IItaly remained a center of power until the 16th century when trade routes shifted away from the Mediterranean. The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Church lost influence over much of northern Europe.  Various Italian city states became vulnerable to conquest by Spain, France and Austria.  When the French leader Napoleon supported the unification of Italy as a way of creating a buffer against his many enemies, Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi led a popular movement that took over much of Italy ending in 1870 with the fall of Rome and unification of Italy.

The Congress of Vienna was convened and established a new balance of power in Europe centered on the five great powers – United Kingdom, France, Prussia, Habsburg-Austria and Russia.  It would remain in place until the Revolution of 1848, during which a liberal uprising affected all of Europe except Russia and Great Britain in 1867.   The Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed in 1871 and further, saw the unification of both Italy and Germany as nation-states from smaller principalities.