Italy - national flag
Italian flag was officially adopted in 1946. It originated as a freedom flag
during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in northern Italy in 1796, and the model is
the French tricolor, whose blue stripe was replaced with a green in Bologna the
same year; this color stands as a symbol of freedom and equality. The
green-white-red tricolor became the flag of the Cisalpine Republic, in 1848
the flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia with the coat of arms of Savoy in the white
stripe and finally in 1861 the flag of the whole of Italy; in 1946 the weapon
was removed.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Italy look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Italy - prehistory
The topography of Italy has been of great importance for the development of
ancient cultures and their interrelationships. Thus, the Apennines have acted as
a barrier that has separated east and west, and this means that there are great
differences in the archaeological finds in different parts of the country.
Stone Age
The oldest traces of human activity are represented by approximately 700,000 year
old primitive stone tools found in Molise. Very few human bones from the Old
Stone Age have been found; from the end of the period, three skulls originated
from Neanderthal humans. For approximately 40,000 years ago, the first modern humans
(Homo sapiens sapiens) appeared. The stone tools developed gradually,
and from the latter part of the older Stone Age, cave paintings are
known. Graves decorated with snail shells and the dye ocher show that the
deceased was taken care of. In the Mesolithic, Middle Stone Age
approximately 10,000-5000 BC, the refinement of the stone tools continued with the use
of microliters.
-
AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world,
such as ITA which represents the official name of Italy.
The transition from wholly or partly nomadic hunter-gatherer culture to
mainly settled agricultural culture took place in the Neolithic, Neolithic 6th
millennium-approx. 3000 BC The transition is first seen in southeastern Italy, where
some researchers believe the development was accelerated by contact with the
Balkans. Until the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. it gradually spread over
the rest of the country. In northern Puglia, more than 260 villages surrounded
by a moat have been identified on a plain. During this millennium, cattle and
pigs became livestock. In the 4th millennium BC. began the use of ceramics for
the manufacture of figurines and vessels, first with the impression or scratched
decoration, later with two- or three-colored paint. Flint was still the main
commodity, but trade in the volcanic glass, obsidian, from the Aeolian Islands
provided the opportunity for the production of better cutting tools. Two
cultures dominate: the Diana culture is found mainly in southern Italy and is
almost exclusively defined by its characteristic glossy red ceramics. The
Lagozza culture is better illuminated. It is found mainly in northern Italy,
where villages built on stilts along the lake shores of Posletten have been
found.

Bronze Age
Best known from the early Bronze Age is the Gaudo culture in Campania,
approximately 2600-2000 BC, characterized by several burials in chamber tombs, dark
and often undecorated pottery with a wide band handle and found by knife blades
of copper and arsenic bronze. In the 1980's, especially in northern Italy, many
finds of the almost contemporary bell goblet culture have been made,
approximately 2200-1800 BC, also known from Western Europe, but the significance of
the finds and their relations to other cultures in the late Neolithic and early
Bronze Age are still unclear.
- Songaah:
See song and lyrics about Italy
In the late Bronze Age, approximately 2000-900 BC, Italy south of the Podalen is
characterized by the Apennine culture. The phase is primarily known from
settlements and is defined by ceramics with incised decoration. The population
lived in huts in villages, but dwellings in caves are also known, and the
farming culture was supplemented by semi-nomadic shepherding. The dead were
buried individually in simple burial mounds. Stone tools were gradually
supplanted by bronze tools.
approximately 1600-1100 BC there are traces of contact with the eastern part of the
Mediterranean, primarily in the form of Mycenaean pottery. Via the imported
objects from the Greek territory, it is possible to relate the Italian finds
from this part of the Bronze Age to the ancient Egyptian chronology and thereby
achieve a greater precision than the carbon 14 dating allows.
At the end of the Bronze Age, approximately 1000-900 BC, the Apennine culture in
large parts of Italy was replaced by the Protovillanova culture, where the dead
were burned and buried in a double-conical urn. This culture is akin to the
Central European urn field culture. In this phase, the costume needle, fibula,
is seen for the first time, which became an indispensable accessory for the
costume throughout the 1st millennium BC.
On the Posletten developed in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. The
Terramare culture, which lasted until the beginning of the Iron Age. In the
beginning the villages were open and consisted of approximately 5 m × 5 m huts, but
later the villages were surrounded by a dike for protection against flooding
from Po. Pottery, figurines and utensils point to connections with the Danube
area in Central Europe. Graves are known only from the latest part of the
culture, where they are reminiscent of the urn fields of Central Europe and
Villanova culture.
Iron Age
The beginning of the period is traditionally set at approximately 900 BC From that
time, two cultures dominated Italy: the Villanova culture and the waterfall
cultures. The former in particular have great differences between them, and the
period is characterized by a growing regionalization that only ceased when the
Romans had subjugated Italy. In Etruria and Latium, the lower limit of the Iron
Age is set approximately 700 BC, while for the rest of Italy it seems more correct to
set the lower limit of the Roman conquest.
The Villanova culture, which is the earliest Etruscan phase, was developed by
the previous Protovillanova culture and is named after the first finds made in
1853 at the village of Villanova near Bologna. Today, the characteristic burial
sites with hundreds of urn burials have been found not only elsewhere in the
Podalen, but also in most of Etruria, in parts of Umbria and the Marche, and in
three centers in Campania. There are several finds of villages with huts built
in wicker with thatched roofs. The ashes of the deceased were usually laid for
approximately 50 cm high double-conical urns made of coarse, dark ceramic. In the
beginning, the graves were uniform with few grave gifts, but major differences
developed rapidly, which can be interpreted as differences in social status; at
the same time, people gradually switched to using burial mounds. During the 800's
and 700's BC.
