Lesson Sixty-Two

The Capture of Rome

Dear History Enthusiasts,

In this week's edition of Roundabout History, we turn our attention to a pivotal moment in European history: the Capture of Rome in 1870. Though less bloody than other battles of the 19th century, its impact was seismic, reshaping the map of Italy and marking the definitive end of centuries of papal political rule. What was once the heart of a religious empire became the crown jewel of a new nation.

A Divided Peninsula

For centuries, the Italian peninsula was a patchwork of kingdoms, duchies, and foreign holdings. At its center lay the Papal States, directly ruled by the Pope, who held not just spiritual authority but sovereignty over large territories. But by the mid-19th century, the ideals of nationalism and unification were sweeping across Europe. Figures like Giuseppe Garibaldi, Count Cavour, and King Victor Emmanuel II led the charge to unify Italy under one monarchy, chipping away at Austrian and French influence with military campaigns and political maneuvering.

By 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed—but Rome remained conspicuously outside its borders, protected by French troops under Napoleon III. The Pope, Pius IX, fiercely opposed losing control over his dominion, viewing territorial authority as inseparable from his spiritual mission.

The Withdrawal of France and the Italian Opportunity

The balance shifted with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. As French forces were recalled from Rome to defend their homeland, Italy saw its opportunity. With the Pope's foreign defenders gone, Victor Emmanuel II ordered the Italian army to march on the Eternal City, hoping to complete the national unification swiftly with minimal bloodshed.

The Final Push

On the morning of September 20, Italian troops breached the Aurelian Walls at the Porta Pia, after a short bombardment. The Papal forces, vastly outnumbered and poorly equipped, offered only token resistance. Within hours, Rome was effectively under Italian control. Pope Pius IX retreated into the Vatican, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the new regime. He declared himself a “prisoner in the Vatican,” a position that would define papal policy for decades.

The Birth of a Capital, the Death of a State

A referendum held shortly afterward confirmed overwhelming support for unification. Rome was officially annexed to the Kingdom of Italy and declared the new capital in 1871. Yet the Papacy would not recognize the legitimacy of the Italian state until the Lateran Treaty of 1929, when the Vatican City was established as a sovereign entity.

The Capture of Rome marked the end of the Risorgimento, the Italian unification movement, and the fall of one of Europe’s oldest theocracies. More than a military conquest, it was the culmination of a decades-long ideological struggle between religious absolutism and liberal nationalism—a struggle that would continue to echo in Italy's political life for years to come.

Until next time, remember to embrace the lessons of history, but never get caught up in its cobwebs.

Warm regards,
Hugh