Cold Open

It’s just before 5 AM, on September 20th, 1870.

An artilleryman in the Italian Army trudges up a hill overlooking Rome, a lantern swinging in one hand, illuminating his path.

He’s an experienced veteran of several campaigns, but the target in his sights this morning is unlike any he’s attacked before. Today, this artilleryman has been ordered to target a city which—on paper, at least—is the capital of his country.

More than a thousand years ago, when the Roman Empire collapsed, the Italian peninsula fragmented into a number of smaller kingdoms. Over the past decade, those separate countries have reunited to form a new Kingdom of Italy under Victor Emmanuel II. Now, there’s only one major holdout left: the Papal States, a slice of central Italy ruled by Pope Pius IX from Rome. But the new Kingdom of Italy has also claimed Rome as its capital, and the Italian Army is here to take it by force.

As he reaches his destination on the hillside, the artilleryman drops a shell into his gun’s muzzle and firmly pushes it into place with a pole. Then, he pulls out his pocket watch and confirms that it’s time for the bombardment to begin.

At the sound of a signal whistle, the artilleryman lights his cannon’s fuse and steps away, waiting for the gun to fire and lurch back on its wheels.

Other cannons on the hillside fire too. And as the smoke clears, the artilleryman spots debris crumbling down Rome’s walls. But he doesn’t stop to admire the result of his shooting. He gets back to work, aiming and loading his weapon for another shot. He’s confident that, if all goes to plan, he’ll be dining in the streets of Rome by this evening.

The artilleryman’s confidence is well placed—Rome will capitulate within a few hours. Nine years after the first Italian parliament declared Rome the capital of Italy, the new kingdom will finally control the city.

The attack on Rome will not only be noteworthy as the culmination of Italian unification. But it will also mark the moment when the Pope—the leader of the Catholic Church—loses his standing as the secular ruler of a major state. Going forward, the Pope and his successors will be spiritual leaders only, after the once-powerful Papal kingdom abruptly ceases to exist following the Italian assault on Rome on September 20th, 1870.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is September 20th, 1870: Italian Troops Occupy Rome.

Act One

It’s dawn on May 26th, 1859 just outside Varese, a small city in Lombardy, Italy; eleven years before the Italian Army will capture Rome.

Sardinian Captain Enrico Cosenz peeks over the top of a shallow trench and his heart sinks at the sight of his well-organized enemy.

​One month ago, after years of tension, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war against Piedmont-Sardinia, a kingdom in northwest Italy ruled by Victor Emmanuel II.

The king welcomed the battle. Right now, the Austro-Hungarians control Lombardy – a kingdom in northern Italy. And strategically placed at the gateway to the Italian peninsula, and with plenty of economic resources, Lombardy seems essential to Victor Emmanuel’s primary ambition: the unification of Italy. After centuries of fragmentation, he believes Italy’s states will be far stronger together, as a unified nation, than they are apart. He also recognizes that he will have far more power as the ruler of a united Italy than he does as King of Piedmont-Sardinia.

Victor Emmanuel sees this conflict with the Austro-Hungarians as an opportunity to claim Lombardy for himself and begin the process of Italian unification. So, soon after Austro-Hungarian troops flooded into Piedmont, one of Victor Emmanuel’s volunteer armies, known as the Redshirts, headed into Lombardy, taking the fight into the enemy’s own territory.

Today, the Austro-Hungarians have been provoked into battle and Captain Cosenz is on the front line. Across from him are thousands of Austro-Hungarian soldiers arranged in three neat columns and marching toward Captain Cosenz’s trenches.

Cosenz involuntarily ducks as artillery opens up, firing over the heads of the advancing infantry and at the Redshirt earthworks. The Austro-Hungarians have eight cannons and the Redshirts have none. But Cosenz and the rest of the Redshirts are fighting for a cause they truly believe in—a united Italy, free from the control of other European powers—so Cosenz straightens up, waves his arm, and calls his regiment to attack. Then he is the first of the Redshirts to scramble out of the trench, and behind him hundreds of bayonets glinting in the dawn sun as his men follow.

