However, unfortunately, the war was not very successful the French lost over 12,000 men and the battles of Magenta and Solferino saw the loss of many. Napoleon, despite being military leader could not stand the bloodshed. Furthermore, Austria showed no immediate signs of weakening and there was little hope that what was left of the Piedmontese and French army could breach the Austrian defences. Therefore, dissatisfied that the war would bring about unification, Napoleon decided to cut the war short at seven weeks and call a truce with Austria. He met with Franz Joseph at Villafranca, without consulting Cavour. They met at Villafranca as a signal of the end of the war. Because Piedmont had sent Piedmontese troops to fight, Piedmont was invited to the treaty held at Zurich. On one hand, the settlement seemed to contribute to the eventual unification of Italy because it was agreed that Piedmont would receive Lombardy. Despite the fact that, it had to first had to be ceded to France to be passed by Napoleon to Victor Emmanuel, just to save Austria any humiliation. Also it was decided that the previous rulers of the Central Duchies (Parma, Modena and Tuscany) would eventually return to rule, respectively. Conversely, Italian unification still had a long way to go, as Austria was allowed to keep Venetia and Cavour handed over Nice and Savoy to France, when he returned as prime minister in 1860. Nonetheless, it is most noticeable that the treaty of Zurich was significant in the process of unification, regarding Lombardy and the Central Duchies.
Elsewhere, with Cavour out of office for nine months, the war had had a surprisingly good effect on Piedmont. His work as prime minister had been successful to say the least, as Piedmont began to expand greatly. In early 1860, in Tuscany the population voted for annexation by Piedmont. However the voting was carefully rigged by Cavour . Likewise in Emilia (consisting of Modena, Parma and the Romagna in the Papal States), Cavour organised rigged voting in support of union with Piedmont. After the votes were counted, in Turin decrees were published declaring Tuscany and Emilia as part of the Kingdom of Piedmont. Undoubtedly, the new borne power and expansion of Piedmont, including its annexation with Emilia and Tuscany; significantly raised hopes and expectations of uniting Italy.
Furthermore, the war with Austria helped to unify Italy, in regard to the states of Naples and Sicily. Garibaldi, despite having left Italy over ten years ago, was deeply distressed upon hearing news of Nice and Savoy being ceded to France. Having being born in Nice, Garibaldi was angered and plotted to get it back into Italian hands. He began working on an armed expedition to recover Nice from France, he planned to blow up the ballot boxes which would determine the outcome of the votes for Nice to remain Italian or become French. However if this plan had been carried out Naples and Sicily, perhaps, would not have been unified so suddenly. Upon hearing news of a revolt occurring in Sicily, Garibaldi took actions for the cause of Italian unification. He gathered many volunteers and in May 1860 he was ready to set sail to Sicily, insistent on helping Victor Emmanuel and Piedmont. Cavour, unsuccessfully, attempted to stop Garibaldi in his actions. But it was not long before Garibaldi had possession of Palermo and was the dictator of Sicily. As predicted he swiftly began to make a northward journey, in hopes of conquering Naples. Unbeatable, Garibaldi’s men fought their way into the city of Naples. With the King of Naples nowhere to be seen, Garibaldi ruled as dictator over the Kingdom of Naples, for the next two months. Naples and Sicily were unified! Therefore it is evident that without the consequences of the war (Nice and Savoy being ceded into French hands) Garibaldi would not have taken necessary action, and Naples and Sicily would not have contributed to Italian unification, so promptly.
However the war against Austria, perceptibly did not result in the unification of the whole of Italy.As The war was not able to directly or even indirectly, unify Rome nor Venetia. After Garibaldi’s success in Naples and Sicily, Cavour was nervous that a similar attack on Rome, as Garibaldi intended, would cause great difficulties for both France and Piedmont. Many of the “thousand” men (it was infact now around 60,000 men) were in support of Mazzini’s ideals. Which meant that they were opposed to the Church. Cavour and Victor Emmanuel were fearful that these men would run free of Garibaldi’s control and cause Rome to become a progressive state. Therefore the Pope and Cavour prevented any chance of unification of Rome. It was a very delicate and tricky situation for all Cavour and Garibaldi alike, as the French forces were still and Rome and they were fearful of trifling with France. Therefore in 1861 Rome remained un-unified. Also, the war against Austria ultimately, did not result in the unification of Venetia. Under the terms of the treaty of Zurich, Venetia was to be left for Austrian domination.
In conclusion, the war against Austria in 1859 resulted in the unification of the major parts of Italy. Italy was so very close to ultimate unification by 1861 as all states except for Rome and Venetia had been united under Victor Emmanuel. Also Italy was considered practically unified as the aftermath of the war had seen the expansion of Piedmont to the whole of the new Kingdom of Italy.