who crossed the alps and invaded italy with an army of elephants during the second punic war
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218Â BC was one of the major events of the Second Punic War, and one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare.[2] Bypassing Roman and allied land garrisons and Roman naval dominance, Hannibal managed to lead his Carthaginian army over the Alps and into Italy to take the war directly to the Roman Republic.
Italian unification The 2nd War of Italian Independence began in April 1859 when the Sardinian Prime Minister Count Cavour found an ally in Napoleon III. Napoleon III signed a secret alliance and Cavour provoked Austria with military maneuvers and eventually created the war in April 1859. Cavour called for volunteers to enlist in the Italian liberation. The Austrians planned to use their army to beat the Sardinians before the French could come to their aid. Austria had an army of 140,000 men, while the Sardinians had a mere 70,000. This proved less important than it first appeared, however, as Emperor Franz Josef had chosen his officers based on their aristocratic titles and lineage instead of their personal merit. This strategy was no doubt socially acceptable, but the emperor soon discovered blue blood was a remarkably poor guarantor of military victory. Instead of swiftly entering the capital of Sardinia, the Austrian army crawled, taking almost ten days to travel the 80 kilometres (50Â mi). By this time, the French had reinforced the Sardinians, so the Austrians retreated. Napoleon III's plans worked and at the battle of Solferino, France defeated Austria and forced negotiations. The settlement, by which Lombardy was annexed to Sardinia, left Austria in control of Venice. Sardinia eventually won the Second War of Italian Unification due to statesmanship instead of armies or popular election. The final arrangement was ironed out by "back-room" deals instead of in the battlefield. This was because neither France, Austria, nor Sardinia wanted to risk another battle and could not handle further fighting. All of the sides were eventually unhappy with the final outcome of the 2nd War of Italian Unification and expected another conflict in the future.[37]