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The Iberian-Italian War, also known as the War of 1852 or the Loyalist War, was an armed conflict lasting from 1852 to 1855. The fighting was between the Iberian Union, which had recently undergone a revolution which brought democracy, and the Kingdom of Italy, which put down a democratic revolution.
Belligerents[]
Iberian Union[]
Leopoldo O'Donnell, the first president of the Iberian Union
The Iberian Union was a nation located in the Iberian Peninsula that was formed when Napoleon I unified the two conquered nations of Portugal and Spain. Several guerrilla factions against the Union and French domination were formed, the most notable the Los Patriotas, or in English The Patriots. The Patriots were not against the Union but rather its monarchy, which was under the rule of Joseph I, the elder brother of Napoleon I.
During the 1840s, Joseph I's life dragged on, and this made his rule weaker, and the Patriots stronger. The death of Joseph I in 1845 marked the ascension of his daughter, Zenaide I. During the transition from king to queen, rebellions broke out. The powerful French and Italian Armies was sent in, and the rebels weakened. Fortunately for the rebels, the French were forced to leave to fight the Germans in the War of 1847. This allowed the rebels to strike.
After Barcelona, Lisbon, and even the capital city of Madrid were taken by the rebels, Zenaide I was forced to flee to Rome, Italy. The Loyalists were forced to leave the Iberian Peninsula, and most of them left for the Balearic Islands. Back in the Iberian Union, Leopoldo O'Donnell was elected as the first president. He claimed that the Loyalist threat would be crushed, and soon the Iberian Army was heading to the Balearic Islands.
Kingdom of Italy[]
Map of the Italian Peninsula in 1850. The Kingdom of Italy is in red
The Kingdom of Italy was a nation consisting of the two-thirds of the Italian Peninsula; the northern third belonging to the French. The nation was formed, like the Iberian Union, by Napoleon I. In 1847, in the beginning of the European Revolutions, beloved King Joachim II died, and his son, Joachim III, ascended the throne. Revolutions against the monarchy were beginning, and the revolutionaries base was at Palermo, in the island of Sicily. Joachim III ordered the military to head down the Italian Peninsula and capture Palermo. The Italian Army did just that, capturing rebel strongholds along the way. The campaign took two years, ending in 1850 with the capture of Palermo by Joachim's force. Joachim became a powerful ruler, and his military became one of the most feared in Europe.
Joachim was also sympathetic for the Loyalists in the Iberian Revolution. When he learned that the fleeing Loyalists had set up camp in the Balearic Islands, he sent the army there to protect them. During the two years between the end of the Iberian Revolution and Iberian-Italian War, an estimated 500,000 troops had been sent to the Balearic Islands. The major city of Palma was the capital of the Kingdom of the Balearics, which was declared as a nation by Joachim. Joachim's younger brother, Achille, was declared the first king. The Iberian Union did not recognize the new Kingdom, and immediately sent troops to the islands.