1870 Italian Unification Liberation of Rome Medal

Original 1870 Italian Unification period Liberation of Rome Medal with replacement ribbon. The Medal of Merit for the Liberation of Rome was instituted on September 27, 1870 by the Provisional Government of Rome and awarded to those who took part in the defence and liberation of Rome from 1849 to 1870, the Italian troops marching into the city and annexed it into the united Italian Kingdom. In 1870, following the Franco-Prussian War, France could no longer guarantee the Independence of the Papal States, with the Italian Forces seizing the opportunity and storming the city the same year. After the seizure of the city, the Italian Kingdom moved its capital from Florence to Rome in 1871.