Cavour resigns after Villafranca

Background. Cavour, a leading figure in the movement towards Italian unification, served as Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia. Beginning with the Franco-Sardinian defensive alliance of 26 January 1859, he prepared for the liberation of northern Italy and war with Austria. During the conflict the Sardinian-French army won at Magenta (4 June 1859) and at the bloody Battle of Solferino (24 June 1859). Napoleon III, weighing the horrors of Solferino, the possibility of Prussian entry into the war, and the potential for an over-strong Piedmontese state, signed the Armistice of Villafranca with Austria on 11 July 1859.

Resignation. Around midnight on 11 July 1859, Cavour was formally still in office when Victor Emmanuel II and advisor Costantino Nigra made him aware of the Austrian counterproposal, which loomed an even worse picture for the Kingdom of Sardinia. The supplied passages do not state the exact date or mechanism of his departure from office; his reaction to the counterproposal is the closest sourced indication of the circumstances surrounding his resignation. He was recalled by Victor Emmanuel II on 22 December 1859.

Aftermath. Despite his resignation, Cavour had already designated men for liberated regions. Plebiscites for annexation occurred in Modena and Parma in August and September 1859. Victor Emmanuel II recalled Cavour on December 22, 1859, and he returned to office on January 21, 1860, facing new diplomatic challenges.