Capture of Rome

The capture of Rome by Italian forces on 20 September 1870 ended papal temporal rule over the city and completed the unification of Italy.

Porta Pia: A gate in Rome’s Aurelian Walls where Italian artillery breached the city’s defenses in 1870. The breach here became the decisive entry point for Italian troops.
Italian unification: The nineteenth-century political movement that united most of the Italian peninsula under one state. Taking Rome completed the territorial unification of the Kingdom of Italy.
Rome: The capital city of Italy and the former center of the Papal States. The capture brought the city under the Kingdom of Italy.
Roman Republic (1849): A short-lived republic established in Rome in 1849 and overthrown by French intervention. Its defeat restored papal rule, unlike the lasting Italian takeover in 1870.
Bersaglieri: An Italian light-infantry corps known for rapid movement and distinctive feathered hats. Bersaglieri troops entered Rome through the breach at Porta Pia.
Risorgimento: The political and cultural movement that sought Italian national unity and independence. Its nationalist aims made Rome central to the unfinished unification project.
Papal States: A territory in central Italy ruled by the pope as a temporal sovereign until 1870. Their remaining territory was annexed after Rome fell.
Battle of Mentana: A 1867 battle in which French and papal forces defeated Italian volunteers near Rome. It showed that French military protection still blocked Rome’s capture three years earlier.
Papal Zouaves: An international volunteer corps that defended the Papal States against Italian forces. They formed part of the papal defense that resisted the assault.
Kingdom of Italy: The constitutional monarchy proclaimed in 1861 that unified most of the Italian peninsula. Its government sought to make Rome the national capital.

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