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Why did Piedmont agree to give Savoy and Nice to France?

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Unification of Italy — unification of Italy The unification of Italy. The dates are those of annexation, first to Sardinia-Piedmont and after 1861 to the Kingdom of Italy.

Piedmont agreed to cede the territories of Savoy and Nice to France primarily as a strategic diplomatic concession to facilitate the unification of Italy.

Following the Second Italian War of Independence, revolutionary movements in central Italy led to the expulsion of local rulers and a strong desire among the populace to annex their territories to Piedmont. However, Napoleon III of France was initially opposed to these annexations, fearing that the creation of a powerful new state on the French border would be contrary to French interests and might scandalize his Catholic subjects.12

To overcome this resistance and secure French approval for the annexation of the central Italian duchies and the Papal Legations, Cavour offered to exchange Savoy and Nice for French consent. This exchange was formalized in a treaty in March 1860, allowing Piedmont to proceed with the annexations and significantly expand its territory and population.12