Cosenz’s regiment charges the nearest Austro-Hungarian column, and the enemy line panics, scattering in the face of such a determined attack. But the fleeing Austro-Hungarians have no clear path to escape and run across their own advancing comrades, ruining the neat line. Soon, the whole Austro-Hungarian Army is a confused mess. Its officers desperately call orders, trying to restore discipline—but it’s every man for himself as the Austro-Hungarians flee.

At the end of the day, more than 100 Austro-Hungarian soldiers lie dead on the battlefield—more than five times the number of killed Redshirts. And after another Sardinian victory the following day, the defeated Austro-Hungarians agree to a peace treaty, one that cedes Lombardy to Piedmont-Sardinia, expanding Victor Emmanuel’s kingdom.

One year later, Captain Cosenz finds himself in the middle of another bayonet charge—this time at the Battle of Calatafimi. Cosenz is still fighting with the Redshirts on behalf of Piedmont-Sardinia. But now, they’re up against a new rival: the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a realm that controls the island of Sicily and the southern half of the Italian peninsula.

At the Battle of Calatafimi, the Redshirts’ ferocity and determination pushes the enemy from the field once more, allowing their general, Giuseppe Garibaldi, to capture Sicily for King Victor Emmanuel, before leading his army in an invasion of southern Italy. Thanks to the stunning success of his Redshirts, General Garibaldi hands over vast swathes of territory to the growing Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, until it occupies the majority of the Italian peninsula.

The following year, the deputies of the Piedmontese parliament declare the creation of a new Kingdom of Italy, with Victor Emmanuel as its monarch. Ten days later, the deputies announce that the capital city of this new nation is Rome. But the declaration is more of an aspiration than a reflection of the true state of affairs.

Rome is still under the control of Pope Pius IX, leader of the Catholic Church, and the Catholic-controlled lands known as the Papal States. And Victor Emmanuel dare not attack them. That would incur the wrath of his French allies, who have a long-standing alliance with the Papal States and has supplied Rome with French troops, if attacked. So, Victor Emmanuel keeps his distance.

But within a decade, war will break out elsewhere in Europe. This fortuitous turn of events will change the balance of power and finally grant Victor Emmanuel an opportunity to take control of Rome and realize the unification of Italy.

Act Two

It’s September 10th, 1870 at the Apostolic Palace in Rome, nine years after Victor Emmanuel II formed the Kingdom of Italy.

Gustavo Ponza, the Count of San Martino, stands in front of a closed door outside the Pope’s audience chamber. He taps his foot impatiently, wondering when the Catholic leader will finally admit him.

The Count is confident that the Pope is employing psychological tricks by forcing him to wait. But Ponza reminds himself that he shouldn’t let it bother him. He’s an ambassador with a message from the King of Italy—and he knows that regardless of the Pope’s mind games, it’s his nation in the more powerful position, not the Papal States.

In part, this is thanks to another conflict, outside of Italy.

Three months ago, the Franco-Prussian War began. After the Prussians won a series of quick victories, French Emperor Napoleon III recalled the French garrison from Rome to protect their homeland instead. But the extra troops weren’t enough, and Napoleon was captured and deposed.

Now, not only does the Pope lack French troops to defend Rome, but France’s new republican government is far less sympathetic to the Papacy’s plight than Napoleon was. For the first time in a decade, Rome feels well within Victor Emmanuel’s reach. So, Count Ponza is prepared to wait as long as necessary to carry out his diplomatic mission, which he hopes will complete Italy’s unification.

The doors finally open and Ponza is called into the presence of the pontiff. He walks into the finely decorated room and hands over a letter from the Prime Minister of Italy. The Pope skims the lengthy correspondence, before glaring at Ponza and asking him to summarize the contents. Ponza explains that Victor Emmanuel is offering to garrison Rome with Italian troops. The Pope will be allowed to remain in Rome with a portion of the city under his full jurisdiction, and the Kingdom of Italy will pay an annual stipend to the Catholic Church. In return, the Pope must allow the Italian Army into Rome, and he must agree to the unification of Papal territories into the Kingdom of Italy.

