Solving the Roman question 1861-70

Question 1

Why did the Italian government want to reduce the Pope’s influence further?

Answer 1

• Syllabus of Errors

- Dogma of Papal infallibility

Question 2

What caused a Catholic backlash in France in 1860?

Answer 2

Napoleon III failed to stop Cavour from annexing most of the Papal States (except Latium and Rome)

Question 3

When did the French government decide to keep French troops in Rome?

Answer 3

March 1861

Question 4

Why was the French presence strengthened in Rome in 1862?

Answer 4

Garibaldi unsuccessfully attempted to take Rome in 1862

Question 5

Who negotiated the September Convention in 1864?

Answer 5

Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon III

Question 6

What were the terms of the September Convention?

Answer 6

• the Pope could raise an army of 10,000 and the French would leave within 2 years
• Italy would not attack Rome, and instead move their capital to Florence

Question 7

Why was Napoleon in favour of the September Convention?

Answer 7

• guarding Rome was expensive

- ideologically disagreed with the Pope

Question 8

What unfortunate consequence did the September Convention have?

Answer 8

• riots in Turin, killing 23 people

- Minghetti sacked

Question 9

When did Florence become the capital?

Answer 9

April 1865

Question 10

As per the September Convention, when did the last French troops leave?

Answer 10

December 1866

Question 11

Why did the French return to Rome in 1867?

Answer 11

Garibaldi attempted to take Rome a second time

Question 12

How many men from his “party of action” did Garibaldi gather for his 1862 attempt on Rome?

Answer 12

4,000

Question 13

How was Garibaldi defeated (and shot in the foot) at Aspromonte in 1862?

Answer 13

• Garibaldi: 2,000 men
• Government: 3,500 men
• Garibaldi’s men didn’t wish to fight against ‘fellow Italians’

Question 14

Why was Garibaldi’s 1862 attempt embarrassing for the Italian government?

Answer 14

they had wounded and imprisoned a nationalist hero

Question 15

What did the September Convention force Garibaldi to do?

Answer 15

• he escaped from house arrest on Caprera and gathered his men to “capture Rome and abolish the Pope”
• took 8,000 men

Question 16

Where was Garibaldi defeated by the French on November 3rd 1867? how?

Answer 16

• Mentana

- France was equipped with modern breech-loading rifles

Question 17

Why did no uprising take place against the Pope in 1867?

Answer 17

the Church was economically and spiritually vital to the residents of the Papal States

Question 18

Why did the French finally withdraw their troops from Rome in 1870?

Answer 18

Franco-Prussian War

Question 19

What was the initial plan of Victor Emmanuel II in relation to the final annexation of Rome?

Answer 19

the Italian Army would peacefully enter Rome, and offer protection to the Pope

Question 20

In response to the letter by Victor Emmanuel II, what was the reaction by Pius IX?

Answer 20

“I am no prophet, nor son of a prophet, but I tell you, you will never enter Rome!”

Question 21

When did the Italian Army cross the papal frontier?

Answer 21

11th September 1870

Question 22

When did the Italian Army reach the Aurelian Walls?

Answer 22

19th September 1870

Question 23

What did Pius IX do in response to the Italian army’s invasion?

Answer 23

ordered his troops to put up a token resistance

Question 24

When was the Porta Pia (gate of the Aurelian Walls) breached?

Answer 24

20th September 1870

Question 25

How many were killed during the annexation?

Answer 25

• 49 Italian soldiers
• 4 Italian officers
• 19 Papal soldiers

Question 26

When were Rome and Latium finally annexed by plebiscite?

Answer 26

2nd October 1870

Question 27

What was the result of the Plebiscite?

Answer 27

• Yes: 133,681

- No: 1,507

Question 28

When was the capital finally shifted from Florence to Rome?

Answer 28

July 1871

Question 29

Before the September Convention, aside from Florence, what other candidates for capital city were there?

Answer 29

Milan, Naples

Question 30

Why was Napoleon III in a difficult position?

Answer 30

• had to protect the Pope in order to maintain French Catholic support
• Alienating the Italians would result in them turning to Britain, reducing French influence

Question 31

How was Piedmont’s anticlerical legislation extended to the south? how did this contribute to the brigands war?

Answer 31

• 2,000 monasteries closed

- 20,000 monks and friars made homeless (some joined the Brigands)

Question 32

What was Garibaldi’s slogan?

Answer 32

“Rome or Death”

Question 33

How many Italian troops were sent to Rome during the 1870 annexation?

Answer 33

50,000

Question 34

What did the Pope declare himself to be after annexation of Rome?

Answer 34

“Prisoner in the Vatican”