South of the lower reaches of the Tiber, the culture of Lazio separated
itself already around 1000 BC. The settlements were usually high, and the burial
grounds around the villages; here, too, cremation was used in the early
stages. The development thus largely followed the Villanova culture, but there
are clear differences between them in, for example, local ceramics. The most
famous find from the period is the remains of a hut, called Romulus' hut, on the
Palatinate in Rome, but the most enlightening excavations have taken place
outside Rome, such as the Practica di Mare (Lavinium), the large excavation in
the Osteria dell'Osa (Gabii) and the Nordic studies at Ficana.
In the southwestern part of Italy along the Tyrrhenian Sea, there are
various, related fossil grave cultures, which are characterized by the use of
burial mounds (fossa). The settlements appear to have been mostly high (eg
Cumae) or slightly off the coast. From around 600 BC. there is a mutual
influence between the waterfall cultures and the Etruscan and Greek settlements
in the coastal areas of Campania. In the written sources, the various
Oski-speaking peoples, such as the Samnites, the Campans and the Lukans, begin
to appear in 400 BC, and cities such as Capua and Naples had then mixed
populations, respectively. Etruscan-Campanian and Greek-Campanian. At the same
time, there is a strong expansion from the Oski-speaking population groups. The
campaigners in Capua took power in a coup in 423 BC, and the former Greek
colonies suffered the same fate in 421 (Cumae) and the end of the
400-t. (Poseidonia). In 354 BC. mentions an actual state formation in Bruttium
(Calabria). From the middle of 300-tfKr. known associations in federations under
the leadership of presumably an official, in inscriptions namedmeddix. At
the same time, cities were founded, especially in the coastal area, and a large
number of settlements and defenses inland were fortified. This must undoubtedly
be seen in the context of the series of acts of war in 300 BC, which led to
Rome's subjugation of Italy in the early 200 BC.
In Puglia, the early Iron Age cultures, the Japanese culture, are directed to
the east. As in the Balkans, burial graves were used, where the dead were placed
in the fetal position on the side. Settlements with cottages with a rectangular
or oval floor plan lay on flat plains. Alongside the typical dark Iron Age
ceramics, light clay pottery with dark paint was used in this area, no doubt a
result of Puglia's extensive connections to Mycenaean culture in the late Bronze
Age. The Japanese culture was gradually divided into three groups: Messapic,
Daunian and Peuketic (from south to north). Also in the Picenum on the Adriatic
coast (now Marche and Abruzzo) there were waterfall cultures. The culture in the
southernmost part has connections across the Adriatic, while the finds in the
northern part of the area show clear contacts to the Villanova culture.
The Iron Age cultures of northern Italy were closely linked to the Central
European Hallstatt and La Téne cultures. The Este (near Venice) and Golasecca
culture (near Lake Garda) are known for making situals, bucket-like bronze
vessels, often with rich relief decoration. Many of the cultures have been tried
to be identified with peoples, which are mentioned in written sources. In Greek
and Roman historiography, a number of examples of contact between these peoples
are known. Famous are Livius' accounts of the Samnite wars, which constitute our
main written source for the Italian peoples. There are also etiological myths
that tell of a people's immigration to Italy under the leadership of the man who
has given name to the people. The myths have been used especially in older
research to name archaeological cultures, but many of these attributions are
questionable. Also seeItalian peoples, Etruscans, Sardinia
(prehistory) and Sicily (prehistory).
Italy - history
The Italian peninsula was for centuries up to the domination of Rome
inhabited by a variety of peoples. One of the most significant was the
Etruscans, whose urban communities from 700-BC. began to dominate Central
Italy. In southern Italy and Sicily, a number of Greek colonies were established
at the same time. The Etruscan area was from 400-BC. the pressure of galleys
penetrating down over the Podalen, and from 300-tfKr. of Romans. I
200-tfKr. occupied Rome throughout Etruria. For a more detailed treatment of
Roman history, see Rome and the Roman Empire.
Rome got from approximately 400-200 BC subjugated all of Italy and Sicily partly by
conquest, eg the Samnite wars (approximately 325-290 BC) for control of Campania, partly
by giving the Italian cities certain privileges as socii'allies'. The
policy yielded results; thus, by Carthage's invasion of Italy during the Second
Punic War (218-201 BC), Hannibal failed to get Rome's allies on his side. The
political and social ties between the Italian people and the Romans were too
strong. Just over a hundred years later, however, there was a serious crisis
between Rome and the Allies, culminating in the Allied War 91-89 BC. Thereafter,
all allies received Roman citizenship. In the last century BC, up to the fall of
the republic and the introduction of the empire in 27 BC, Italy was hit by
several uprisings and civil wars, among others. Spartacus' Rebellion 73-71 BC
During the imperial period, there was a strong influx of capital to Italy,
which was the core country of the Roman Empire until the founding of
Constantinople as the new capital in 330 AD. I 400-t. Italy was repeatedly
subjected to invasions by females and Germans; Rome was plundered by the
Visigoths in 410, the coasts were vandalized in the mid-400's, and in 476 Rome
was conquered by the Germanic army commander Odoaker. In 493, the Ostrogothe
Theoderic the Great took power over Italy and made Ravenna the capital. The
Germans then soon took over Roman culture and language.
The Byzantine emperor Justinian I tried in the middle of the 500-t. to gain
imperial control of Italy, but it led to severe destruction followed by plague
outbreaks. Attempts were made to rebuild a Roman administration, but efforts
were interrupted by the invasion of the Lombards.
The era of the Lombards (568-773)
In 568, the Germanic tribe of the Lombards came to northern Italy from the
Danube region, where they had established close contact with the Byzantine
Empire. Under the leadership of Alboin, the Lombards occupied Milan in 569, and
soon thereafter loosely organized gangs continued deep into the country... Read
more about the Lombards era.
