Treaty of Zürich Treaty of Zürich The Treaty of Zurich was signed by the Austrian Empire, the French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia on November 10, 1859. The agreement was a reaffirmation of the terms of the preliminary peace of Villafranca, which brought the Austro-Sardinian War to an official close. The treaty actually consisted of three separate treaties - a treaty between France and Austria, which reaffirmed the terms of the preliminary peace, re-established peace between the two emperors, and ceded Lombardy to France. A second treaty, between France and Sardinia, saw France cede Lombardy to Sardinia. The third treaty, signed by
Cobden–Chevalier Treaty that with such an alliance in being it did not matter what other European states thought. Rouher presented the Emperor with his commercial plan with sixty pages of favourable arguments, which the Emperor approved. The Emperor announced the treaty in a letter published on 15 January 1860 and it caused fury among the protectionist interests. Princeton University economist Gene Grossman described the treaty as the "first modern trade agreement." On 23 January 1860 at the Foreign Office the plenipotentiaries of both nations signed and sealed the treaty. Lord Cowley, the British Ambassador to France, and Cobden signed on behalf of