Victor Emmanuel II

Lore & Background

Victor Emmanuel was born in Turin as the eldest son of Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano, and Maria Theresa of Austria. He fought in the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) before becoming King of Sardinia following his father's abdication after the defeat at Novara. He appointed Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, as his Prime Minister, and consolidated his position by suppressing the republican left. In 1855, he sent an expeditionary corps to side with French and British forces during the Crimean War; the gallantry shown by Italian troops at the Battle of the Chernaya and the siege of Sevastopol allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to participate in the peace conference, where it could address Italian unification. This led to an alliance with Napoleon III, Emperor of France, and French support in the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in the liberation of Lombardy; as payment, Victor Emmanuel ceded Savoy and Nice to France.

Reader's Guide

Victor Emmanuel II's significance lies in his role as the monarch who presided over the unification of Italy, a process that transformed a collection of states into a single kingdom. By supporting the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, he enabled the rapid fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, though he halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, then under French protection. Through plebiscites, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna sided with Sardinia, and after the Battle of Castelfidardo, Victor Emmanuel marched into the Marche and Umbria, leading to his excommunication. He met Garibaldi at Teano, receiving control of southern Italy, and became the first King of Italy on 17 March 1861. In 1866, the Third Italian War of Independence allowed Italy to annex Veneto, and in 1870, he took advantage of the Prussian victory over France to conquer the Papal States after the French withdrew, entering Rome on 20 September 1870 and making it the capital on 2 July 1871. His legacy is embodied in the Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome, built in his honour.

Did You Know?

• Victor Emmanuel II was excommunicated from the Catholic Church after his forces defeated the papal army at Castelfidardo; the excommunication was lifted shortly before his death in 1878.
• He was buried in the Pantheon in Rome.
• He sent an expeditionary corps to fight in the Crimean War, which allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to participate in the peace conference and address Italian unification.
• The Italian national Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome contains the Altare della Patria.

Birth of a Premier under the Crown

The office of prime minister in Italy traces its origins to 1848, when it was first created within the Kingdom of Sardinia. Notably, this new position was never formally inscribed in the Albertine Statute, the constitution of that state, yet it nonetheless took root as a practical necessity of governance. The role gained its full significance with Italian unification: on 23 March 1861, the king appointed Camillo Benso di Cavour as the first prime minister of the newly unified kingdom. Cavour's tenure was tragically brief, however, as he passed away on 6 June of the same year, barely three months into his service. The monarchical appointment of the head of government became the defining mechanism of Italian political life, with the sovereign selecting the candidate who would then preside over the Council of Ministers. This foundational moment established a pattern in which the king's choice of premier would shape the direction of the young nation's politics for decades to come.

Constitutional Tensions Between Crown and Parliament

Under the framework of the Statuto Albertino, the prime minister and the broader cabinet occupied a delicate constitutional position. Ministers were politically accountable to the king while remaining legally answerable to Parliament. In theory, this dual responsibility gave the monarch considerable latitude in selecting and retaining a government. In practice, however, the political reality of the post-unification era gradually eroded the king's ability to impose a government of his own choosing or to sustain one against parliamentary will. Over time, the prime minister became both politically and legally responsible to the legislature, meaning that maintaining the confidence of Parliament became the essential condition for remaining in office. This shift transformed the relationship between the crown and the executive, turning what was originally a royal prerogative into a system where parliamentary support held decisive weight, even as the formal act of appointment remained in the hands of the sovereign.

A Fractured Political Landscape

The years following unification, stretching from 1861 through 1911, were marked by a persistent alternation between the Historical Right and the Historical Left as they took turns governing the country. This constant rotation reflected a deeply unstable political system in which no single faction could maintain a durable majority. The king, as the appointing authority, presided over this volatility, selecting candidates who could navigate the competing interests of the two dominant political currents. The first premier, Cavour, embodied the ambitions of the new state but could not survive long enough to consolidate his vision. Later, figures like Francesco Crispi rose to prominence, serving as prime minister in two separate stints and becoming internationally renowned alongside contemporaries such as Bismarck and Gladstone. Yet even Crispi's career ended in controversy, underscoring how fragile and contested the premiership remained throughout this era of alternating power.

The Monarch's Enduring Appointment Power

Throughout the monarchical period and beyond, the power to appoint the head of government remained one of the sovereign's most significant constitutional functions. The king selected the candidate for the premiership, a role that carried the weight of directing and coordinating the activity of all ministers within the Council of Ministers. This appointment power was not merely ceremonial; it placed the monarch at the center of every governmental transition. The system's fragility was exposed repeatedly: prime ministers sometimes had to resign and seek reappointment by the king to effect a cabinet reshuffle, a process that required the sovereign's cooperation and could theoretically be refused. Even in the twentieth century, the monarch's role in government formation proved decisive, as seen when King Victor Emmanuel III removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and installed Marshal Badoglio in his place. The formal title of the office itself evolved under royal authority, shifting from the fascist-era designation back to the original 'president of the Council of Ministers' in 1944.

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