Austria's decisive defeat of Napoleonic Naples restored Bourbon rule and stoked Italian nationalist resentment that contributed to the later Risorgimento.
Key Facts
- War declared
- 15 March 1815
- War ended
- 20 May 1815
- Duration
- Approximately 66 days
- Decisive battle
- Battle of Tolentino
- Concluding treaty
- Treaty of Casalanza
- Restored monarch
- Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Napoleon's return from exile during the Hundred Days prompted a pro-Napoleon uprising in Naples. King Joachim Murat, hoping to exploit the instability, declared war on Austria on 15 March 1815, seeking to expand and consolidate his Neapolitan kingdom before the broader European powers could stabilize the continent.
The conflict pitted the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples under Joachim Murat against the Austrian Empire. Austrian forces defeated Murat decisively at the Battle of Tolentino, collapsing Neapolitan resistance. The war formally concluded on 20 May 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza, ending Murat's rule.
Following the Austrian victory, Bourbon monarch Ferdinand IV was reinstated as King of Naples and Sicily, reversing the Napoleonic settlement. Austrian intervention, however, generated lasting resentment among Italian populations, fueling the broader drive toward Italian unification known as the Risorgimento in the decades that followed.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Joachim Murat.
Side B
1 belligerent