Italian history in pills

What follows is a very short history of Italy!

Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. Important cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times.

Origins of the name

The name Italy (Italia) is an ancient name for the country and people of Central Italy. Its origin is clear: the name Italia was imposed upon the Roman Republic by the conquering Italic tribes of the contemporary Abruzzo region, centering in the area of Corfinium (Corfinio). Coins bearing the name Italia were minted by an alliance of Italic tribes (Sabines, Samnites, Umbrians and others) competing with Rome in the 1st century BC.

The Etruscans

Culture that is identifiably and certainly Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way in the 7th century to an increasingly orientalizing culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy

Magna Grecia

In the 8th and 7th centuries, driven by unsettled conditions at home, Greek colonies were established in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula.

Romans (5th c. BC to 5th c. AD)

According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, and was then governed by seven Kings of Rome. In the following centuries, Rome started expanding its territory, defeating its neighbours (Veium, the other Latins, the Sannites) one after the other.

The Italian "province" was privileged by Augustus and his heirs, with the construction, among other public structures, of a dense mesh of roads. The Italian economy flourished: agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, allowing the export of goods to the other provinces. In 476, with the death of Romulus Augustus and the return of the imperial ensigns to Constantinople, the Western Roman Empire ends; for a few years Italia stayed united under the rule of Odovacer, but later it was divided between several kingdoms, and did not reunite under a single ruler until thirteen centuries later.

Middle Ages (6th to 14th c.)

In 476, the last Roman Emperor was overthrown by the Germanic general Odoacer who ruled Italy until 493, largely maintaining Roman customs and culture. Odoacer's rule came to an end when the Ostrogoths under the leadership of Theodoric conquered Italy. This led to the Gothic War during which the armies of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian won a pyrrhic victory over the Goths in Italy. The Gothic War destroyed the infrastructure of Italy and allowed the more barbarous Germanic tribe, the Lombards to take control of Italy.

Charlemagne

In 756 Frankish forces defeated the Lombards and gave the Papacy legal authority over much of central Italy, thus creating the Papal States.

The age of Charlemagne was therefore one of stability for Italy, though it was generally dominated by non-Italian interests.

The “Repubbliche marinare”

The 11th century signed the end of the darkest period in the Middle Ages. Trade slowly increased, especially on the seas where the four Italian cities of Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice became major powers.

Renaissance (15th to 16th c.)

The Italian Renaissance began in Tuscany, centered in the city of Florence and Siena. It then spread south, having an especially significant impact on Rome, which was largely rebuilt by the Renaissance popes. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the late 15th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into turmoil. The Renaissance ideals first spread from Florence to the neighbouring states of Tuscany such as Siena and Lucca. The Tuscan culture soon became the model for all the states of Northern Italy, and the Tuscan variety of Italian came to predominate throughout the region, especially in literature. In

A portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger

Foreign domination

The history of Italy in the Early Modern period was characterized by foreign domination: Following the Italian Wars (1494 to 1559), Italy saw a long period of relative peace, first under Habsburg Spain (1559 to 1713) and then under Habsburg Austria (1713 to 1796). During the Napoleonic era, Italy was a client state of the French Republic (1796 to 1814). The Congress of Vienna (1814) restored the situation of the late 18th century, which was however quickly overturned by the incipient movement of Italian unification.

The "Risorgimento"

Italian Unification was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian peninsula into the single nation of Italy. The process began with the end of Napoleonic rule and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and approximately ended with the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, though the last “città irredente” did not join the Kingdom of Italy until the Italian victory in World War I.

Italy became a nation-state belatedly — on March 17, 1861, when most of the states of the peninsula were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, which ruled over Piedmont. The architects of Italian unification were Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and national hero. Rome itself remained for a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy only on September 20, 1870, the final date of Italian unification. The Vatican is now an independent enclave surrounded by Italy, as is San Marino.

Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour

Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Conte di Cavour, Conte di Isolabella e Leri (August 10, 1810 – June 7, 1861) was a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification. He was the founder of the original Italian Liberal Party and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and ruled it throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. Cavour died only three months after the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome included in the kingdom.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882) was an Italian patriot and General of the Risorgimento. He is considered an Italian national hero. He personally led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy. He has been dubbed the "Hero of the Two Worlds" in tribute to his military expeditions in South America and Europe.

Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini (June 22, 1805 – March 10, 1872) was an Italian patriot, philosopher and politician. He is widely remembered as one of the most influential political thinkers in the second millennia. Such a tale epitomizes Mazzini's efforts which helped bring about the modern Italian state in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century. He also helped define the modern European movement for popular democracy in a republican state.

World War I

At the beginning of World War I Italy remained neutral. The Italian government claimed that the Triple Alliance was only for defensive purposes. Therefore, the Triple Alliance did not apply to a war that was started by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, both the central empires and the “Triple Entente” continued efforts to attract Italy on their side. In April of 1915, the Italian government agreed to sign the London Pact and to declare war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire in exchange for several territories. The London Pact awarded Trento, Trieste, Istria, and Dalmatia to Italy.

World War II

The Italian Empire in 1940The Fascist government of Prime Minister and dictator Benito Mussolini that took over in 1922 led to the alliance with Germany (the Axis) and Japan. Ultimately the alliance led to defeat in World War II. The Allied Powers invaded Sicily in 1943 and gradually made their way to the Italian mainland. Mussolini was thrown out on July 25, 1943, and a new government under Pietro Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuel III joined the Allied Powers. Initially Badoglio's government only controlled the liberated portions of southern Italy. Mussolini, after being rescued by the Germans, set up the Italian Social Republic in the north of Italy.

After the war, on June 2, 1946, a referendum on the monarchy resulted in the establishment of the Italian Republic, which led to the adoption of a new constitution on January 1, 1948.

Italian Republic (after 1945)

Italy is a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. It joined the growing political and economic unification of Western Europe, including the introduction of the Euro in 1999.

A new constitution was written for the new republic, taking effect on January 1, 1948, while the desperate fascist Salo Republic attempt was crushed by the Allies in April 1945.

“Anni di piombo”(The years of lead)

The seventies’ came to be known as the anni di piombo ("lead years") because of a wave of bombings, attributed to far-right, far-left and secret services' actions.
Piazza Fontana bombing in the centre of Milan, on December 12, 1969, marked the beginning of this violent period. The police arrested 4 000 people in left-wing circles, among whom Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist who was initially blamed for the bombing.

Aldo Moro

Christian Democrat (DC) politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, a paramilitary group, on March 16, 1978, the day the historic compromise with the Italian Communist Party (PCI), which had embraced eurocommunism with Enrico Berlinguer, was supposed to be enacted, insuring the PCI's return to government for the first time since May 1947. Aldo Moro's corpse was then discovered on May 9, in via Caetani in Rome, in a site equidistant between the DC and the PCI headquarters.

"Mani pulite"

From 1992 to 1997, Italy faced significant challenges as voters (disenchanted with past political paralysis, massive government debt, extensive corruption, and organized crime's considerable influence collectively called Tangentopoli after being uncovered by Mani pulite - "Clean hands") demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms. The 1994 elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi (leader of "Pole of Freedoms" coalition, which included Forza Italia, the regionalist far-right ‘‘Lega Nord’’ party and the far-right Alleanza Nazionale) into office as Prime Minister. However, his government collapsed after only a few months because the Northern League split out.

A technocratic cabinet led by Lamberto Dini, supported by the left-wing parties and the Northern League, lasted until Romano Prodi's new center-left coalition won the 1996 general election. In 2001 the center-right took the government and Berlusconi was able to remain in power for the complete five year mandate but having to pass through a crisis and a government's reshuffle. The last elections in 2006 returned Prodi in the government with a slim majority. Prodi government fell in February 2008.

