This episode shall focus on the Napoleonic Invasion of Italy of 1797.

I will start by briefly outlining the political conditions of the 18th-century Italian states and introducing important Italian intellectuals such as Pietro Verri and Gasparo Angiolini.

However, the core theme of this episode will be the military campaign itself whose outcome would ultimately define the future creation of the Italian state. I will be describing this campaign from all sides, the French, Austrian and Piedmontese, unlike most historians who have only focused on the French and Napoleon.

This first part will set the scene for 'Part 2' where I shall then go into much greater depth in describing the French occupation of Italy, and how the Italian nation was shaped in these years. Find more at: thestoryofhistory.com