Kingdom of Central Italy

In 1848, the idea was put forward of establishing a Central Italian Kingdom with Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany as King as part of a wider Italian Federation. Leopold instead sided with Austria and the Pope after Austria's success in Lombardy-Venetia and being scared by the revolutionaries and republicans in Florence.

What if Leopold went along with the plan and a Central Italian Kingdom was established with more or less the same borders as the historic United Provinces of Central Italy?

UnitedProvincesofCentralItaly.png

Might the Hapsburg Kingdom down the line be able to negotiate an annexation of Lombardy-Venetia?
 
Well if Austria would go really bad in '48 maybe to hold a lingering grip in Italy could support an Italian Haspburg king... hmmm I would like to read a TL exploring this possibility now.
 
I don't know about taking parts of the Papal State, at best you could form it out of Hapsburg controlled Italian states and some of Savoy.
 
I don't know about taking parts of the Papal State, at best you could form it out of Hapsburg controlled Italian states and some of Savoy.
I think it's fairly likely that the Papal Legations would be the first thing to go. It was nearly passed to several other states multiple times in OTL.
 
In 1848, the idea was put forward of establishing a Central Italian Kingdom with Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany as King as part of a wider Italian Federation. Leopold instead sided with Austria and the Pope after Austria's success in Lombardy-Venetia and being scared by the revolutionaries and republicans in Florence.

What if Leopold went along with the plan and a Central Italian Kingdom was established with more or less the same borders as the historic United Provinces of Central Italy?

UnitedProvincesofCentralItaly.png

Might the Hapsburg Kingdom down the line be able to negotiate an annexation of Lombardy-Venetia?

Looks like Napoleons Kingdom of Italy border wise. Since this is still in the era when Napoleon still gave the Austrians night terrors, no wonder they didn't want this. Plus if I remember right the Austrians where still really invested in Northern Italy. So they would definitely not let this new Kingdom make it to years end without an invasion.
 
Looks like Napoleons Kingdom of Italy border wise. Since this is still in the era when Napoleon still gave the Austrians night terrors, no wonder they didn't want this. Plus if I remember right the Austrians where still really invested in Northern Italy. So they would definitely not let this new Kingdom make it to years end without an invasion.

Well, if Leopold is playing the role of Italian gendarme and the alternative is a revolutionary Italian Republic...
 
Assuming Central Italy absorbs Lombardy-Venetia as a Hapsburg ally of Austria, Sardinia will be in an uncomfortable situation.

Would Sardinia still join the Crimean War? Might France and Austria strike a deal regarding a partition of the country? Would Sardinia ally itself to France desiring protection from an irridentist Italy?

The issue of the Papacy and Naples would come up as well. There'd probably be calls to unite the whole Peninsula, but historically Italy (the Holy Roman and Napoleonic Kingdoms) never included Southern Italy (Naples), though it did include the lands of the Papal States. Naples's population was pretty conservative and loyal to the Church and to the Bourbons IIRC, but Sicily was more rebellious (there having been revolts in Messina and Palermo in 1860). Perhaps Sardinia, with Garibaldi's support, absorbs Sicily?
 
Might France and Austria strike a deal regarding a partition of the country? Would Sardinia ally itself to France desiring protection from an irridentist Italy?

Napoléon III tried this for most of the 2e Empire. It went through various phases (my favourite being a tripartite split of Italy between a Murat king in Naples, a Habsburg central Italy and a Sardinian north), but Austria kept putting him off and playing games (not that the French didn't also play games back). There was an article called Austria, France and the Venetian Question, Its by N.N. Barker from 1964. Hope it helps @Jackson Lennock
 
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Looks like Napoleons Kingdom of Italy border wise. Since this is still in the era when Napoleon still gave the Austrians night terrors, no wonder they didn't want this.
That barely looks like Napoleonic Italy at all. It includes Parma and Tuscany, which had been annexed to France after 1805 and 1807 respectively, and excludes the strategically important regions of Lombardy and Venetia.
I suspect the Habsburgs could theoretically prop up this Tuscan-led union as a counterweight to Savoy, under the pretense that a myriad of small duchies would be too weak to resist a Savoyard invasion. OTOH, i could see this backfiring, if the Tuscans decide to ally with the Savoyards.
 
That barely looks like Napoleonic Italy at all. It includes Parma and Tuscany, which had been annexed to France after 1805 and 1807 respectively, and excludes the strategically important regions of Lombardy and Venetia.
I suspect the Habsburgs could theoretically prop up this Tuscan-led union as a counterweight to Savoy, under the pretense that a myriad of small duchies would be too weak to resist a Savoyard invasion. OTOH, i could see this backfiring, if the Tuscans decide to ally with the Savoyards.

If the Kingdom absorbs Lombardy-Venetia, it sort of looks like the Napoleonic Kingdom.
 
If the Kingdom absorbs Lombardy-Venetia, it sort of looks like the Napoleonic Kingdom.

I rather doubt this aspect would come to pass. Austria is not going to be handing over some of its richest crownlands for nothing, and K.o.C.I is not going to be diverging from Viennese policy for quite some time if at all. Only in the case of a Habsburg collapse is that move viable, and in that case it would be hard for the conservative forces to hold down the romantic nationalists
 
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