France intervenes in Italy in 1849

After the battle of Navaro in 1849, the Austrians seemed poise to crush the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the French government came very close to intervening on behalf of Sardinia and the Italians. In OTL, of course, they hadn't, and in part to avoid foreign intervention the Austrians abstained from any annexations. But suppose Italy had intervened on Sardinia's (and Italy's?) behalf. The 2nd Republic had just been founded, after all, and while Cavaignac wasn't eager for war, others certainly were.

Hrmm. This may require offing Napoleon III before 1848, and will of course play merry hell with the Crimean War. Thoughts?
 
so you get essentially a rerun of 1859 ? Maybe also a join effort by Piedmont-Sardinia alongside Kossuth's nationalists in Hungary to present a united front vs the Hapsburgs ?
 
The difference with 1859 is that this time, Radetzky is in command. And what would be the shape of the French forces just after their revolution?

The main problem for the Austrians is of course that they are still busy crushing the Hungarian revolt and the rest of their Empire is still restive. They can only apply a limited portion of their army to Italy.
 
First thought: In OTL the second republic pretty much kept to itself. How will conservative Europe react when the French not only have a revolution again, but promptly invade Italy again? It'll revive more of the suspicion toward French and republican governments.

Italy would benefit a lot from another decade-plus as a sovereign state. Certainly in 1848 there was a lot more enthusiasm for and faith in the Sardinians and in Italy. The defeat of the movement resulted in a real loss of idealism in the peninsula - the unification wars of the following decade were viewed quite cynically. Would it have the same structure as OTL Italy, or would French intervention shift things?

Hrm....
 
Well, with the Habsburg empire as disjointed as it was at the time, if the Franco-Italian forces can pull off a victory, than austria might fragment long before 1918. what's more, this Kingdom of Italy might provide backing to Amadeo's bid for the spanish throne.
 
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