February 1849

As Austrian troops fight down the Via Capporia in Milan, Guiseppe Sabatino prepares to fight to protect his family. The people of Milan have revolted against their Austrian overlords, and briefly govern themselves. Now the Austrians are back, and prepare to make sure Milan does not revolt for a long time. Guiseppe tells his young son, Francisco to run away from the city and never return. Guiseppe cannot leave, and will stay by his ill wife until the end. As Francisco flees in the wave of refugees, he sees his mother and father killed by an Austrian soldier and his small home being put to the torch. He vows that he will avenge the slaughter of his family.

After spending two years wandering from town to town in Savoy, barely surviving, Francisco asks a rich vineyard owner near Turin if he needs any extra hands. The aristocrat feels pity for the young man, and Francisco is taken in by the Arnaud family. Francisco is adopted by Charles Arnaud, and quickly proves to be an excellent manager of the Arnaud lands, and has made the family quite a lot of money.

In summer of 1859, Francisco Sabatino di Arnaud visits the court of King Victor Emmanuel II, and is well liked by the King and the Conte di Cavour. Arnaud is offered a position on Cavour�s staff, and he gains an affection for politics. Arnaud becomes Cavour�s prot�g� and helps him very much in the final stages of Italian unification. In 1860, Napoleon III withdraws from the Franco-Austrian war, and takes Nice and Northern Savoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia. Arnaud becomes disdainful of France and wants to get the land back from the French. Arnaud runs for Parliament in late 1860, and wins. At Cavour�s deathbed in 1861, Arnaud is endorsed as his successor, but Arnaud decides not to pursue the position of Prime Minister and accepts the job of Minister to Prussia. From 1861 to 1867, Francisco Sabatino di Arnaud serves the new Kingdom of Italy well as Minister to Prussia. He becomes a friend of Otto von Bismarck through repeated contact. Arnaud is impressed with Bismarck�s ideas for the unification of Germany, and sees a correlation between Italy and Prussia. Arnaud sees his opportunity to become Prime Minister of Italy, and intends to take up Bismarck�s policies and implement some of them back in Italy. In 1866, Arnaud is given approval to help Prussia in the Seven Weeks War, and Venice is awarded to Italy for its assistance in the matter. This only increases Arnaud�s affinity towards Germany, and Arnaud pledges to do what he can to assist Prussia and opens the door towards a possible non-aggression pact. Back in Italy however, Giuseppe Garibaldi�s army of patriots and his followers are conducting unauthorized attacks on Rome, first in 1862, and second in 1867. King Victor Emmanuel II calls Arnaud back to Turin, and asks Arnaud to try for Prime Minister. Arnaud is voted Prime Minister by a large majority, due to his work in the Seven Weeks War, and his promises to turn Italy into a powerful nation.

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