Victor Emmanuel II
Victor Emmanuel II was King of Sardinia from 1849 and became the first King of unified Italy in 1861, reigning until his death in 1878. Working in alliance with his Prime Minister Count Cavour and the nationalist general Garibaldi, he presided over the gradual annexation of the Italian peninsula by the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont. His unification was achieved through a mixture of diplomatic alignment with France and Prussia, popular revolutionary movements, and opportunistic annexation — a parallel of German unification demonstrating the triumph of nationalist-conservative politics over the Vienna settlement.
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: King of Sardinia, King of Italy