Franks, Normans and Arabs (773-1138)
In 773, the Catholic Frankish king Charles the Great occupied Pavia. He
captured Desiderius and in 774 proclaimed himself king of the Lombards, and
after two years of fighting, the country was divided into four parts: the
Frankish lands to the north, the Church State in the middle, the independent
Duchy of Benevento and the Byzantine territories in the south with the whole
island of Sicily... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about Franks, Normans and Arabs.
Guelfer and Ghibellines (1138-1250)
Henrik Løve came from the Welf family, and an Italian papal party got the
same name: guelfer, while the emperors were called ghibellines,
named after the imperial family's castle Waiblingen in Austria; the party
struggles between these two factions took a long time to shape the development
... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about guelphs and ghibellines.
Dominance of the city-states (1250-approx. 1350)
When Frederik II died in 1250, the role of the hohenstaufers was played
out. After bloody power struggles in 1265, the Pope gave the Kingdom of Sicily
to Charles I of Anjou, who wanted to carry out his policy with a heavy hand, but
at the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, the French were expelled from Sicily, and Peter
III of Aragon took power. The decline of the imperial and papal powers paved the
way for the independence of the northern Italian cities that were in the hands
of Guelphs or Ghibellines... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the dominance of the city-states.
1400-t. From the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance
Economically and socially, the black death and the almost cyclical epidemics
meant that the population and economic life of the peninsula plummeted, and
earnings among the rich population groups declined. The bad times hit the lower
strata of society hard with famine and consequent social unrest... AAAAAAAAAAAAA
about Italy in the 1400's.
The Peace of Lodi 1454
The endless wars over supremacy on the peninsula were halted for a long time,
and the borders frozen when the five great powers, Milan, Venice, Florence, the
Church State and Naples, at the Peace of Lodi in 1454, concluded an agreement on
mutual negotiations in case of future conflicts... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the Peace
of Lodi.
The emergence of court culture
In political-cultural life, a bourgeois culture was slowly but surely
replaced by a court culture. For example, Mantova and Ferrara fit into the
larger system and could, within the framework of the Peace of Lodi, develop a
court culture like the larger states... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the emergence of court
culture.
French and Habsburg intervention (1494-1530)
The entire Italian balance of power system from the Peace of Lodi was brought
to an end with the military intervention of the French monarchy in the Italian
affairs in 1494. A confused time followed, as the Habsburgs later became
involved in the conflict, and Italy became the main stronghold for over 50
years. series of wars between France and the Habsburg Empire... AAAAAAAAAAAAA
about the French and Habsburg intervention.
Habsburg rule (1530-1700)
Emperor Charles V revived the old dream of the medieval empire in Italy, but
now with resources that none of the medieval emperors had had. Only disturbed by
the War of the Spanish Succession 1701-13/14, this political system was valid
until the 1790's, when a completely new situation arose... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about Habsburg
rule.
Stagnation in the 1700's.
In 1700, the Spanish Habsburgs became extinct, and the Spanish Succession War
broke out in 1701. In that context, Italy was once again a hotbed of European
strife. The Peace of Utrecht in 1713 meant that the Austrian Habsburgs largely
took the place of the old Spanish Habsburgs... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about Italy in the
1700's.
Revolution and Restoration (1796-1848)
With the French Revolution and the subsequent Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars, the Italian peninsula was once again involved in the history and politics
of Europe. From France came the ideas of the transfer of sovereignty from the
autocratic monarch to the people... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about revolution and
restoration (1796-1848).
Italian Collection (1848-70)
Unlike the other small Italian states, Piedmont had an economy, a military
and a state structure that ensured the country some leeway internally and
externally. Thus King Karl Albert introduced a new constitution, laughed
Statuto, which made the kingdom a constitutional monarchy based on a
parliament... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the unification of Italy.
Imperialism and industrialism (1870-1914)
In domestic politics, the Historical Right was replaced by the Left of the
Depretis, and the change of power in 1876 formed the prelude to the so-called
transformism that was to characterize the political system. In foreign policy,
Italy joined the Triple Alliance with conservative Germany and Austria in 1882
... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about imperialism and industrialism in Italy.
World War I and Fascism (1914-25)
An increasingly strong nationalist opinion meant that Giolitti could not keep
Italy out of World War I, forcing him to resign. Antonio Salandra's government
then embarked on a more targeted interventionist line, supporting by the
excluded socialist Benito Mussolini, and from 1915 Italy participated on the
French and British side against the former allies Germany and Austria... Read
more about World War I and fascism in Italy.
Regime and Resistance (1925-45)
The regime promoted some of the modernization features that also
characterized other of the interwar mass societies, namely welfare initiatives,
technological advances, and increasing government intervention in the
economy. But with his repressive line, Mussolini basically accommodated the
forces of Italian society that, since the unification of Italy, had relied on a
model of development that was based on imperialist, anti-democratic and populist
methods both to the outside world and to the Italian people... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the
years 1925-45 in Italy.
Republicanism (1945-50)
After the end of World War II, Italy could not only return to the pre-fascist
regime whose institutions and constitution had failed to prevent fascism, but
Italy had also gained another international position with the United States'
entry into the war and the subsequent economic aid... AAAAAAAAAAAAA on republicanism
in Italy.
Economic Miracle and Opening to the Left (1950-63)
It was within the framework of this imperfect democracy that Italy carried
out its economic recovery. The strong growth was promoted by a favorable cost
level, and the economy became internationalized and export-oriented... Read
more about the years 1950-63 in Italy.
The Strategy of Tension (1963-79)
The reform policy of the early 1960's did not have the intended stabilizing
effect. The economy slowed down and reforms had to be halted. Throughout the
decade, a small but militant opposition grew to the left of the traditional
left, culminating in the student uprising in 1968, followed by the so-called hot
autumn, l'autunno caldo, in connection with the labor negotiations the
following year... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about the years 1963-79 in Italy.
