The Battle of Turin 1706

The siege and Battle of Turin was one of the crucial episodes of the War of the Spanish Succession. A triumphalist interpretation of the events began to emerge almost immediately after their conclusion, with eyewitness accounts themselves contributing to the creation of the myth. Particular aspects of the campaign were subsequently emphasised and reinterpreted, especially during the Risorgimento and the early years of Italian unification. As with many historical myths constructed retrospectively, the reality was gradually transformed into an idealised version of events, helping to explain the enduring prominence of the 1706 campaign in Italian historiography.

The valuable essays and studies published to mark the 300th anniversary of the siege examined many aspects of the campaign. In terms of its military history, however, attention has tended to focus on documentation produced by the principal protagonists, with less consideration given to the circumstances of the Italian states involved in the conflict. Among these was the State of Milan, which had been on the front line from the very beginning of the war.

Published to mark the 320th anniversary of the siege and Battle of Turin, this new study re-examines the campaign and places some of the traditional interpretations of events into a broader perspective. Drawing attention to aspects of the conflict that have received less consideration in previous studies, it also provides a comprehensive overview of the troops engaged in the operations, offering a fuller understanding of one of the most significant campaigns of the War of the Spanish Succession.