Fire is opened, a breach made, ... Rome is taken: The Porta Pia episode in the London Press

The Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870 can be considered a crucial stage in the Risorgimento, a process in which Britain, perhaps more indirectly than directly, played an important part. In my chapter I review what a substantial, representative sample of the British Press wrote in those days about four main themes connected to the event: (a) the dogma of Papal infallibility; (b) the so-called Questione Romana or Roman Question; (c) the capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, and (d) the plebiscite for the annexation of Rome and the Papal States. Based on these findings, the chapter concludes with an examination the British attitude of mind to the Italians and Italy of the day. Although such an attitude was related to the then political situation, it was also deeply rooted in the age-old traditional mixture of strong British admiration and undisguised contempt for all things Italian.