	What follows is a very short history of Italy!
Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. Important cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times.
Origins of the name The name Italy (Italia) is an ancient name for the country and people of Central Italy. Its origin is clear: the name Italia was imposed upon the Roman Republic by the conquering Italic tribes of the contemporary Abruzzo region, centering in the area of Corfinium (Corfinio). Coins bearing the name Italia were minted by an alliance of Italic tribes (Sabines, Samnites, Umbrians and others) competing with Rome in the 1st century BC.
The Etruscans Culture that is identifiably and certainly Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way in the 7th century to an increasingly orientalizing culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy
Magna Grecia In the 8th and 7th centuries, driven by unsettled conditions at home, Greek colonies were established in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula.
Romans (5th c. BC to 5th c. AD) According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, and was then governed by seven Kings of Rome. In the following centuries, Rome started expanding its territory, defeating its neighbours (Veium, the other Latins, the Sannites) one after the other. The Italian "province" was privileged by Augustus and his heirs, with the construction, among other public structures, of a dense mesh of roads. The Italian economy flourished: agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, allowing the export of goods to the other provinces. In 476, with the death of Romulus Augustus and the return of the imperial ensigns to Constantinople, the Western Roman Empire ends; for a few years Italia stayed united under the rule of Odovacer, but later it was divided between several kingdoms, and did not reunite under a single ruler until thirteen centuries later.
Middle Ages (6th to 14th c.) In 476, the last Roman Emperor was overthrown by the Germanic general Odoacer who ruled Italy until 493, largely maintaining Roman customs and culture. Odoacer's rule came to an end when the Ostrogoths under the leadership of Theodoric conquered Italy. This led to the Gothic War during which the armies of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian won a pyrrhic victory over the Goths in Italy. The Gothic War destroyed the infrastructure of Italy and allowed the more barbarous Germanic tribe, the Lombards to take control of Italy.
Charlemagne In 756 Frankish forces defeated the Lombards and gave the Papacy legal authority over much of central Italy, thus creating the Papal States. The age of Charlemagne was therefore one of stability for Italy, though it was generally dominated by non-Italian interests.
The “Repubbliche marinare” The 11th century signed the end of the darkest period in the Middle Ages. Trade slowly increased, especially on the seas where the four Italian cities of Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice became major powers.
Renaissance (15th to 16th c.) The Italian Renaissance began in Tuscany, centered in the city of Florence and Siena. It then spread south, having an especially significant impact on Rome, which was largely rebuilt by the Renaissance popes. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the late 15th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into turmoil. The Renaissance ideals first spread from Florence to the neighbouring states of Tuscany such as Siena and Lucca. The Tuscan culture soon became the model for all the states of Northern Italy, and the Tuscan variety of Italian came to predominate throughout the region, especially in literature. In A portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger
Foreign domination The history of Italy in the Early Modern period was characterized by foreign domination: Following the Italian Wars (1494 to 1559), Italy saw a long period of relative peace, first under Habsburg Spain (1559 to 1713) and then under Habsburg Austria (1713 to 1796). During the Napoleonic era, Italy was a client state of the French Republic (1796 to 1814). The Congress of Vienna (1814) restored the situation of the late 18th century, which was however quickly overturned by the incipient movement of Italian unification.
The "Risorgimento" Italian Unification was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian peninsula into the single nation of Italy. The process began with the end of Napoleonic rule and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and approximately ended with the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, though the last “città irredente” did not join the Kingdom of Italy until the Italian victory in World War I.
Italy became a nation-state belatedly — on March 17, 1861, when most of the states of the peninsula were united under king Victor Emmanuel II of the Savoy dynasty, which ruled over Piedmont. The architects of Italian unification were Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the Chief Minister of Victor Emmanuel, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and national hero. Rome itself remained for a decade under the Papacy, and became part of the Kingdom of Italy only on September 20, 1870, the final date of Italian unification. The Vatican is now an independent enclave surrounded by Italy, as is San Marino.
Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Conte di Cavour, Conte di Isolabella e Leri (August 10, 1810 – June 7, 1861) was a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification. He was the founder of the original Italian Liberal Party and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and ruled it throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. Cavour died only three months after the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome included in the kingdom.
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882) was an Italian patriot and General of the Risorgimento. He is considered an Italian national hero. He personally led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy. He has been dubbed the "Hero of the Two Worlds" in tribute to his military expeditions in South America and Europe.
Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (June 22, 1805 – March 10, 1872) was an Italian patriot, philosopher and politician. He is widely remembered as one of the most influential political thinkers in the second millennia. Such a tale epitomizes Mazzini's efforts which helped bring about the modern Italian state in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century. He also helped define the modern European movement for popular democracy in a republican state.
World War I At the beginning of World War I Italy remained neutral. The Italian government claimed that the Triple Alliance was only for defensive purposes. Therefore, the Triple Alliance did not apply to a war that was started by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, both the central empires and the “Triple Entente” continued efforts to attract Italy on their side. In April of 1915, the Italian government agreed to sign the London Pact and to declare war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire in exchange for several territories. The London Pact awarded Trento, Trieste, Istria, and Dalmatia to Italy.
World War II The Italian Empire in 1940The Fascist government of Prime Minister and dictator Benito Mussolini that took over in 1922 led to the alliance with Germany (the Axis) and Japan. Ultimately the alliance led to defeat in World War II. The Allied Powers invaded Sicily in 1943 and gradually made their way to the Italian mainland. Mussolini was thrown out on July 25, 1943, and a new government under Pietro Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuel III joined the Allied Powers. Initially Badoglio's government only controlled the liberated portions of southern Italy. Mussolini, after being rescued by the Germans, set up the Italian Social Republic in the north of Italy. After the war, on June 2, 1946, a referendum on the monarchy resulted in the establishment of the Italian Republic, which led to the adoption of a new constitution on January 1, 1948.
Italian Republic (after 1945) Italy is a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. It joined the growing political and economic unification of Western Europe, including the introduction of the Euro in 1999. A new constitution was written for the new republic, taking effect on January 1, 1948, while the desperate fascist Salo Republic attempt was crushed by the Allies in April 1945.
“Anni di piombo”(The years of lead) The seventies’ came to be known as the anni di piombo ("lead years") because of a wave of bombings, attributed to far-right, far-left and secret services' actions. Piazza Fontana bombing in the centre of Milan, on December 12, 1969, marked the beginning of this violent period. The police arrested 4 000 people in left-wing circles, among whom Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist who was initially blamed for the bombing.
Aldo Moro Christian Democrat (DC) politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, a paramilitary group, on March 16, 1978, the day the historic compromise with the Italian Communist Party (PCI), which had embraced eurocommunism with Enrico Berlinguer, was supposed to be enacted, insuring the PCI's return to government for the first time since May 1947. Aldo Moro's corpse was then discovered on May 9, in via Caetani in Rome, in a site equidistant between the DC and the PCI headquarters.
"Mani pulite" From 1992 to 1997, Italy faced significant challenges as voters (disenchanted with past political paralysis, massive government debt, extensive corruption, and organized crime's considerable influence collectively called Tangentopoli after being uncovered by Mani pulite - "Clean hands") demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms. The 1994 elections also swept media magnate Silvio Berlusconi (leader of "Pole of Freedoms" coalition, which included Forza Italia, the regionalist far-right ‘‘Lega Nord’’ party and the far-right Alleanza Nazionale) into office as Prime Minister. However, his government collapsed after only a few months because the Northern League split out.
A technocratic cabinet led by Lamberto Dini, supported by the left-wing parties and the Northern League, lasted until Romano Prodi's new center-left coalition won the 1996 general election. In 2001 the center-right took the government and Berlusconi was able to remain in power for the complete five year mandate but having to pass through a crisis and a government's reshuffle. The last elections in 2006 returned Prodi in the government with a slim majority. Prodi government fell in February 2008.