The recent plebiscite in northern Italy had established that the vast majority of residents there wished to be annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia so as to join the swiftly moving march towards a united Italy. Almost immediately King Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont-Sardinia decreed from Turin that the provinces that made up Emilia, which included Bologna, Modena, Parma, were now a part of his kingdom. Tuscany followed four days later. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Great Britain, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 57 (London, H.M.S.O., 1871), 1029.