Reunifications of the Papal States

Reunifications of the Papal States
The Reunifications of the Papal States were a series of successful attempts to reunify the broken Papal States in Italy and France by Pope Pius IX in 1872. The reunification lasted until 1921, after most of Europe, South America and parts of North America capitulated and were quickly annexed by the Holy See.

Background
During the reunification of Italy, the Holy See lost its power over a substantial part of the Italian Mainland during the 1860 annexation. The Papal States, who still had control over Rome and much of the surrounding area, would ultimately surrender to the Kingdom of Italy in 1870. Pope Pius IX would describe the current state of the Vatican as a prison, surrounded on all sides by Italian Empire.

During this time period, Pius would declare a state of emergency for Catholics across the world. The decree that went out after the annexation of Rome by the Kingdom of Italy read:"'To Catholics, around the world: It is a troubling time for the Church on Earth. Today, the Kingdom of Italy has finally annexed Rome, of which, surrounds the Vatican, the seat of the Holy See. It is true that the Holy See has lost all but the Vatican to the Italian Empire, however, our great Lord will provide for us. We, the lambs must be faithful to the Shepard who lead us to safety. We will overcome, for God will give us strength. Fellow Catholics, I, Pope Pius IX would call upon all Catholics to pilgrimage to the Vatican in the coming weeks, months and years to show the resolve of the Catholic People.'"This decree would be published in every major newspaper in the world. In response to it, Catholics from all corners of the globe came to the Vatican to listen to speeches by the pope and his Holy Curia.

The Silent Reconstruction
The Silent Reconstruction was the name Pope Pius IX used to describe the military force used in the first reunification. Under the direction of Pope Pius, a militia of Catholic men, between the ages of 16-20, from Italy and France, formed. This militia, known as St. Peter's Servants, named after the first Pope, Peter, who would chosen by Jesus to lead the Church on Earth. The militia recruited and trained in secret in order to avoid detection by the Italians. The militia would amass roughly 26,000 men, historically one of the biggest flash recruitment ever, which occurred in the span of 2 months.

In order to keep suspicion low, the militia would train in a coveted Swiss Monastery, known as the Fahr Abbey. The militia would house and feed all 26,000 men at the monastery, which was a monastery for nuns for over 600 years before the militia would commandeer it. Most of the nuns were moved to the sister abbey, Einseideln, which housed monks. Some of the nuns, however, volunteered to stay back and help nurse for the militia, as well as cook and complete other household chores.

Most of the area inside the physical building of the monastery were used to house the injured and sick, as well as the officers and the nuns. On the outside, however, huge sections of the surrounding forest were cut down and used to build many different buildings, including a church, mess hall and armory. The barracks would be made of 4 tent cities, split up by language, Latin, Italian, French and English.