La presa di Roma del 20 settembre 1870 nota anche come capitolazione di Roma o Breccia di porta Pia, è uno degli episodi più iconici del risorgimento italiano, oltre ad essere passato alla storia come l'atto finale dell'unificazione italiana ed uno dei passaggi conclusivi dell'Ancient Regime, ma cosa è successo esattamente in questa data storica che, per oltre 70 anni è stata una delle più importanti ricorrenze e festività del regno d'Italia?
As always, let's go in order, and let's try to clarify.
The first thing to know about September 20, 1870 is that this date represents only the final act of the entire " war "Italo-Pontifical, or rather of the war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Papal State, the first, an extremely young parliamentary monarchy, the second, an absolute monarchy, of a traditional mold, also politically very young, as the papal state existed officially as a political entity, only since 1815.
The military clash between the two Italic kingdoms officially begins at the end of August and early September of 1870, when the Kingdom of Italy declares war on the Papal State, with the intention of annexing its territories to those of the Italic kingdom.
The first mobilization sees the sending of about 50,000 men to the northern and southern borders of the papal state, awaiting a move by the papal army, at that time, under the command of the papal staff, embodied by the generals Hermann Kanzler , of German origins and Fortunato Rivalta , of Italian origin.
The two Generals, as the Italic troops approached, mobilized to defend the papal territories, and concentrated their resources and men in the capital of the state, Rome, whose capitulation would have meant the end of the papal state.
On 10 September 1870, the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Italy, Raffale Cadorna (father of Luigi Cadorna and younger brother of Carlo Cadorna) in command of the operation, which was headed by the Generals on the field Nino Bixio, Enrico Cosenz, Gustavo Mazè de la Roche, Emilio Ferrero and Diego Angioletti, received the order to cross the border with the Papal state and begin the occupation.
In the five days following September 10, the various generals manage to occupy various areas and cities, without encountering too much resistance, along the road that would have led them to Rome.
The first battalion to cross the border was under the direct command of Nino Bixio, who headed for Viterbo, to then reach Rome.
On September 15, the army of the kingdom of Italy, consisting mainly of Carabinieri and Bersaglieri , had reached the gates of Rome, which, in anticipation of the arrival of the Italic troops, had been closed and the walls had been armed by direct order of General Kanzler. Also on September 15, Cadorna sent an emissary to the Roman command, with a letter addressed to the commander Kanzler in which he was asked to open the gates of the city and allow a peaceful occupation of Rome. Kanzler, whose primary task was to defend the integrity of the papal state and Rome, for "obvious reasons" he declined the invitation, informing Cadorna that his men, assisted by numerous city militias, would defend the city with every means at their disposal.
Thus began a brief siege of Rome, waiting for more precise orders on what to do. Meanwhile, Pope Pius IX threatens excommunication for anyone who has given the order to attack Rome. A threat that in other times would have resulted in the almost immediate end of the conflict and the withdrawal of the Italic forces, but that threat, in the late 19th century, in a relatively modern state, a parliamentary monarchy, whose King was King by the will of the Italian people and not by some divine mandate, they sounded like hot air, and had almost no effect.
In the end, the order to attack Rome arrived, as I said, the pontiff's threats had almost no effect, I say almost because there was actually some effect, given that, the executive order to attack Rome, and start the cannon. of the walls, it did not come from Cadorna, but from Artillery Captain Giacomo Segre , who, being of Jewish origin, could not be excommunicated.
Giacomo Segre at dawn of about 20 September so the order to attack the Roman walls and the cannonade starts at 5:00 in the morning, and its first target is Porta San Giovanni, followed in rapid succession by Porta San Lorenzo and Porta Maggiore and, at 5:10 , the attack also begins on Porta Pia.
The cannonade continues incessantly for over 4 hours, and stops briefly at 9:00 about, when some observers notice a breach at about 50 meters to the south of Porta Pia, to verify the actual presence of the breach, some bersaglieri are sent and at 9:30 about, having verified the collapse of the walls, Cadorna orders to concentrate the fire on the breach, in order to widen it enough to allow his men to be able to pass and break into the city, without running the risk of being targets for shooting. sign, passing in an extremely confined space and under enemy fire.
At 9:35 the cannons of Cadorna resume firing on the breach and after about ten minutes of concentrated fire, at 9:45 the breach was about 30 meters , enough for men to pass safely.
At this point, generals Mazè and Cosenz are tasked with forming assault units, and preparing for the raid on the papal capital, however at 10:00 am from the Capitoline walls the white flag is hoisted , a universal sign of surrender by the papal state and therefore an invitation to a ceasefire.
Rome has now fallen, the men of Kalzner and Rivalta have surrendered, the city militias have received the order not to continue the clashes, but, General Nino Bixio is not of the same opinion and his men continue to fire for others thirty minutes abundant, with the intent to discourage any possible resistance, but de facto obtaining the opposite effect, the city militias, seeing the surrender not respected, decide in turn to continue the resistance, with consequent clashes inside the walls that would have led to numerous “ civilian victims "And arrests. The guerrilla operations within the walls continue until 12/13, and then gradually decrease until they cease completely.
At 17:30 , the generals of the papal state staff, Kalzner and Rivalta, signs the capitulation of Rome , which from 21 September officially passed under the control of the militias of the kingdom of Italy.
The capitulation of Rome, however, does not automatically mark the end of the clashes, in fact Rome had fallen, but the papal state continued to exist politically, the local and city militias continued to be loyal to the pope.
The experience of the Papal State officially ends on 27 September 1870, when the royal Italian army also manages to occupy Castel Sant’Angelo , thus reducing to only the “Vatican state”.
The annexation of the papal state to the kingdom of Italy was officially consecrated and recognized following a annexation plebiscite held on 2 October .
Among the consequences of the Italo Pontifical War, there are the famous papal disposition of the Non Expedit, with which the pontiff urged Italian Catholics not to exercise the vote in the Italian state, and the non-recognition of Italian sovereignty over the territories of the former papal state by the pontiff.
On the other hand, to re-establish relations between state and church, the kingdom of Italy produced the, less known, law of guarantees , voted in parliament on May 13, 1871 , law n.214, having an official title "Law on the prerogatives of the Supreme Pontiff and of the Holy See, and on the relations of the State with the Church." , this law, which will later be replaced by the Lateran Pacts of 1929 .
The law of guarantees was made up of 20 articles divided into two sections, in the first section reference was made to the papal figure, guaranteeing the inviolability of the person, sovereign honors, the right to have armed guards at their service in defense of the Vatican palaces, Lateran, chancellery and Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo. These buildings were recognized by the same law as extraterritoriality and consequently were exempt from ordinary Italian laws. Furthermore, the Vatican state was guaranteed full freedom of postal and telegraphic communication, as well as the right of diplomatic representation. Last but not least, an annual payment of Lire 3,225,000 was guaranteed to the Vatican state (approximately € 14.5 million) for the maintenance of the pontiff, the Sacred College and the apostolic palaces.
In the second part of the law, on the other hand, the effective relations between the Italian state and the Catholic Church were regulated, guaranteeing both maximum peaceful independence, furthermore the clergy were granted unlimited freedom of assembly and the bishops were exempted from the oath to the King, as, considered by the Italian state as representatives / ambassadors of a foreign state, and, along the same lines, the churches were assimilated to the status of "embassy".
Bibliografia
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A.M.Banti, Il risorgimento Italiano
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A.M.Banti, L'età contemporanea. Dalle rivoluzioni settecentesche all'imperialismo