page_title: First Italian War of Independence
section_title: End of the Roman Republic (24 April – 2 July 1849)
hierarchical_section_title: First Italian War of Independence / Aftermath of the Piedmontese defeat / End of the Roman Republic (24 April – 2 July 1849)
caption_attribution_description: Giuseppe Garibaldi (in bianco) difende Roma dall'assedio francese durante la Repubblica romana (1849).
context_page_description: The First Italian War of Independence was part of the Italian unification or Risorgimento. It was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conservative states from 23 March 1848 to 22 August 1849 in the Italian peninsula.
  The conflict was preceded by the outbreak of the Sicilian revolution of 1848 against the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. It was precipitated by riots in the cities of Milan and Venice, which rebelled against Austria and established their own governments.
  The part of the conflict which was fought by King Charles Albert against Austria in northern Italy was a Royal war and consisted of two campaigns. In both campaigns, the Kingdom of Sardinia attacked the Austrian Empire and after initial victories was decisively defeated, losing the war as a result. The decisive events of the first and second campaigns were the battles at Custoza and Novara, respectively.
  At the beginning of the royal war, the Kingdom of Sardinia was supported by the Papal States and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, which then withdrew, having barely participated in the fighting at all.
context_section_description: For the forces of restoration, the problem of the Roman Republic was not yet resolved, since Rome under the triumvirate of Aurelio Saffi, Carlo Armellini and Giuseppe Mazzini still resisted. For Austria, which was still tied up with the Hungarian revolution, occupying Rome as well was too onerous. In France however, Louis Napoleon feared the expansion of Austrian influence in Italy and wanted to win the loyalty of France's Catholics, so he organised an expedition to restore Pius IX to the papal throne.
  On 24 April 1849, a French army led by general Charles Oudinot disembarked at Civitavecchia. Oudinot attempted to take Rome on 30 April, but was soundly defeated by Garibaldi. In the meantime, an expeditionary force from the Kingdom of Naples had invaded southern Lazio, advancing to Frascati and Tivoli, but it too was stopped by Garibaldi, in the Battle of Palestrina on 9 May and rebuffed for good in the Battle of Velletri on 19 May.
  Only after the arrival of 30,000 reinforcements did Oudinot reopen hostilities on 3 June, launching a surprise attack on the Romans at Villa Pamphili (he had sworn to maintain a truce until 4 June). After they took Villa Pamphili, the French deployed their artillery and began to bombard Rome. Fighting continued until 1 July and the day after that, the Roman Republic surrendered. Pius IX returned to Rome on 12 April 1850 and cancelled the constitution that he had conceded in March 1849.
  Garibaldi left Rome with a small group of volunteers a little before the capture of the city in a vain attempt to reach Venice. Although pursued by the Austrians, he managed to reach Piedmontese territory, where he was expelled on 16 September 1849. He thus began his second exile, which would see him visit America and then Asia and Australia.
caption: Giuseppe Garibaldi (in white) defends Rome from French troops. Painting by George Housman Thomas
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