Cavour had paved the way for the creation of a united Italy. However, in the decade of the 1860's, his place was taken by one of the truly heroic figures of history, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Garibaldi, was born in Nice, which only became French in 1859.

In 1848 he had organised groups of Italian partisans to fight the Austrians and, in 1859, he did so again. In May 1859, he landed in Sicily with 1000 red-shined volunteers. The exploits of Garibaldi and his "Thousand" were reported in newspapers and spread throughout Europe. Against incredible odds he defeated every army sent against him. In every region of southern Italy that he occupied he declared himself to represent the authority of King Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The battles Magenta and Solferino in 1859 were French victories over the Austrians. These battles were won at such a cost that not only did Napoleon III make peace with Austria, but also the first battle gave its name to a shade of red. The second battle led to the foundation of the Red Cross by a Swiss, Henri Dunant. In honour of Dunant, the Swiss Confederation adopted the flag of the Red Cross as its national flag (with the colours reversed). The Geneva Convention of 1863, concerning the ways to conduct "civilised warfare" was another consequence.

By March 1861 so much of the Italian peninsula had declared its loyalty to Victor Emmanuel, that the " Kingdom of Italy " was proclaimed, even though Rome, the natural and obvious capital for all Italian patriots, was still under the control of the Pope. Finally, in 1870, an Italian army entered Rome and the Pope relinquished his authority over the city in exchange for the Vatican, which became an independent state. Italy was a united country at last.

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