Several of the Italian states having now declared in favor of Victor Emmanuel as their king, he took command of the army, and entered upon a campaign against Austria with Napoleon III as his ally. After a series of en gagements, ending with the victory or ma genta, he entered Milan with Napoleon III. The Austrians were routed and Lombardy .an nexed to Sardinia after the battle of Solfermo, when suddenly Napoleon III closed the war by the Treaty of Villafranca 11 July 1859 which frustrated the hope of malting a united Italy. The Italians declared their cause was betrayed by this treaty and Cavour, disheartened, retired for a time into Switzerland. This period of eoom soon passed when Tuscany, Modena, Parma and the Papal States declared for Vic, tor Emmanuel as their ldng. This was followed
by the conquest and annexation of Sicily by Garibaldi; and as the Sardinian king was now master of the peninsula, with the exception of Rome and Venetia, it was decreed by the Senate 5 May 1860 that he should receive the tirie of king of Italy. It had been a great personal loss to Victor Emmanuel when he was required to cede Nice and Savoy, the cradle of his family, to France; and the death of Count Cavour 1861 was at once a grief to the ldng and some thing that seemed, for the time, a national dis aster. Yet, although deprived of his favorite minister, Victor Emmanuel gave constant aften tion to the material interests of Italy, so that roads were constructed, the coinage was recast, tithes suppressed and the ecclesiastical estab lishments placed under the control of the state. Nor did he slacicen his efforts to obtain the complete freedom of Italy from foreign occu pation and in this he was greatly favored by circumstances. In the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 the Italian troops took the field in alliance with the latter power, and although checked at Custozza and Lissa, Victor Emmanuel received the cession of Venetia 7 Nov. 1866 as the re sult of the Austrian defeat at Sadowa. Rome still remained in the hands of the papal authorities, supported by France; but when the Franco-Prussian conffict began, in 1870, the Frtmch troops were withdrawn and on the 206 of September, Victor Emmanuel entered Rome, which bectane thenceforward the capital of Italy. The efforts of the king were now di rected to the development of Italy and the maintenance of peace through a reconciliation with Austria and an alliance with Germany. His death produced profound sorrow through out Italy, for he was beloved not less for his honest manliness of character than for the Benefits which his courage and -wisdom had conferred upon 'his country. 'Consult Rufer, Kiinig Victor Emanuel> (1878) ; Godkin, (Life of Victor Emanuel II> (1879); Massari, 'La vita ed regno di Vittono Emanuele IP (1880); Capeletti, (Scoria di Vittorio Emanuele II e del suo Regno> (1894); Stilltnan, (The Union of Italy> (1898).