Partitocracy (1979-91)
At the beginning of the 1980's, the Italian economy was facing a recovery. The
progress was based on a technological renewal of the production apparatus, on a
discipline of the workforce and on a change in the professional composition of
the same workforce... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about 1980's Italy.
Italy, Europe and Berlusconi
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
political and ideological fronts that had helped to lock in Italian democracy
disappeared... AAAAAAAAAAAAA about Italy's recent history.
Italy - History (1796-1991)
Italy - History (1796-1991), Revolution and Restoration
(1796-1848)
With the French Revolution and the subsequent Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars, the Italian peninsula was once again involved in the history and politics
of Europe. From France came the ideas of the transfer of sovereignty from the
autocratic monarch to the people and of the nation as an administratively legal
and militarily secure entity. The French Jacobins inspired a democratic wave in
the Italian lands, while the young Napoleon in the wake of his Italian campaign
in 1796 set the stage for a number of smaller state formations based on the
French model (eg the Italian Republic with Milan as its capital).
The restoration after Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815
led to a division of Italy according to an old pattern: the Kingdom of Sardinia,
which consisted of Sardinia and Piedmont under the returned royal house of
Savoy, the Kingdom of Lombardy and Veneto now under Austro-Hungarian
sovereignty, the Church State and the Kingdom of Begilia. in addition to the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany and some smaller duchies such as Parma and Piacenza,
Modena and Lucca.
However, the idea of a united Italian nation lived on. There were the
secret revolutionary societies such as Carboneria with offshoots of Giuseppe
Mazzini's Giovine Italia, and in many places there were popular uprisings, for
example in Palermo and Naples in 1820. Broader democratic movements followed in
the revolution year 1848 (see February and March Revolution1848) with uprisings
in Venice and Milan against the Austrians; the following year, Rome was
proclaimed a republic under the leadership of Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. In
Piedmont, a more moderate-liberal, nationalist elite developed around figures
such as Mŕssimo d'Azeglio and the later statesman Camillo di Cavour, who was a
large landowner; he edited the program magazine Il Risorgimento (1847), the aim
of which was the national rebuilding of Italy.
Italian Collection (1848-70)
Unlike the other small Italian states, Piedmont had an economy, a military
and a state structure that ensured the country some leeway internally and
externally. Thus King Karl Albert introduced a new constitution, laughed
Statuto, which made the kingdom a constitutional monarchy based on a
parliament. This courtesy to, above all, the moderate-liberal circles caused the
creation of a relatively homogeneous political-intellectual class around the
royal house, which soon made the country the outgoing force in the
implementation of Italy's unification, il Risorgimento.
Heads of State |
Kings Sort |
1861-78 |
Vittorio Emanuele 2. |
1878-1900 |
Umberto 1. |
1900-46 |
Vittorio Emanuele 3. |
1946 |
Umberto 2. |
Presidents |
1946-48 |
Enrico De Nicola |
1948-55 |
Luigi Einaudi |
1955-62 |
Giovanni Gronchi |
1962-64 |
Antonio Segni |
1964-71 |
Giuseppe Saragat |
1971-78 |
Giovanni Leone |
1978-85 |
Sandro Pertini |
1985-92 |
Francesco Cossiga |
1992-99 |
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro |
1999-2006 |
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi |
2006-15 |
Giorgio Napolitano |
2015- |
Sergio Mattarella |
The first of three wars of independence against Austria-Hungary began in
1848, starting in Piedmont. However, it ended in a defeat, because no great
power support had been obtained. The support came, from France, up to the next
war in 1859. After Piedmont had provided military support for the Franco-British
operation against Russia in Crimea 1854-55, Napoleon III signed with the signing
of a secret agreement in Plombičres, which committed France to fight on the
Piedmontese side, against the Piedmontese renouncing Nice and the Savoy. After
the Battle of Solferino in 1859, Lombardy fell to the Kingdom of Sardinia, now
under Vittorio Emanuele 2.
However, this diplomatic-military expansion of the kingdom was broken when
Garibaldi landed in Marsala on the west coast of Sicily in 1860 with his
thousand men, in Mille, without the full backing of Cavour, and
without the intervention of British ships in the area. A few months later,
Francis II's Kingdom of Both Sicilies collapsed, and in October of that year, at
the historic meeting in Teano north of Naples, Garibaldi was able to hand over
southern Italy to Vittorio Emanuele II, who was proclaimed King of Italy in 1861
after a series of referendums. With the Third War of Independence in 1866,
Veneto was also incorporated. It was not until 1870 that the last remnants of
the Church State fell, and then Rome became the capital of the new kingdom of
Italy.
With the external borders in place, the nation of Italy was a fact. All that
remained were the unresolved issues of South Tyrol and the area around
Trieste. In fact, the collection was an extension of the Kingdom of Sardinia and
not a union of equal small states. That fact was underlined by the fact that the
Piedmontese royal house, as well as the prefect system and the constitution,
also formed the basis of the new Italy. Of the two main currents of the
Risorgimento movement: the democratic one, represented by Mazzini, and the
moderate-liberal one, represented by Cavour and Marco Minghetti, became the last
decisive factor, which was also evident from the fact that the collection was
conducted from above, with only approximately 2% of the population had the right to
vote.
The gathering created a nation, but far from the unity that the new
leadership (the Historical Right) pretended. From being a European problem,
Italy became the Italians' own. The southern Italian underdevelopment problem,
which also provided fertile ground for the mafia, soon became a reality. The
church turned against the new unitary state and refused to sign the law that
should have formalized the relationship with the state.
