In the 3rd century BCE Rome had to face a new and formidable opponent: the powerful Phoenician city-state of Carthage. The Etruscans were also engineers who drained marshes and built roads. Venice in the Middle Ages. It was also in the interest of mercenaries on both sides to prolong any conflict, to continue their employment. Facing a new Lombard offensive, the Papacy appealed to the Franks for aid.[52]. In face of the threat of a French hegemony over much of Europe, a Grand Alliance between Austria, England, the Dutch Republic and other minor powers (within which the Duchy of Savoy) was signed in The Hague. The conquest of Hispania was completed in 19 BC—but at heavy cost and severe losses. [102], The First World War (1914–1918) was an unexpected development that forced the decision whether to honor the alliance with Germany and Austria. While both ideologies had significant similarities, the two factions were suspicious of each other, and both leaders were in competition for world influence. Warfare between the states was common, invasion from outside Italy confined to intermittent sorties of Holy Roman Emperors. Etruscans were a monogamous society that emphasized pairing. By 1942, it was faltering as its economy failed to adapt to the conditions of war and Italian cities were being heavily bombed by the Allies. The agitations also extended to the agricultural areas of the Padan plain and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and guerilla conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias. Plagued by internal political divisions and with an economy devastated by war, the new Kingdom of Italy was no Roman Empire. The same is true for architecture, as practiced by Brunelleschi, Leone Alberti, Andrea Palladio, and Bramante. The Allies organized some royalist Italian troops into the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, while troops loyal to Mussolini continued to fight alongside Nazi Germany in the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, the National Republican Army. Among these monarchs were the viceroy of Italy, Eugène de Beauharnais, who tried to get Austrian approval for his succession to the Kingdom of Italy, and Joachim Murat, who called for Italian patriots' help for the unification of Italy under his rule. "[131] Historians have long debated why Italy's military and its Fascist regime were so remarkably ineffective at an activity – war – that was central to their identity. 600 BC. About the same time in the 8th century BCE, a small agricultural community was forming on the west coast of Italy. [46], Despite its military strength, the Empire made few efforts to expand its already vast extent; the most notable being the conquest of Britain, begun by emperor Claudius (47), and emperor Trajan's conquest of Dacia (101–102, 105–106). Depretis began his term as Prime Minister by initiating an experimental political idea called Trasformismo (transformism). Although Garibaldi fell out with the new king, in 1862, he was offered a command in the U.S. Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln. The more conservative constitutional monarchic figures included the Count of Cavour and Victor Emmanuel II, who would later become the first king of a united Italy. While I learned a great deal, I was particularly struck by the contrast between Italy's age old, and varied culture and its relatively youthful status as a unified country; first unified in 1861. [93], With the end of the southern riots, there was a heavy outflow of millions of peasants in the Italian diaspora, especially to the United States and South America. Those in favour of unification also faced opposition from the Holy See, particularly after failed attempts to broker a confederation with the Papal States, which would have left the Papacy with some measure of autonomy over the region. history and birthdays Enjoy the Famous Daily. He spent fourteen years there, taking part in several wars, and returned to Italy in 1848. The Gauls destroyed much of Rome's historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BCE (Varronian, according to Polybius the battle occurred in 387/6) and what was left was eventually lost to time or theft. As a result of the Treaty of The Hague, Spain agreed to abandon its Italian claims, while Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy agreed to exchange Sicily with Austria, for the island of Sardinia, after which he was known as the King of Sardinia. [58] From the 10th to the 13th centuries these cities built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, leading to an essential role in the Crusades. This obligation grew from his promises to Italians that he would build an empire for them and from his personal desire to not allow Hitler to become the dominant leader in Europe. In the absence of any dating evidence, there is however no direct link between this genetic input and the Etruscans. Peasants without stable income were forced to live off meager food supplies, disease was spreading rapidly, plagues were reported, including a major cholera epidemic which killed at least 55,000 people.[100]. Badoglio stripped away the final elements of Fascist rule by banning the National Fascist Party, then signed an armistice with the Allied armed forces. Essay Italy Italy is a country located in southern Europe. The Socialist party (PSI), led by Bettino Craxi, became more and more critical of the communists and of the Soviet Union; Craxi himself pushed in favour of US president Ronald Reagan's positioning of Pershing II missiles in Italy. On 25 July, Mussolini was ousted by the Great Council of Fascism and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III, who appointed General Pietro Badoglio as new Prime Minister. Some of these led to the development of Western philosophy, science and art, that remained central during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The pope at the time, Pius IX, feared that giving up power in the region could mean the persecution of Italian Catholics.[88]. The Kingdom of Sardinia industrialized from 1830 onward. Vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian states under rulership of the Pope. Crassus had acted as mediator between Caesar and Pompey, and, without him, the two generals began to fight for power. [47] An estimated 1,356,460 Jews were killed as a result of the First Jewish Revolt;[48] the Second Jewish Revolt (115–117) led to the death of more than 200,000 Jews;[49] and the Third Jewish Revolt (132–136) resulted in the death of 580,000 Jewish soldiers. In May 1939, a formal alliance with Germany was signed, known as the Pact of Steel. Into this turbulent scenario emerged the figure of Julius Caesar. Other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum (Τάρας), Epizephyrian Locri (Λοκροί Ἐπιζεφύριοι), Rhegium (Ῥήγιον), Croton (Κρότων), Thurii (Θούριοι), Elea (Ἐλέα), Nola (Νῶλα), Ancona (Ἀγκών), Syessa (Σύεσσα), Bari (Βάριον), and others. This time the Lombard threat is conclusively resolved. Third was Mussolini's promise to restore the pride and glory of the old Roman Empire.[120]. Mussolini fled Rome and Italy surrendered to the Allies. The Concordat of 1929 made Catholicism the sole religion of the state (although other religions were tolerated), paid salaries to priests and bishops, recognized church marriages (previously couples had to have a civil ceremony), and brought religious instruction into the public schools. Mussolini became the youngest-ever prime minister of Italy in 1922, using his fascist organization of “Blackshirts” to propel him to power. These tribes overwhelmed the peoples with whom they came into contact and posed a real threat to Italy itself. During its twelve-century history, the Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to a immense empire. In 1870, France started the Franco-Prussian War and brought home its soldiers in Rome, where they had kept the pope in power. Italy’s history and culture are entwined with its ancient heritage, and all Italians are immensely proud of their country and its amazing past. On 2 June 1946, the republican side won 54% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic. Among ancient populations, ancient Etruscans are found to be closest to a Neolithic population from Central Europe.[17][18]. The fervor for war represented a bitterly hostile reaction against politics as usual, and the failures, frustrations, and stupidities of the ruling class.[106][107]. The long Siege of Florence (1529–1530) brought the destruction of its suburbs, the ruin of its export business and the confiscation of its citizens' wealth. Mercenaries were also a constant threat to their employers; if not paid, they often turned on their patron. This situation was shaken in 1796, when the French Army of Italy under Napoleon invaded Italy, with the aims of forcing the First Coalition to abandon Sardinia (where they had created an anti-revolutionary puppet-ruler) and forcing Austria to withdraw from Italy. This followed a referendum in 1946, which voted to abolish the previous monarchy by 12.7 million to 10.7 million votes. The 17th century was a tumultuous period in Italian history, marked by deep political and social changes. Francesco Crispi (1818–1901) was Prime Minister for a total of six years, from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896. The Renaissance was so called because it was a "rebirth" not only of economy and urbanization, but also of arts and science. The natural environment was constantly under threat by wild industrial expansion, leading to ecological disasters like the Vajont Dam inundation and the Seveso chemical accident. 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