ABSTRACT
During the Crimean War, the Italian Peninsula was divided politically among various states. Among these, the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) proposed itself as leader of Italians' hope for union. In 1854, Piedmontese Prime Minister Cavour expressed the possibility to send an expeditionary corps to Crimea. The Piedmontese government accepted to send a military force, asking for money for the war expenses, admission to the peace negotiations and guarantees regarding the relations amongst Piedmont and Austria. General Alfonso della Marmora was charged to provide for the expedition and, on 25 April, the expeditionary corps started from Genoa. The Army disembarked at Balaklava in May 1855. Here they had to fight a terrible enemy: the cholera. On the Chernaya River, the Piedmontese were positioned for covering the great part of the Anglo-French troops that had laid siege to Sevastopol. On July 1855 the Sardinian Corps of Expedition in Orient was dissolved. The Italian losses were mainly caused by infective diseases and only 32 men fell fighting. The aim of the Orient Expedition was obtained: the Italian Question became a European diplomatic question, with the Piedmont as a trusted State.
