Julius Jakob Freiherr von Haynau was an Austrian general who suppressed insurrectionary movements in Italy and Hungary in 1848 and later. While a hugely effective military leader, he also gained renown as an aggressive and ruthless commander. His soldiers called him the "Habsburg Tiger"; those opponents who suffered from his brutality called him the "Hyena of Brescia" and the "Hangman of Arad".

The Ten Days of Brescia was a revolt which broke out in the northern Italian city of that name, which lasted from 23 March to 1 April 1849.