Turin, Treaty of 1860

Turin, Treaty of (1860) 

a treaty between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) concerning the transfer of the provinces of Savoy and Nice to France. The treaty was signed Mar. 24,1860, in Turin.

Two years earlier, according to the Plombières Agreement of 1858, Sardinia had promised to cede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for France’s collaboration in the war Sardinia was waging to liberate Lombardy and Venetia from Austrian oppression (seeWAR OF ITALIAN LIBERATION, 1859). The Treaty of Turin was concluded after France broke the terms of the Plombières Agreement and signed the Treaty of Villafranca (1859) separately with Austria. According to the Treaty of Villafranca, the Kingdom of Sardinia would receive only Lombardy, and Austria would retain Venetia.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Turin, Sardinia annexed not only Lombardy but also the states of central Italy, in contravention of the Treaty of Zurich of 1859, which confirmed the terms of the Treaty of Villafranca. Also according to the Treaty of Turin, plebiscites were held in Savoy and Nice in April 1860, after which these territories were annexed by France.