Europe 1849: Fall of the Last Roman Republic

The formation of the new Roman Republic and expulsion of the Pope had been an affront to the Catholic powers of Europe. While Austria invaded the new Republic from the north, the French, despite their own recent republican revolution, landed troops in the south and laid siege to Rome. Eventually the Roman defenses gave way and their leader, the already famous revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, was forced to flee through the enemy lines to San Marino and then abroad with his small army of Italian patriots.

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Main Events

31 May–6 Jun 1849 Rumpfparlament

In late May 1849 the Prussian army advanced on the Free City of Frankfurt, prompting the remaining members of the German National Assembly (Frankfurt Parliament) to hurriedly move their parliament to Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Württemberg. The assembly was reconvened in its new home on 6 June, when its 154 delegates met under the presidency of Wilhelm Loewe. Markedly reduced in both size and authority, this new convention would become dismissively known as the Rumpfparlament (‘rump parliament’). in wikipedia

1 Jun–3 Jul 1849 Siege of Rome

At the beginning of June 1849 forces of the French Republic lay siege to Rome and by the end of the month were close to victory over Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Republican army. A truce was then arranged, allowing Garibaldi to escape north with 4,000 troops, while the French entered Rome peacefully on 3 July. Although this effectively restored the Holy See’s temporal power, Pope Pius IX refused to return until April 1850, after he had been assured that the French would not meddle in his affairs. in wikipedia

18 Jun 1849 Dissolution of Rumpfparlament

Despite its substantial loss of authority, the Rumpfparlament (Rump Parliament) of the German National Assembly in Stuttgart continued to act as if it were the legitimate German parliament, calling for popular and military resistance against any German states which did not recognize the Frankfurt Constitution. This soon proved to be too much for the Kingdom of Württemberg, which, encouraged by Prussian successes in neighboring Baden and the Palatinate, militarily occupied the parliamentary chamber in the morning of 18 June 1849 and bloodlessly suppressed attempts at resistance by some of the 99 remaining deputies. With most of its members expelled from the kingdom, and no other states willing to host it, the National Assembly was dissolved. in wikipedia