Imperialism and industrialism (1870-1914)
Domestically, the Historical Right was replaced by the Left's Left Party, and
the change of power in 1876 provided a prelude to the so-called transformism
that would shape the political system with its tendency to absorb any opposition
in parliament's changing majority coalitions, and in not so few cases to crack
down hard on social unrest. In foreign policy, Italy joined the Triple Alliance
with conservative Germany and Austria in 1882. In the same year, a colonial
policy was launched in East Africa (Eritrea and Somalia), which was strengthened
under the governments of Francesco Crispi. The result, however, was that Italy
suffered a defeat at Adwa in 1896 in a futile attempt to conquer
Abyssinia. Crispi then had to resign.
Internally, Crispi had taken a hard line against any move to social unrest,
thus against the Sicilian people's movement, in fasci siciliani, in
1894. The repression continued when Antonio Di Rudině's government in May 1898
ordered the army to fight a revolt in Milan.
At the time of the unification, Italy was an agrarian society, but the more
favorable international economic conditions of the 1890's promoted the first real
industrial revolution in the country. It was supported by a pro-reform
bourgeoisie and a socialist workers' movement, which organized itself
professionally and in 1892 got its first party with the formation of the Partito
Socialista Italiano (PSI) under the leadership of the reform socialist Filippo
Turatis.
It was at the turn of the 1900's that the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial
triangle became the driving force of the Italian economy with the Turin Fiat
factory in a prominent position. Italy got a new banking system to suit the
growing financing needs of companies, and the first elements of a labor market
bargaining system saw the light of day with the 1906 Confederazione Generale del
Lavoro Confederation (CGL) followed by the Confindustria 1910 employers'
association.
Politically, the more far-sighted bourgeoisie was represented by the liberal
Giovanni Giolitti, several times head of government 1903-14. The Giolitic era,
especially in the early years, was characterized by a social pact between the
Liberals and the Reform Socialists, which rested on a recognition of the labor
movement as an indispensable party in the country's development. Giolitti
extended the right to vote to approximately 24% of the population in 1912 (women still
did not have the right to vote) and on that basis a new pact was established
with the Catholic Electoral Union.
World War I and Fascism (1914-25)
An increasingly strong nationalist opinion meant that Giolitti could not keep
Italy out of World War I, forcing him to resign. Antonio Salandra's government
then embarked on a more targeted interventionist line, supporting by the
excluded socialist Benito Mussolini, and from 1915 Italy participated on the
French and British side against the former allies Germany and Austria.
Although Italy came to stand on the side of the victors, the country suffered
a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Caporetto in 1917, and the political class
that had engaged the country in World War I was greatly weakened by the war. New
mass parties emerged, such as Luigi Sturzo's Catholic People's Party, Partito
Popolare Italiano (PPI). In Italy, the Russian Revolution of 1917 led to a
left-wing radicalization of the PSI. After major strikes and factory occupations
1919-20 in the so-called two red years, il biennio rosso, the
Socialist Party was split with the formation of the Partito Comunista Italiano
(PCI) in 1921.
It was, however, Mussolini's fascist movement (see fascism) which, after the
culmination of the revolutionary wave, understood to strike political currency
partly because of the middle class' fear of the economic crisis and the well -
organized actions of the proletariat, partly because of widespread
dissatisfaction with Italy not knowing The Treaty of Versailles had been
adequately met in its territorial claims.
By launching gangs of violence, squadre d'azione, against political
opponents and by being supported by large sections of the Italian establishment
led by the monarchy, in October 1922 Mussolini was appointed leader of a
coalition government a few days after the March against Rome. of the fascist
gangs. Externally, Italy remained a parliamentary democracy. But the
assassination of the opposition leader, the socialist Giacomo Matteotti, in the
summer of 1924 changed this situation. After Mussolini had appeared in
Parliament on 3 January 1925 and had assumed the moral, political and historical
responsibility for what had happened, but without resigning, the authoritarian
regime was a fact. The anti-fascist parties were then banned, leaving only the
Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF).
Regime and Resistance (1925-45)
The regime promoted some of the modernization features that also
characterized other of the interwar mass societies, namely welfare initiatives,
technological advances, and increasing government intervention in the
economy. But with his repressive line, Mussolini fundamentally accommodated the
forces of Italian society that, since the unification of Italy, had relied on a
model of development based on imperialist, anti-democratic and populist methods,
both vis-ŕ-vis the outside world and the Italian people. Mussolini also managed
to get the church's support for his regime, when the Italian state and the
Vatican finally finally in 1929 formalized their relations in the
so-called Lateran settlement. See also Church State.
With the 1935-36 campaign against Ethiopia (the Italian-Abyssinian War),
which had humiliated Italy 40 years earlier, the regime achieved its greatest
popular consensus to date. After the conquest of the African state, an Italian
empire was proclaimed in 1936, which was increased with the annexation of
Albania in 1939. The engagement with Germany in the Spanish Civil War on the
part of rebel General Franco continued the expansionist policy. the following
year, Italy entered World War II as Germany's ally. With the declaration of war
against France in June 1940, Italy became an active participant in the war.
With Mussolini at the helm, Italy lived out the 1800's nation model in its
extreme catastrophic consequence. When the fortunes of war turned and the Allies
landed in Sicily in July 1943, it was not long before the regime had to part
with its leader; On July 25, Mussolini was deposed by Vittorio Emanuele III, who
imprisoned him. Thereafter, the new head of government, former chief of staff
Badoglio, began ceasefire negotiations with the Allies, and on 8 September, the
ceasefire was declared. From then on, Italy fought against Germany. In northern
Italy, however, the Germans succeeded in having the meanwhile liberated
Mussolini deployed in the puppet state of La Repubblica Sociale Italiana,
headquartered in Salň (Republic of Salň).
The country was now divided into two. The war took on the character of both
liberation wars, civil wars and class wars in 1943-45, as the resistance
movement took shape around especially anti-fascist parties such as the Communist
PCI and the Partito d'Azione, named after Mazzini's and Garibaldi's old
party. On April 25, 1945, Northern Italy was liberated.
