Capture of Rome

Capture of Rome
Ludovico Tuminello · Public domain · source
Conflict	Capture of Rome
Partof	Italian unification
Caption	Entry of Italian troops into Rome
Date	20 September 1870
Place	Rome, Papal States
Result	Italian victory; annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy
Combatant1	Kingdom of Italy
Combatant2	Papal States
Commander1	Victor Emmanuel II; Raffaele Cadorna; Luigi Cadorna
Commander2	Pope Pius IX; General Hermann Kanzler; Giacomo Antonelli
Strength1	Approx. 50,000 (Esercito Italiano)
Strength2	Approx. 13,000 (Papal Zouaves)
Casualties1	Minimal
Casualties2	Minor military and civilian casualties

Capture of Rome

The Capture of Rome was the decisive military action on 20 September 1870 that resulted in the fall of the remaining territories of the Papal States to the Kingdom of Italy, completing the political process of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento. Italian forces led by King Victor Emmanuel II and commanded in the field by generals such as Raffaele Cadorna assaulted the Aurelian Walls near the Porta Pia, overcoming resistance from troops loyal to Pope Pius IX under General Hermann Kanzler, leading to annexation and the end of temporal papal rule.

Background and Preceding Events

By the 1860s the peninsula had been reshaped by campaigns and diplomacy involving Giuseppe Garibaldi, the House of Savoy, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and foreign actors such as Napoleon III and the Second French Empire. The Congress of Vienna settlements, the revolutions of 1848, and wars like the Second Italian War of Independence and the Third Italian War of Independence progressively reduced papal territory. After Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand and the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Rome remained the final focus because of the presence of French garrisons protecting the papacy, negotiated in treaties such as the Treaty of Turin and influenced by the 1864 September Convention. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 led to the withdrawal of French Imperial Guard troops from Rome, creating a strategic opening exploited by Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour’s successors and military leaders like Alfonso La Marmora and Raffaele Cadorna.

Military Campaign and Entry into Rome

Following the fall of Napoleon III at Sedan and the collapse of French intervention, the Italian government obtained a parliamentary mandate to occupy Rome. On 11 September 1870, an Italian siege began as the Royal Italian Army concentrated divisions near the Roman Campagna. Skirmishes around the Appian Way, the Janiculum, and the Trastevere precinct escalated into a short campaign. With artillery and engineer detachments under Raffaele Cadorna and logistical support from units previously engaged in the Austro-Prussian War and the Second Italian War of Independence, Italian troops breached the Aurelian Walls at the Porta Pia after erecting a breaching battery and detonating explosives in the early hours of 20 September. The Papal Zouaves, non-Italian volunteers and local papal infantry, offered resistance, while urban militias and civic authorities such as the Roman Civic Guard faced bombardment and street fighting. Italian forces entered central sites including the Roman Forum, the Capitoline Hill, and the precincts of Saint Peter's Basilica, leading to the capitulation of papal troops and the internment of Pope Pius IX within the Vatican.

Political Consequences and Annexation

The occupation culminated in a plebiscite organized by the Italian government, and the formal annexation of Rome and the remaining papal territories to the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed later in 1870. Victor Emmanuel II moved the capital from Florence to Rome, consolidating the administrative transition. Political figures and institutions such as the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Italy), and the Senate (Kingdom of Italy) integrated Roman representation, while statesmen including Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi debated the implications for republican and monarchical currents. The legal incorporation referenced statutes and instruments developed during the Italian unification period and provoked conflicts with canonical structures embodied by the Holy See.

Impact on the Papal States and the Papacy

The loss of temporal power transformed the Papal States into a significantly reduced ecclesiastical sovereignty confined to the Vatican complex; Pope Pius IX rejected the legitimacy of Italian annexation and employed the doctrine of the "Prisoner in the Vatican," withdrawing from public Rome. Key ecclesiastical figures such as Giacomo Antonelli and Curial congregations managed internal responses while the papacy sought moral authority through spiritual institutions like the Catholic Church and diplomatic channels including the Holy See’s diplomatic service. The rupture affected Catholic political movements across Europe, influencing organizations such as the Catholic Centre Party in Germany and clerical responses in nations like France, Austria-Hungary, and the United Kingdom.

International Reactions and Diplomatic Aftermath

European capitals reacted variably: the French Third Republic was preoccupied with the Franco-Prussian War and could not contest Italian action; the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia issued cautious statements; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland maintained recognition of Italian sovereignty while balancing relations with the papacy. The annexation prompted negotiations concerning the legal status of the papacy, international law of states, and questions raised at forums where envoys from states such as Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands engaged. Diplomatic isolation of the papal temporal claim deepened until the Lateran Pacts mediated by Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI in 1929 resolved relations between Italy and the Holy See.

Legacy and Commemoration

The event holds enduring symbolic weight in Italian national memory reflected in monuments like the Porta Pia Monument, artistic works by painters influenced by the Risorgimento, and historiography produced by scholars of the Italian unification. Annual commemorations, debates in institutions such as the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and references in literature by authors like Giosuè Carducci and Alessandro Manzoni frame the Capture as both a unifying achievement for the Kingdom of Italy and a contested act in Catholic historiography. The reconciliation established by the Lateran Treaty altered the political and cultural landscape, but the 1870 occupation remains a pivotal episode studied by historians of modern Europe, historians of the Papacy, and analysts of nation-state formation.

Category:Italian unification Category:1870 in Italy Category:History of Rome