Rome was under the control of Pope Pius IX after Italian Unification True or False

History · High School · Thu Feb 04 2021

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False. Rome was not immediately under the control of Pope Pius IX after Italian Unification. The unification of Italy, or the Risorgimento, was a complex process that took place over many years and was completed in 1870. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, but Rome remained under Papal control until 1870. It was only after the Franco-Prussian War, when French troops that had been protecting the Papal States were withdrawn, that Italian troops were able to capture Rome and annex it to the Kingdom of Italy. This event, known as the Capture of Rome, occurred on September 20, 1870, and it marked the final act of Italian unification. After this, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and Pope Pius IX lost his temporal powers over the Papal States, although he and his successors continued to exercise spiritual leadership over the Catholic Church.

Extra: The unification of Italy was a significant political and social movement that coalesced different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy. Before unification, Italy was divided into several independent states, with many under foreign control. Key figures in the Italian unification include Giuseppe Garibaldi, a national hero known for his efforts to unite Italy through military campaigns, and Count Camillo di Cavour, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia who played a diplomatic role in unifying the Italian states through policies and strategic alliances.

The struggle over Rome was particularly symbolic and contentious because it involved the Pope's temporal dominion. After 1870, Rome became the capital of newly unified Italy, and the former Papal States were absorbed. However, the Papacy did not recognize the Kingdom of Italy's annexation of the Papal territory until the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which resolved the "Roman Question" and established Vatican City as an independent sovereign entity. This also included the recognition of Roman Catholicism as Italy's state religion, which lasted until it was abolished with the revision of the Concordat in 1984.