Italian Bersaglieri troops breached the Porta Pia, a gate in Rome's ancient Aure

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Bersaglieri Enter Rome: Italy Unifies at Last

Italian Bersaglieri troops breached the Porta Pia, a gate in Rome's ancient Aurelian Walls, on September 20, 1870, after a brief artillery bombardment. The assault was the final act of Italian unification: Pope Pius IX, who had been the last obstacle to Italian unity by refusing to cede his temporal domain, ordered his Papal Zouaves to offer token resistance before surrendering. The capture of Rome ended over a thousand years of papal temporal sovereignty. King Victor Emmanuel II entered the city on October 2, and Rome was declared the capital of a unified Italy. Pius IX retreated to the Vatican, declared himself a "prisoner," and refused to acknowledge the Italian state. The standoff lasted 59 years until the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

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September 20, 1870

156 years ago

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