Why isn't my GP Sicily getting the option to form Italy?

[GeordieJames]

I've been slowly plodding away at a Sicily game, looking to set myself up as a Mediterranean player.

I've seized Tunisia, Constantine, much of Morocco, and snaffled Crete for good measure. This, plus decent efforts at industrialisation, have made Bourbon Two Sicilies a Great Power within fifteen-twenty years of the start of the game. Seeing as this is my first proper game, I was quite happy with that. I've undoubtedly made lots of mistakes, but, not a terrible start. My understanding was that if Garibaldi's redshirts spawned and defeated any Italian power, my GP Two Sicilies would have first refusal on forming Italy, rather than Sardinia-Piedmont. Keeping tabs on the small powers of the north has been a bit tricky, because France keeps getting my embassies banned. Never mind, I thought. If it comes to it, I'll form Italy, and France will have to deal with the loss of influence.

Imagine my surprise when Sardinia turned into Italy after Garibaldi and his Biscuitmen took over Lucca.

So the question is, did I miss something that I should have sorted to ensure I was given the choice of forming Italy? Did Sardinia's French backers somehow negate the fact that they weren't Great Powers in their own right? Did I just misunderstand the event, and do Sardinia always get the first bite of the cherry?

 

[WJS]

If another Italian power is a Great Power and Sardinia is not, then it's a 50/50 shot between the Great Power and Sardinia. In my Sicily game, Sardinia formed Italy, but Italy then fell to a series of revolutions until I marched in to restore order and sphere them. That gave me a great buffer state, access to Italian core CB, and let me be free to dominate the Mediterranean without a land route to attack.

It's not what you might dream of happening, but it's still very satisfying.

ETA: I think if you manage to sphere Sardinia before Garibaldi, then yes, you default to be the founder of Italy. But France works HARD to keep its neighbors in their sphere.

 

[GeordieJames]

ETA: I think if you manage to sphere Sardinia before Garibaldi, then yes, you default to be the founder of Italy. But France works HARD to keep its neighbors in their sphere.

It does seem to work very hard. My poor ambassadors to the Italian states north of Naples must be racking up some serious loyalty points on the new-fangled railways. The poor beggars in the Papal Court must think they're ona yo-yo, the frequency they get kicked out!

Right then, plan B: find an ally who'll help me if Italy and the Big Blue Blob decide they want they whole of the boot.

 

[GeordieJames]

Alas, the only willing dance partner were the Austrians.

I defeated the Italians (abandoning my North African possessions as the French in Algeria had me outnumbered at 3:1), but the Austrians couldn't manage to hold the French. I'd taken all of what had been the Papal States when the 99k stacks of blue doom got bored of spanking the Austrians out of Venice, and came to play.

Don't think there's a way back for a Two Sicilies that has lost Puglia.