On this day in 1870, Italian troops occupied Rome, leading to the eventual incorporation of Rome into the Kingdom of Italy and the limiting of papal governing authority to the Vatican itself and a small district around it.
The Capture of Rome was the final event of the unification of Italy (Risorgimento), marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula (except San Marino) under the Kingdom of Italy.
The Italian Army brought an end to the Papal States, which had existed since 756, and the temporal power of the Holy See, and led to the establishment of Rome as the capital of unified Italy. It is today widely commemorated throughout Italy, with the Via XX Settembre street name in a considerable number of localities
In early September 1870, King Victor Emmanuel II sent Count Gustavo Ponza di San Martino to Pope Pius IX offering a face-saving proposal that agreed to the peaceful entry of the Italian army into Rome, under the guise of protecting the pope. Along with this letter, Ponza carried a list of provisions by Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza, setting out ten articles as the basis of an agreement between Italy and the Holy See.
The Italian state would guarantee the pope's freedom to communicate with the Catholic world, as well as diplomatic immunity both for papal nuncios and envoys in foreign lands and for foreign diplomats at the Holy See.
The government would supply a permanent annual fund for the pope and the cardinals, equal to the amount currently assigned to them by the budget of the pontifical state, and would assume all papal civil servants and soldiers onto the state payroll, with full pensions as long as they were Italian.
The Pope's reception of San Martino [10 September 1870] was unfriendly. Pius IX allowed violent outbursts to escape him. Throwing the King's letter upon the table he exclaimed, "Fine loyalty! You are all a set of vipers, of whited sepulchers, and wanting in faith." He was perhaps alluding to other letters received from the King. After, growing calmer, he exclaimed: "I am no prophet, nor son of a prophet, but I tell you, you will never enter Rome!"
San Martino was so mortified that he left the next day.
Ponza then informed Lanza of the pope's refusal of the ultimatum.[13] The next day, 11 September, Italian troops led by General Raffaele Cadorna crossed into the Papal States with the objective of taking Rome, occupying the port city of Civitavecchia on 16 September.
Under instructions from the Italian government, which still hoped to avoid seizing the capital by force, Cadorna sent a final appeal to the papal government later the same day for the peaceful surrender of Rome.
On 18 September, Minister of War Cesare Ricotti-Magnani gave Cadorna the order to attack Rome but informed them that the Leonine City, which would be reserved for the pope, should be spared, while also advising moderation.
When the Italian army approached the Aurelian Walls that defended the city, the papal force, commanded by General Kanzler, was composed of the Swiss Guards and the Papal Zouaves—volunteers from France, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and other countries—for a total of 13,157 defenders against some 50,000 Italians.
The American consul in Rome, Maitland Armstrong, described the civilian population as unwilling to defend the pope's rule, and only two hundred people in the whole city answered the papacy's call for volunteers.
The Italian army reached the Aurelian Walls on September 19 and placed Rome under siege.
On 20 September, at 5 a.m., the Italian troops began firing cannons at the city walls.
By 6 a.m., one hour after the attack began, foreign envoys began to arrive at the Vatican to meet the pope, including the ambassadors of France, Austria-Hungary and Prussia.
Shortly afterward, the terms of the Act of Capitulation were presented by Cadorna and signed by Kanzler at Villa Albani, by which all of Rome, excluding the Leonine City, came under the control of the Royal Italian Army. A white flag was hoisted from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, and the defeated papal forces were escorted to St. Peter's Square by Italian troops.
As part of the terms of surrender, the Papal Army was disbanded and its foreign soldiers were immediately repatriated. The pope was allowed to retain the Swiss, Noble, and Palatine guard units.
With most of the papal military demobilized, protests against Pius took place in Leonine City the day after the attack.
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September 20, 1870
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An history I never knew or learned in school. Thank you for sharing these events, great work.