The 'Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia' (; ) was a political entity established in northern
Italy after the defeat of
Napoleon, according to the decisions of the
Congress of Vienna, on
9 June 1815. The Kingdom ceased to exist when the remaining portion of it was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in
1866.
The Congress of Vienna combined the territories of
Lombardy (which had been ruled by the
Habsburgs since the 16th century, and by the
Austrian branch of the family from 1713 to 1796) and
Venetia (which had been under Austrian rule intermittently since 1797) into a single unit under the Austrian Habsburgs.
Administratively the Kingdom comprised two independent governments in the two parts. Lombardy included the provinces of Milan, Como, Bergamo, Brescia, Pavia, Cremona, Mantova, Lodi-Cream, and Sondrio. Venetia included the provinces of Venice, Verona, Padova, Vicenza, Treviso, Rovigo, Belluno, and Udine.
[Rosita Rindler Schjerve (2003) "Diglossia and Power: Language Policies and Practice in the 19th Century Habsburg Empire", ISBN 311017653X, pp. 199-200 ]
The Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia was first ruled by
Francis from
1815 to his death in
1835.
Ferdinand ruled from
1835 to
1848.
After a popular revolution on
22 March 1848 (''The Five Days of Milan''), the Austrians fled from
Milan, which become the capital city of the ''Governo Provvisorio della Lombardia'' (Lombardy Provisional Government). The next day,
Venice also arose against the Austrians, forming the ''Governo Provvisorio di Venezia'' (Venice Provisional Government). The Austrians, after defeating the
Sardinian troops at the
Custoza (24-
25 July 1848), entered in Milan (
6 August) and Venice (
24 August 1849), restoring Austrian rule.
Francis Joseph ruled over the Kingdom for the rest of its existence. His younger brother
Maximilian, who later became
Emperor of Mexico, served as his
viceroy in Milan between 1857 and 1859.
Lombardy was annexed to the embryonic Italian state in 1859, by the
Treaty of Zurich after the
Second Italian War of Independence; Venetia was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866 in the aftermath of the
Seven Weeks War, by the
Treaty of Prague.
[ ]
Kings of Lombardy-Venetia
★ Francis I of Lombardy-Venetia 1815-1835
★ Ferdinand I of Lombardy-Venetia 1835-1848
★ Francis Joseph I of Lombardy-Venetia 1848-1866
See also
★ Historical states of Italy
References