Piedmont-Sardinia rejects Austria's call to disarm

Austria had issued an emphatic demand that the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia disarm within three days or face attack. Prime Minister Cavour made the Italian position clear on April 26 and on the following day, King Victor-Emmanuel told his troops in a proclamation that this "insulting demand received the reply it deserved." Two days later, Austrian troops crossed the Ticino River into Piedmont and the war began in earnest.  (By John Osborne)