Ponza thinks it’s a reasonable proposal, one that will allow the Pope to accept the inevitable loss of Rome and the Papal States without humiliation. But Pius IX does not see it the same way. He throws the letter onto a table and begins ranting at Ponza. He accuses the Italians of being a “set of vipers” who are “wanting in faith,” before furiously dismissing the Count.

The next day, Ponza departs Rome, his diplomatic mission a failure. But the Pope’s rejection won’t halt Victor Emmanuel’s ambitions. If the Pope won’t let go of Rome willingly, then the Italian king will simply have to take it by force.

So, just as Count Ponza leaves the Papal States and returns to Italian soil, General Raffaele Cadorna crosses the border in the opposite direction. As commander of the Italian Army, he’s accompanied by more than 50,000 soldiers.

But as he enters what is now hostile territory, he takes a restrained and diplomatic approach. Cadorna chooses to move slowly. He keeps tight discipline, banning his troops from looting and targeting civilians, and giving Papal forces time to retreat.

Five days after crossing the border and with barely a shot fired, General Cadorna seizes control of the Papal States’ most important port cities, ensuring they are unable to resupply by sea. Then, his men take control of several inland towns, finding on each occasion that the Pope’s garrisons have left before the Italians’ arrive.

As his troops near Rome, General Cadorna slows his advance even further. He gives the Pope ample opportunity to reopen negotiations. He sends a letter to the head of Rome’s troops, requesting that the Papal soldiers offer no resistance. But the Pope's commander dismisses Cadorna’s offer and declares that the Papacy is prepared to fight and that General Cadorna and the Italian government will be judged by God and by history for any casualties that result from their assault.

After the Papal States’ rejection of his offer, General Cadorna will reluctantly order his army to surround Rome’s walls. Then, on the morning of September 20th, they’ll launch their attack, bringing tensions to a dramatic conclusion with an explosive barrage of cannon fire.

Act Three

It’s 9 AM on September 20th, 1870, inside the Apostolic Palace in Rome, four hours after the Italian Army began to bombard the city.

Pope Pius IX sits stony-faced in a plush armchair as arguments break out across the room. Clergymen, diplomats, and the administrators who run the Papal States raise their voices in anger and desperation, bemoaning the dire situation they’re in.

After the Italian artillery began its attack, ambassadors from other European powers flocked to the palace, demanding that the Pope negotiate a diplomatic solution. Now, they try to emphasize that the Papal States cannot win against the far larger and better-equipped Italian Army. But Pope Pius is obstinate. He wants to prove that the holy Papacy has not yielded to the Italian regime by choice.

As the arguments continue, a new arrival interrupts. A hush falls over the room as a red-faced soldier enters the library, breathing heavily. He bows before the Pope, before handing over the document he rushed to deliver.

Pope Pius reads the news that the city wall has been breached, and Italian soldiers are pouring into Rome. Papal troops are putting up brave resistance, but men on both sides are dying.

The Pope lays the paper to one side, clears his throat, and declares that the time for fighting is over. His troops have put up enough resistance to show that the Papal States are not willingly acquiescing to Italian control. So now, he orders a white flag to be hoisted above the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Pope’s surrender brings an end to the existence of the Papal States and to the power his predecessors have wielded in central Italy for more than a thousand years. The results of a swiftly organized poll suggest an overwhelming majority of ordinary Romans want to join the new Kingdom of Italy. But Pope Pius has not given up his authority over Rome by choice, and diplomatic relations between the Papacy and their Italian conquerors will remain uneasy for the next sixty years.

Only in 1929 will a new pope sign the Lateran Treaty, officially renouncing the Catholic Church’s claims over the old Papal territories, excepting a small enclave in the Vatican City. Thanks to that agreement, Rome will be indisputably confirmed as the capital of Italy, a de facto status it gained after Italian troops occupied the city in the crowning moment of Italy’s unification on September 20th, 1870.

Outro

Next on History Daily. September 21st, 1922. After photographing a total solar eclipse, astronomers proved that space is curved, confirming Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking theory of relativity.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.