Capture of Rome
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The Capture of Rome (September 20, 1870) was the final event of the long process known as unification of Italy, which led to the unification of the Italian peninsula under the House of Savoy arms in the 19th century.
During the Third Italian War of Independence, much of the Papal States had been conquered by the Piedmontese Army, a new unified Kingdom of Italy being declared in 1861. The last part of the Italian peninsula still missing was the area of Rome, which had defended by French troops and which, for mostly diplomatic reasons, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy refrained to attack.
The occasion presented with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870, which led the French government to call back home the garrison defending Rome. The Italian troops, under Raffaele Cadorna, crossed the Papal frontier in the night between September 11 and 12. the Papal garrisons had retreated from Orvieto, Viterbo, Alatri, Frosinone and other strongholds in the Lazio, Pius IX himself being convinced of the inevitability of a surrender[1]. when the Italians approached the Aurelian Walls that defended the city, he could indeed oppose them a feeble force led by General Kanzler, and composed by the Swiss Guards and a few "zouaves" volunteers from France, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries, for a total of 14,000 men against the c. 50,000 Italians.
Any proposal of surrender issued by Cadorna was rejected by the Pope. The Italian troops lied the siege on September 16. The final attack began with a heavy artillery barrage against three sectors of the walls. A breach was created around Porta Pia, in the northern sector of the walls. 49 Italian and 19 papal soldiers died. The Italians could subsequently enter the city without opposition, white flags appearing on the main churches of Rome. The famous charge of Bersaglieri troops into the breach, a popular theme of Italy's patriotic history, is instead a fake, photographed only after September 20[2].
The Leonine City in the Vatican, seat of the Pope, was occupied on September 21.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the tradition, the first member of the Italian army to enter the breach at Porta Pia was a dog, called Pio IX in disdain of the Pope. It carried a cart with some Protestant Bibles.
- The Via Pia, the road departing from Porta Pia, was rechristened Via XX Settembre (September 20). Subsequently, in numerous Italian cities the same name was given to the main road leading to the local Cathedral.
- Writer Edmondo De Amicis took part in the capture of Rome as an officer in the Italian army.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Rendina, Claudio (2000). Enciclopedia di Roma. Rome: Newton Compton.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Article by Angela Pellicciari (Italian)
- Historical summary at cronologia.leonardo.it (Italian)
