and Savoy being ceded to France. During the first half of 1859, the Franco-Sardinian forces quickly defeated the Austrians on land, culminating in the Battle of Solferino, while the French Navy blockaded the Adriatic Sea and forced the Austrian Navy to remain in port, preventing its use for the duration of the war. After the defeat at Solferino, Austria ceded most of Lombardy and the city of Milan to France under the Treaty of Zürich, who transferred it to Sardinia in exchange for Savoy and Nice. In response to Austria's quick defeat during the Second War of Italian Independence, Ferdinand Max proposed an even larger naval construction program than the one he had initiated upon his appointment as Oberkommandant. This fleet would be large enough not only to show the Austrian flag around the world, but also to protect its merchant marine as well as thwart any Adriatic ambitions from the growing Kingdom of Sardinia. However, constitutional reforms enacted in Austria after the defeat, as well as the recent introduction of ironclads into the navies of the world, made the proposal more expensive than he had initially intended. While the Archduke had previously been given free rein over naval affairs, and had enjoyed an unprecedented allocation of new funds to complete his various expansion and modernization projects, Austria's recent military defeats and financial difficulties in the immediate aftermath of the war stalled his plans for further construction projects. Despite these obstacles, the initiation of the Italian ironclad program between 1860 and 1861, coupled with Austrian fears of an Italian invasion or seaborne landing directed against Venice, Trieste, Istria, and the Dalmatian Coast, necessitated an Austrian naval response to counter the growing strength of the Italian Regia Marina. The Austro-Italian ironclad arms race After the Second War of Italian Independence, Sardinia ordered two small ironclads from France in 1860. While these ships were under construction, the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi began his campaign to conquer Southern Italy in the name of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He quickly toppled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largest state in the region in a matter of months. On 17 March 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of Italy. With the unification of Italy, the various navies of the former Italian states were merged into a single military force, named the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). By the time the two s had been