High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Wars of Italian Independence were three wars fought between Italian states and the Austrian Empire between 1848 and 1866, ending with the conquest of the entire Italian peninsula. An important aspect of Italian unification (Risorgimento), related minor conflicts and campaigns (such as the campaigns of the 1860s) are usually considered part of the Wars of Italian Independence. The unification of Italy was partly completed by the conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by Giuseppe Garibaldi s Expedition of the Thousand in 1860.