The French government publication Moniteur reported on this day that Russia had proposed a Great Power conference designed to cool the warlike preparations of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and the Austrian Empire. Most in Europe were certain that such a war would bring France to the aid of the Italians; in fact, the two governments had, in secret, planned for just such a outcome providing that the Austrians could be made out to be the aggressor. Despite this, the Moniteur went on to say that France would acquiesce to such a conference. Such a summit never took place and the Austrians were at war with the French and the Italians within weeks.(By John Osborne)
Source Citation
The Annual Register or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1859 (London: F. & J. Rivington, 1860), 210.