Marco Minghetti, an Italian moderate, negotiates a compromise solution in the September Convention of 1864, which calls for the withdrawal of French troops from Rome in exchange for an Italian pledge to respect the pope's temporal sovereignty and to remain out of Rome.

A secret clause in the agreement also binds Italy to transfer its capital from Turin to Florence, thus implicitly abandoning the Cavourian claim to Rome.

When this clause becomes known, severe riots occur on September 21-22 in Turin, leaving thirty people dead and causing the fall of the Minghetti government.

When the Second Italian War of Independence broke out in 1859 between Austria and the northern Italian kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the Second French Empire had joined the war on the Italian side; the war had concluded with an Austrian defeat at Solferino.

In return for this intervention, Piedmont had ceded the County of Nice (which included the city of Nice and the rugged Alpine territory to its north and east) and the Duchy of Savoy.

The deputies of the first Italian Parliament had assembled in Turin on February 18, 1861.

On March 17, 1861, the Parliament had proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II King of Italy, and on March 27, 1861, Rome had been declared the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

However, the Italian Government could not take its seat in Rome because a French garrison (which had overthrown the Roman Republic) is defending Pope Pius IX, maintained here by Napoleon III of France and commanded by general Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de Lamoricière.

The seat of Italy’s government is moved from Turin to Florence in 1865 following the signing of the September Convention.

Italy's politics after unification had favored radical socialism due to a regionally fragmented right, as conservative Prime Minister Marco Minghetti has only held on to power by enacting revolutionary and socialist-leaning policies to appease the opposition such as the nationalization of railways.

In 1876, Minghetti is ousted and replaced by socialist Agostino Depretis, who begins the long Socialist Period, marked by corruption, government instability, poverty, and use of authoritarian measures by the Italian government.

Depretis begins his term as Prime Minister by initiating an experimental political idea called Trasformismo (transformism).

The theory of trasformismo is that a cabinet should select a variety of moderates and capable politicians from a non-partisan perspective.

In practice, trasformismo is authoritarian and corrupt.

Depretis had pressured districts to vote for his candidates if they wished to gain favorable concessions from Depretis when in power.

The results of the 1876 election result in only four representatives from the right being elected, allowing the government to be dominated by Depretis.

Despotic and corrupt actions are believed to be the key means in which Depretis manages to keep support in southern Italy.

Depretis puts through authoritarian measures, such as the of banning public meetings, placing "dangerous" individuals in internal exile on remote penal islands across Italy, and adopting militarist policies.

Depretis enacts controversial legislation for the time, such as abolishing arrest for debt, making elementary education free and compulsory while ending compulsory religious teaching in elementary schools.