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How did the Lateran Treaty of 1929 resolve the Roman Question?
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unification of Italy
The unification of Italy. The dates are those of annexation, first to Sardinia-Piedmont and after 1861 to the Kingdom of Italy.
The "Roman Question" refers to the long-standing dispute between the papacy and the Italian state that began in 1870, when Italy seized Rome and the Papal States during the final stages of Italian unification. The papacy refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new Italian state, leading to decades of diplomatic tension.1
The Lateran Treaty of 1929, signed by Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, finally resolved this conflict through a mutual recognition agreement. Under the terms of the treaty:21
- The papacy officially recognized the state of Italy with Rome as its capital.2
- Italy recognized the full sovereignty and independence of the Vatican City, a small territory over which the pope would hold absolute authority.21
This agreement effectively ended the dispute by establishing the Vatican as an independent entity, thereby reconciling the church with the Italian state.21