Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796 at age 26 and changed everything. He dissolved ancient republics (Venice, Genova), looted art on an industrial scale, and accidentally sparked the idea of a united Italy.
Plan a history trip →1796–97: First Italian Campaign. Napoleon defeats Austrian and Italian armies. Creates the Cisalpine Republic (north) and Ligurian Republic. 1797: Treaty of Campo Formio. Venice given to Austria (ending 1,100 years of independence). Napoleon’s troops loot the Horses of St. Mark (returned 1815). 1805–14: Kingdom of Italy (Napoleon as king), Kingdom of Naples (his brother-in-law Murat as king). 1815: Napoleon falls, Congress of Vienna restores the old order.
Marengo, near Alessandria: battlefield where Napoleon won the decisive 1800 battle (small museum, free). Elba: Napoleon’s first exile (Palazzina dei Mulini, €8, his house for 10 months in 1814–15). Milan: Arco della Pace (triumphal arch, Napoleonic era). Venice: Napoleon called Piazza San Marco "the drawing room of Europe" and destroyed churches to build the Ala Napoleonica wing.