Victor Emmanuel II of Italy was a King of Sardinia-Piedmont who played a major role in Risorgimento, the Italian unification movement, and became the first King of unified Italy since the 6th century. He inherited the throne, as well as a strong sense of Italian nationalism, from his father King Charles Albert, who unfortunately faced defeat in the First Italian War of Independence against Austria in 1849. He continued his father's legacy and unified the Kingdom of Italy through various initiatives during the 1860s and 1870s. He became the first King of Italy on March 17, 1861, following the Second Italian War of Independence, even though Rome, Veneto, and Trentino were not yet conquered. The unification of Italy was finally completed with the help of Prussia in the Third Italian War of Independence during the 1860s and he subsequently ruled the nation from Rome until his death in 1878. He was succeeded by his son Umberto I.