In fact, the Liberals in the Papal States felt no gratitude toward Pius IX himself. If anything, they even hated him a little, since he represented the old order.
Moreover, the Liberal government wanted a Constitution. They thought this was the perfect opportunity: the army loyal to Pius IX was gone, so they had nothing left to worry about.
But Pius IX himself had yet to realize that a crisis was approaching. He was still basking in the sight of Tricolour Flags fluttering in the streets and the cries of "Long live Italy! Long live Pius IX!"
Pius IX was the nominal leader of the Italian Allied Forces at the time. In a sense, it was precisely because of him that the conflicting interests of so many sides could be reconciled, bringing together people who had nothing in common and were even enemies.
In fact, the earliest propaganda posters of the Italian nationalists depicted a priest wearing a broad-brimmed Tricolour hat and wielding a sword.
Many clergymen had indeed joined the war for one reason or another. Like Pius IX, they served as a kind of glue holding the movement together.
Without these priests and their parish communities, the rebels could never have raised such a large force.
But none of that mattered to the Liberals. They wanted tangible power, and a Constitution that would safeguard it.
Pius IX's supporters were not entirely useless. Vincenzo Gioberti, a merchant from the Papal States, insisted:
"National sentiment and war fever are a sharp sword, a weapon, a powerful army.
Either His Holiness must keep it firmly in his own hands, or the opposition will seize it and use it against him and the Catholic Church."
Pius IX, however, did not heed Vincenzo Gioberti's warning. Instead, Gioberti was pushed aside for opposing a