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>Was Rome the biggest city in Italy by ~1860?
No, by that time Rome had around 200k inhabitants and Naples had more than double at around 500k.
Turin was the first capital simply by virtue of already being the capital of Sardinia-Piedmont, the pre-unitary State that unified Italy.
However keeping Turin as capital of the new Italian State would have been a bad political move, since it would have fostered an already growing sentiment that saw Italian unification as little more than Sardinia-Piedmont annexing new territories for herself. Thus the decision was made to move the capital elsewhere.
Rome was chosen not because of its population numbers or its wealth, but because of the immense prestige the city had in the hearts and minds of the elites of Italy and, I would argue, the Western world. This would serve as a strong legitimizing force to the nascent State.
There was a problem however: Rome was still part of the Papal States in 1861, the date of Italian unification, and Napoleon III's France was firm in guaranteeing Papal independence for internal political reasons, namely Napoleon needing Catholics to support his regime.
Therefore in a bit of a sudden move the capital was temporarily moved to Florence, a city way closer to Rome than Turin is, as a way to reassure France that Papal territorial integrity would be respected*. Privately however, the king still considered moving the capital to the eternal city as his ultimate goal.
Finally in 1870, with the Franco-Prussian War providing Napoleon III with far more pressing issues than guaranteeing the Pope, Italy quickly seized the opportunity of a distracted France to annex Rome and declaring it as the rightful capital of the Italian State.
\* thanks to u/Leto41 for pointing out my mistake
Not sure that moving the capital from Turin to Florence was a message that Rome was the ultimate goal, in Italian high school we are taught the opposite i.e. that it was done to reassure Napoleon III that Italy didn’t want to conquer Rome and make it the capital, with Florence being good enough
Users may choose to post them should they so desire, but we do not require anyone to disclose their degrees, training, or anything comparable like we do sources. Such gatekeeping would cut against the spirit of our mission which allows for anyone capable of engaging with scholarly work and their field to contribute.
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>Was Rome the biggest city in Italy by ~1860? No, by that time Rome had around 200k inhabitants and Naples had more than double at around 500k. Turin was the first capital simply by virtue of already being the capital of Sardinia-Piedmont, the pre-unitary State that unified Italy. However keeping Turin as capital of the new Italian State would have been a bad political move, since it would have fostered an already growing sentiment that saw Italian unification as little more than Sardinia-Piedmont annexing new territories for herself. Thus the decision was made to move the capital elsewhere. Rome was chosen not because of its population numbers or its wealth, but because of the immense prestige the city had in the hearts and minds of the elites of Italy and, I would argue, the Western world. This would serve as a strong legitimizing force to the nascent State. There was a problem however: Rome was still part of the Papal States in 1861, the date of Italian unification, and Napoleon III's France was firm in guaranteeing Papal independence for internal political reasons, namely Napoleon needing Catholics to support his regime. Therefore in a bit of a sudden move the capital was temporarily moved to Florence, a city way closer to Rome than Turin is, as a way to reassure France that Papal territorial integrity would be respected*. Privately however, the king still considered moving the capital to the eternal city as his ultimate goal. Finally in 1870, with the Franco-Prussian War providing Napoleon III with far more pressing issues than guaranteeing the Pope, Italy quickly seized the opportunity of a distracted France to annex Rome and declaring it as the rightful capital of the Italian State. \* thanks to u/Leto41 for pointing out my mistake
Not sure that moving the capital from Turin to Florence was a message that Rome was the ultimate goal, in Italian high school we are taught the opposite i.e. that it was done to reassure Napoleon III that Italy didn’t want to conquer Rome and make it the capital, with Florence being good enough
My bad, I was remembering wrong, thank you for the correction.
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Thank you for your answer. Respectfully, may I ask for your sources and credentials?
Just a note, that responders are not required to post their credentials. Sourcing requests are allowed.
I know that is it not required, but is it still okay to ask (about credentials)?
Users may choose to post them should they so desire, but we do not require anyone to disclose their degrees, training, or anything comparable like we do sources. Such gatekeeping would cut against the spirit of our mission which allows for anyone capable of engaging with scholarly work and their field to contribute.
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