Republicanism (1945-50)
After the end of World War II, Italy could not only return to the pre-fascist
regime, whose institutions and constitution had failed to prevent fascism, but
Italy had also gained another international position with the United States'
entry into the war and subsequent economic aid (see Marshall Plan). who
developed an American hegemony, soon also power-political and cultural. Although
Italy had fought on the side of the Allies for the last two years of the war,
the country was treated with the 1947 Peace Treaty as a former enemy; thus Italy
had to renounce the eastern parts of the region of Venezia Giulia and
Istria, which belonged to Yugoslavia, while the former colonies of Libya,
Albania and Ethiopia were declared independent.
It was under this new auspices that the Italian people (women included) went
to the polls on 2 June 1946 to decide whether Italy should be a republic or
continue as a monarchy. A narrow majority preferred a republic. On the same day,
votes were cast in a Constituent Assembly with representatives of the parties
that would shape the political system: Pietro Nennis PSI, Palmiro Togliatti's
PCI and Alcide De Gasperis Democrazia Cristiana (DC). On 1 January 1948, Italy
received its first democratic constitution, which laid the foundations for the
development of an Italian welfare state.
However, the unity between the political wings behind the 1944-47 coalition
governments and the Constitution itself did not stand up to the fronts of the
Cold War. PCI and PSI had to leave the government in May 1947. In the election
in April 1948, DC won an overwhelming victory, and the party was, among other
things. via Italy's membership of NATO from 1949 the guarantor of a certain
stability in the country, which in addition to being an important piece in
Western Mediterranean policy was also home to a communist party to be taken care
of. In the same election, former fascists ran under the name Movimento Sociale
Italiano (MSI).
DC's power base was consolidated with a series of land reforms and from 1950
with the Investment Fund for Southern Italy (la Cassa per il Mezzogiorno),
which was followed by an expansion of the state-controlled companies that had
survived the crisis policy of fascism. Thus, there was a tendency for DC and its
shifting allies of Social Democrats, Liberals, and Republicans to occupy the
state apparatus with full control over its resources. The result was that the
political system was blocked and that the opposition party, PCI, never became an
alternative.
Economic Miracle and Opening to the Left (1950-63)
It was within the framework of this imperfect democracy that Italy carried
out its economic recovery. The strong growth was promoted by a favorable cost
level, and the economy became internationalized and export-oriented. In 1951,
the country co - signed the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel
Community, which entered into force in 1952, and in 1955 Italy hosted the
Messina Conference, which in 1957 culminated in the signing of the Treaties of
Rome, see EU (1.1. Historical background). The progress culminated around
1960; the Italian had now, following the American example, become a consumer of
cars, refrigerators, televisions, etc.
However, it was first and foremost the industrial triangle Milan-Turin-Genoa
that benefited from the economic miracle. This geographically one-sided
development helped to deepen some pre-existing disparities, for example between
northern Italy and southern Italy, which resulted in waves of emigrants to the
industrial centers to the north.
The social unrest that followed in the wake of the country's new, unequally
distributed wealth forced DC leaders Amintore Fanfani and Aldo Moro to expand
the governing coalition 1962-63 with the Socialist Party. After a short period
of reform, however, the PSI ended up being more concerned with the short-term
retention of power than with the long-term solutions. The center-left coalition
between DC and PSI created a power-sharing policy that became the predominant
model for the development of the political system until the early 1990's.
The Strategy of Tension (1963-79)
The reform policy of the early 1960's did not have the intended stabilizing
effect. The economy slowed down and reforms had to be halted. Throughout the
decade, a small but militant opposition grew to the left of the traditional
left, culminating in the student uprising of 1968, followed by the so-called hot
autumn, l'autunno caldo, in the context of labor negotiations the
following year.
DC was losing control, and with a supposed neo-fascist bombing in Milan in
December 1969 that killed 17 people, what was called a "strategy of tension", la
strategia della tensione, was launched, the goal of which was to promote
destabilization. a law and order policy. In 1970, a coup was attempted; one had
already been attempted in 1964. In 1974 a new bomb exploded in Brescia, and in
1980 it hit Bologna railway station with 85 killed and 200 wounded.
It was PCI that immediately understood how to take political advantage of the
long crisis of the 1970's, which was further exacerbated by the sharply rising
oil prices. In the local elections in 1975, the party received a number of
mayoral posts, for example in Turin and Rome, ie. outside the central Italian
regions such as Emilia-Romagna (Bologna), where the Communists had dominated
since the war. The following year, in 1976, the PCI achieved its best
parliamentary election to date. The party had understood to appeal to the middle
classes after the leader, Enrico Berlinguer, launched his proposal for a
"historic compromise" with DC. Among Catholic politicians, it was first and
foremost Aldo Moro who was responsive to this proposal.
The mutual rapprochement led to PCI supporting two DC governments 1976-79
with the driven Giulio Andreotti as leader. The consequence, however, was that
the extra-parliamentary new left was given more leeway. Against the background
of the many militant small groups, a real terrorism developed. The most
far-reaching operation was carried out by the Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse),
which in 1978 abducted and later assassinated DC President Aldo Moro.
This changed the preconditions for the collaboration between DC and PCI. The
reforms did not materialize, and the trade union movement did not respond to the
restraint policy it had pursued to contribute to the reduction of rising cost
and inflation levels. PCI had to find itself trapped in the transformism that
PSI had previously ended up in, but unlike PSI, PCI became increasingly isolated
after support for Andreotti's government was withdrawn.
Partitocracy (1979-91)
At the beginning of the 1980's, the Italian economy was facing a recovery. The
progress was based on a technological renewal of the production apparatus, on a
discipline of the workforce and on a change in the professional composition of
the same workforce. Business, which had been under strong pressure during the
1970's conflicts in the labor market, now emerged with strengthened companies and
a new enterprise.
