ABSTRACT
The impetuous general, who despised Napoleon for toppling the Roman Republic in 1849, murdering the Second French Republic in 1851, abandoning Venice to Austria at Villafranca and stealing Nice and Savoy in the process, resented his interference in the Roman question. Forgetful of the disastrous consequences of the First War of Italian Liberation, when the Italians failed to resolve matters while working alone, the charismatic Garibaldi called for unilateral action to make Rome the capital of Italy. During the Ministry of Alfonso La Marmora from September 1864 to June 1866, the diplomacy of the Third War of Liberation, and then the waging of the war, dominated events. In the aftermath of the conflict, following the transfer of Venice to Italy, the Roman question again loomed large. There were those who suggested that during the course of the inevitable Franco-Prussian conflict, the Italians should wage a 'fourth war of liberation' to seize Rome.
