Italy gets a new Capital

Artaxerxes

Banned
So Garibaldi and his thousand take Italy and Sicily, however the fledging Italian government chooses to draw a line under the past and instead of making its capital in Rome it chooses to make it elsewhere.

What sort of effects would this have on the culture? Could it improve chances of Italy making a clean break with the past and improving nationalism/making it less of an argument and more unified as a country?

What are the other candidates, I've heard Florence was once considered but this may have just been an over eager tour guide trying to sell me on the city.
 
Florence was the capital of Italy between 1864 and 1871, but Rome was very prestigious and it was always seen as a temporary move away from the capital of Sardinia which would be convenient for moving into Rome later.

So perhaps what you need is for a much longer period of time before Rome becomes Italian. Something like France winning the Franco-Prussian War (or there not being a war at all), and so the Papal States is kept proped up for another 10 or 20 years. Having had the capital in Florence for a few decades might be just enough inertia that it doesn't move to Rome afterwards. But this scenario is pushing matters somewhat.
 
Not to mention that if you want a united Italy, a capital where all Italians feel drawn to - instead of a regional center - is probably a good idea.
 
There are only two reason Rome will not become the capital of a united Italy:

- The Papal States continue to exist so is not conquered
- a meterorite hit her and his destroyed

Except this event, Rome will become the capital, is too important as a symbol of unification to not do it
 
There are only two reason Rome will not become the capital of a united Italy:

- The Papal States continue to exist so is not conquered
- a meterorite hit her and his destroyed

Except this event, Rome will become the capital, is too important as a symbol of unification to not do it

Yeah. In any scenario with a recognizable Risorgimento and Papal States annexed to Italy, Rome is bound to be the best candidate for a capital. By the way, it's not just because of it enormous symbolic importance. It's also a geographically very sound choice.
In order not to have Rome as a capital, you need a very different unification that either does not include Rome, or is ideologically detached from its signicance. And in order to get the latter, probably an early POD is required.
 
I would have thought Naples would have been a natural choice as well, given it's wealth and historic importance as capital of kingdom(s).
 
I would have thought Naples would have been a natural choice as well, given it's wealth and historic importance as capital of kingdom(s).

Loaded with its being the former capital of a defeated pre-unitary State, and actually one the victors despised or disliked. It would be a very highly divisive choice to say the least.
Rome was not so strongly associated with Papal rule as Naples was with Bourbon rule.

The only possibilities I can think of are Turin and Florence.
Turin would be problematic, as marking too much the "Piedmontese conquest" element of unification and causing much bad blood. Possible is Rome is not taken, though.
Florence was picked IOTL for its more central geographical location while Rome was still under the Pope. It was a move done pretty grudgingly to appease France, as a sign of partial renounciation of designs over Rome.
IOTL, it would have been politically impossible to keep the capital there after Roman was taken.
However, I suppose that POD that keep either city as the capital can be imagined. They have to be quite radical changes however.
 
Wouldn't it a toss up between Milan,Naples, and Florence.

Milan is impossible with OTL's Risorgimento, but doable with a Napoleonic-era POD (or, marginally, maybe a 1848 PoD seeing a Radical success without Pedmontese involvement, which is borderline ASB I suppose) as it was the capital of Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. I think nobody ever considered it a realistic possibility IOTL after that, though.
 
Maybe if Rome remains Papal, sometime down the line they might do a Brasilia and build a new city, or enlarge an existing village in Umbria or the Romagna?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Maybe if Rome remains Papal, sometime down the line they might do a Brasilia and build a new city, or enlarge an existing village in Umbria or the Romagna?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Unlikely. The path of least resistence is sticking with Florence. And Papal Rome is almost surely going to be a running sore for a VERY long time.
I could see a very modernist government trying to pull something of that kind in early twentieth century, though only as a marginal possiblity, something along the lines of "a new, modern capital for a renewed, modern nation" if the likes of Marinetti and Fani-Ciotti somehow manage to take over. That would be quite Brasilia-like actually.
(Terni might be a suitable location).
 
I could see a very modernist government trying to pull something of that kind in early twentieth century, though only as a marginal possiblity, something along the lines of "a new, modern capital for a renewed, modern nation" if the likes of Marinetti and Fani-Ciotti somehow manage to take over. That would be quite Brasilia-like actually.
(Terni might be a suitable location).
Benny the Moose might want a capital in the Romagna?

H'mm, what about using Ravenna?
 
Benny the Moose might want a capital in the Romagna?

H'mm, what about using Ravenna?

Ravenna is too small and basically a backwater.

What about if Papal states remain independant so Florence is capital. Once PS are brought into the fold there is already so much capital-y infrastructure there so people don't want to move. Rome becomes sort of symbolic or honorary capital. Maybe parliament is moved there but government remains in Florence, like how in South Africa stuff is split between Cape Town and Pretoria.
 
Benny the Moose might want a capital in the Romagna?

H'mm, what about using Ravenna?

He couldn't care less about Romagna.
Ravenna has potential because of its history and heritage, although it inevitably pales face of Rome, Florence, Venice or Naples, esp. since the times when it was the capital of "Italy" are very unlikely to be going to be the ones any half-credible Italian Nationalist would refer to fondly.
 
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