PCI's marginalization promoted a showdown over the party's identity; it ended
with the then leader Achille Occhetto (b. 1936) having the PCI transformed into
the Partito Democratico di Sinistra (PDS), while a smaller breakaway group
continued under the party designation Rifondazione Comunista. After the negative
government experiences with PCI in the latter half of the 1970's, DC returned in
the 1980's to the old, tried-and-true center-left model with leaders like Ciriaco
De Mita (b. 1928), Arnaldo Forlani and Giulio Andreotti. PSI now, under the
leadership of Bettino Craxi, breathed a new future. The goal was both to isolate
PCI and to appear as an alternative to DC.
Parts of this strategy were realized. Craxi thus formed two governments in
1983-87, thus breaking DC's monopoly on the government leadership post. However,
it was also the period when the political system emerged as a real party power, partitocrazia. Politics
was reduced to friendship services and corruption, revealing a deep-rooted
clientelistic practice that had eliminated all forms of opposition and
democratic control and provided organized crime and other shady business with
the best conditions. Thus, around 1980, the Sicilian mafia launched an
unprecedented series of assassinations of judges, politicians and other
government officials, such as in 1982 the prefect of Palermo, Carlo Alberto
Dalla Chiesa. In 1981, the authorities discovered the existence of the secret
Masonic lodge P2, which was declared a threat to democracy by a parliamentary
commission. In 1990, the public became aware of the equally secret NATO
structure Gladio, which was linked to the strategy of tension.
Italy - History (1991-)
Italy - History (1991-), Italy, Europe and Berlusconi
(1991-)
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
political and ideological fronts that had helped to lock in Italian democracy
disappeared. However, Umberto Bossi's Northern Italian League (Lega Nord) had
already challenged the political system with a program that highlighted
enterprising northern Italy over corrupt and wasteful Rome and advocated a less
centralist state structure, not without separatist undertones. In 1992, the
Milan Public Prosecutor's Office launched the operation against prominent
representatives of the political class and of the private business community,
which was quickly dubbed Rene Hænder (Mani Pulite).
The PSI was then dissolved while the DC was split into a series of smaller
batches. The PDS was the only major party to survive in a now more polarized
political system that split into a center-right wing and a center-left wing, not
to be confused with the 1960's experiment of the same name.. However, the left
parties did not initially succeed in striking the political coin of the fall of
the old political class. In the March 1994 election, media king and right-wing
populist Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party became the major victor,
along with the Lega Nord and Gianfranco Finis' Alleanza Nazionale, which
engulfed the former neo-fascist party MSI.
Many feared that Italy was facing a new regime, but in December 1994 the
Berlusconi government had to resign when it lost Lega Nord's support, leaving
room for a Ministry of Commerce under the leadership of former National Bank
Governor Lamberto Dini (b. 1931), who after the April 1996 election, government
power handed over to economics professor Romano Prodiat the head of a broad
center-left coalition around the PDS. The Berlusconi government left a number of
issues still unresolved, including concerning the Italian economy. Nevertheless,
Silvio Berlusconi again won strong voter turnout in the 2001 election, with
Forza Italia becoming the largest party after promises of streamlining public
administration, simplifying laws, tax cuts and rebuilding southern Italy. Mr
Berlusconi has been widely criticized at home and abroad for corruption
allegations by Italian and Spanish courts, his contempt for state institutions
and the conflict caused by Berlusconi's simultaneous resignation as Prime
Minister. business and controls a significant part of the media. The
center-left, which held government power from 1996 to 2001,
Prime Minister |
1861 |
Camillo di Cavour |
1861-62 |
Bettino Ricasoli |
1862 |
Urbano Rattazzi |
1862 |
Luigi Carlo Farini |
1863-64 |
Marco Minghetti |
1864-66 |
Alfonso Lamarmora |
1866-67 |
Bettino Ricasoli |
1867 |
Urbano Rattazzi |
1867-69 |
Luigi Federico Menabrea |
1869-73 |
Giovanni Lanza |
1873-76 |
Marco Minghetti |
1876-78 |
Agostino Depretis |
1878 |
Benedetto Cairoli |
1878-79 |
Agostino Depretis |
1879-81 |
Benedetto Cairoli |
1881-87 |
Agostino Depretis |
1887-91 |
Francesco Crispi |
1891-92 |
Antonio di Rudině |
1892-93 |
Giovanni Giolitti |
1893-96 |
Francesco Crispi |
1896-98 |
Antonio di Rudině |
1898-1900 |
Luigi Pelloux |
1900-01 |
Giuseppe Saracco |
1901-03 |
Giuseppe Zanardelli |
1903-05 |
Giovanni Giolitti |
1905-06 |
Alessandro Fortis |
1906 |
Sidney Sonnino |
1906-09 |
Giovanni Giolitti |
1909-10 |
Sidney Sonnino |
1910-11 |
Luigi Luzzati |
1911-14 |
Giovanni Giolitti |
1914-16 |
Antonio Salandra |
1916-17 |
Paolo Boselli |
1917-19 |
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando |
1919-20 |
Francesco Saverio Nitti |
1920-21 |
Giovanni Giolitti |
1921-22 |
Ivanoe Bonomi |
1922 |
Luigi Facta |
1922-43 |
Benito Mussolini |
1943-44 |
Pietro Badoglio |
1944-45 |
Ivanoe Bonomi |
1945 |
Ferruccio Parri |
1945-53 |
Alcide De Gasperi |
1953-54 |
Giuseppe Pella |
1954 |
Amintore Fanfani |
1954-55 |
Mario Scelba |
1955-57 |
Antonio Segni |
1957-58 |
Adone Zoli |
1958-59 |
Amintore Fanfani |
1959-60 |
Antonio Segni |
1960 |
Fernando Tambroni |
1960-63 |
Amintore Fanfani |
1963 |
Giovanni Leone |
1963-68 |
Aldo Moro |
1968 |
Giovanni Leone |
1968-70 |
Mariano Rumor |
1970-72 |
Emilio Colombo |
1972-73 |
Giulio Andreotti |
1973-74 |
Mariano Rumor |
1974-76 |
Aldo Moro |
1976-79 |
Giulio Andreotti |
1979-80 |
Francesco Cossiga |
1980-81 |
