The Piedmontese, following their defeat to Austria in the First Italian War of Independence, found that they could not defeat a great power such as Austria without allies. This led Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour to attempt to establish relations with other European powers, partially through Piedmont's participation in the Crimean War. In the peace conference at Paris for the Crimean War, Cavour attempted to bring attention to efforts for Italian unification. He found Britain and France to be sympathetic, but entirely unwilling to go against Austrian wishes, as any movement towards Italian independence would necessarily threaten Austria's territory in Lombardy and Venetia. Individual talks between Napoleon III and Cavour after the conference identified Napoleon as the most likely, albeit st