1848: the revolutions and their failure

The revolutionary wave that swept Europe in 1848 struck Italy and the German states within weeks of each other. In Milan, the population rose against the Austrian garrison during the "Five Days of Milan" (18-22 March 1848), driving Marshal Josef Radetzky's troops out of the city, while Venice proclaimed the Republic of San Marco under Daniele Manin on 22 March 1848. Charles Albert of Piedmont declared war on Austria on 23 March 1848, opening the First Italian War of Independence, but after early successes his army was decisively defeated at Custoza (July 1848) and again, after a brief resumption of hostilities, at Novara (23 March 1849), forcing his abdication. In Rome, the flight of Pope Pius IX in November 1848 allowed the proclamation of the Roman Republic on 9 February 1849, governed by a triumvirate that included Mazzini and defended militarily by Garibaldi until French troops restored papal rule in July 1849.