Arnaldo Forlani |
1981-82 |
Giovanni Spadolini |
1982-83 |
Amintore Fanfani |
1983-87 |
Bettino Craxi |
1987 |
Amintore Fanfani |
1987-88 |
Giovanni Goria |
1988-89 |
Luigi Ciriaco De Mita |
1989-92 |
Giulio Andreotti |
1992-93 |
Giuliano Amato |
1993-94 |
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi |
1994 |
Silvio Berlusconi |
1995-96 |
Lamberto Dini |
1996-98 |
Romano Prodi |
1998-2000 |
Maussima D'Alema |
2000-01 |
Giuliano Amato |
2001-06 |
Silvio Berlusconi |
2006-08 |
Romano Prodi |
2008-11 |
Silvio Berlusconi |
2011-13 |
Mario Monti |
2013-14 |
Enrico Letta |
2014-16 |
Matteo Renzi |
2016- |
Paolo Gentiloni |
Italy played an active role in the Balkans, in connection with riots in
Albania, where 12,000 French, Spanish and Italian soldiers under Italian command
were deployed in April 1997 in connection with riots in the southern provinces
of the country. The commitment in the Balkans must include seen in the light of
the widespread influx of illegal refugees into Italy.
The center-left government failed to balance Berlusconi's control of up to
half of the nationwide television channels, and despite the fact that the Prodi
government until 1998 and the subsequent government led by ex-communist Massimo
d'Alema showed good results - eg Italy's return to European monetary union that
paved the way for the country's joining the euro - did not prevent Berlusconi
from taking power again in 2001 after promises of tax cuts and economic
progress. However, Berlusconi's second term was marked by stagnation with growth
rates below the European average. Financial scandal followed financial scandal,
such as the bankruptcy of the dairy group Parmalat and the departure of Governor
Fazio prematurely. In the media field, Berlusconi gained greater control over
state television, RAI, and thus effectively curtailed freedom of the press in
Italy. Several critical journalists had to leave their jobs. In foreign policy,
Berlusconi downplayed Europe, oriented more towards the United States, and
supported US engagement in Iraq. In the April 2006 election, the center-left
coalition led by Prodi narrowly won; the new government faces major
challenges. Respect for the Constitution has been sought to be restored by
appointingGiorgio Napolitano, former reform communist and with roots in the
post-war anti-fascist tradition, as the new president after the very well-liked
Ciampi. The new government faced major challenges, but its majority in
parliament was too small and the center-left coalition's internal disagreement
too great for it to implement the reforms of labor and pension legislation and
the liberalization of business that were otherwise on Prodi's agenda. Issues
such as family policy (registered partnerships), artificial insemination and
stem cell research also gave rise to divisions in the governing coalition, where
center-left Catholics were sharply opposed to the left-wing parties, the Greens
and the socialist-radical party Rosa nel Pugno. Italy's military involvement in
Iraq and Afghanistan and the government's approval of a significant expansion of
the large US military base in Vicenza also gave rise to disagreement in the
governing coalition. In January 2008, Justice Minister Clemente Mastella of the
small southern Italian party Popolari-UDEUR resigned after his wife, Neapolitan
local politician Sandra Lonardo, was placed under house arrest on corruption
charges. Mastella first stated that his party's three senators would continue to
support the government, but a few days later Mastella withdrew his party's
support, citing that the major governing parties had shown no solidarity with
him and his wife. The government won a vote of confidence in the Chamber of
Deputies on 23 January 2008, but lost in the Senate the following day by 156
votes to 161.
At the election on 13-14. April Silvio Berlusconi's newly formed party Popolo
della Liberta in coalition with the right - wing northern Italian autonomous
party Lega Nord won a comfortable majority in both chambers of parliament, and
on 8 May Berlusconi rejoined the post of Prime Minister.
Among the problems Italy faced in 2008 were a declining purchasing power of
the population, very poor economic growth and a large public debt. In addition,
there was widespread illegal immigration, which, on the one hand, provided Italy
with the necessary labor, but on the other hand created widespread insecurity
among the population because the illegal immigrants were largely linked to crime
(particularly Roma and immigrants, both legal and illegal, from
Romania). Organized crime in southern Italy, despite a continuing series of
significant successes for the police, remained a major problem. Naples' huge
renovation problems were due to a combination of poor administration and
corruption at municipal and regional level, lack of investment in incinerators
in the Campania region as well as the interests of local mafia groups in the
illegal disposal of environmentally hazardous waste. When Berlusconi took office
as prime minister, he declared that he would hold a government meeting a week in
Naples until the problem was resolved.
In November 2011, Berlusconi, who had lost the majority in the Chamber of
Deputies, was forced to submit his resignation; confidence that he could solve
Italy's serious economic problems had disappeared. He was replaced on the post
by Mario Monti. The new government's task was to implement comprehensive
austerity measures, and the first austerity package was adopted as early as
December 2011. As early as 2012, Monti filed his resignation when he had lost
his parliamentary basis. After the parliamentary elections in February 2013, a
political crisis arose in the country, and only after two months was a new
government formed, this time under the leadership of Enrico Letta. After fierce
internal strife, Letta resigned as prime minister in February 2014 and was
replaced byMatteo Renzi, who took office as the youngest Prime Minister in the
history of Italy.
|