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WikiPedia Information About ItalyInformation from the WikiPedia.Com Website for Italy/_TheTownGuide/Index_Layout_Leaders_wiki_Process.xsl {{redirect Italia}} {{about the republic}} {{pp-semi-protected small=yes}} {{Infobox Country native_name = ''Repubblica Italiana'' conventional_long_name = Italian Republic common_name = Italy nickname(s) = The Boot; The Belpaese image_flag = Flag of Italy.svg image_coat = Italy-Emblem.svg symbol_type = Coat of arms image_map = EU-Italy.svg map_caption = {{map caption location_color=dark green region=Europe region_color=dark grey subregion=the European Union subregion_color=light green legend=EU-Italy.svg}} national_motto = national_anthem = ''Il Canto degli Italiani'' (also known as ''Inno di Mameli'') ''The Song of the Italians'' official_languages = Italian language Italian capital = Rome latd=41 latm=54 latNS=N longd=12 longm=29 longEW=E largest_city = capital largest_metropolitan area = Milan and Naples demonym = Italian people Italian government_type = Parliamentary republic leader_title1 = President of the Italian Republic President leader_name1 = Giorgio Napolitano (Democratic Party (Italy) PD) leader_title2 = Prime Minister of Italy Prime Minister leader_name2 = Silvio Berlusconi (People of Freedom PdL) legislature = Parliament of Italy Parliament upper_house = Italian Senate Senate of the Republic lower_house = Italian Chamber of Deputies Chamber of Deputies accessionEUdate = 25 March 1957 (founding member) EUseats = 78 area_rank = 71st area_magnitude = 1 E11 area_km2 = 301,338 area_sq_mi = 116,346 percent_water = 2ǐ population_estimate = 60,231,214{{it icon}} {{cite web url=http://www.istat.it/salast ampa/comunicati/non_calendario/20091123_00/testointegrale20091123.pdf title=Monthly demographic balance: January-June 2009 publisher=Istat date=23 November 2009 accessdate=8 December 2009}} population_estimate_rank = 23rd population_estimate_year = 2009 population_census = 56,995,744 population_census_year = 2001 population_density_km2 = 199ǔ population_density_rank = 54th population_density_sq_mi = 517ǐ GDP_PPP = $1뛡 trillion{{cite web url=http: //www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/ weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ss d=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=136&s=NGDPD%2CNGD PDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=40&pr.y=12 title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2009 publisher=International Monetary Fund accessdate=1 October 2009}} GDP_PPP_rank = 10th GDP_PPP_year = 2008 GDP_PPP_per_capita = $30,631 GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 27th GDP_nominal = $2듪 trillion GDP_nominal_rank = 7th GDP_nominal_year = 2008 GDP_nominal_per_capita = $38,996 GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 21st sovereignty_type = History of Italy Formation established_event1 = Italian unification Unification established_date1 = 17 March 1861 established_event2 = Birth of the Italian Republic Republic established_date2 = 2 June 1946 HDI = {{increase}} 0띧[h ttp://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf Human Development Report 2009]. The United Nations. Retrieved 5 October 2009. HDI_rank = 18th HDI_year = 2007 HDI_category = very high currency = Euro (Euro sign €){{smallsup 2}} currency_code = EUR country_code = time_zone = Central European Time CET utc_offset = +1 time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time CEST utc_offset_DST = +2 drives_on = Right cctld = .it{{smallsup 3}} calling_code = Telephone numbers in Italy 39{{smallsup 4}} Gini = 36 Gini_year = 2000 footnote1 = French is co-official in the Aosta Valley; Slovene language Slovene is co-official in the province of Trieste and the province of Gorizia; German and Ladin are co-official in the province of Bolzano-Bozen. footnote2 = Before 2002, the Italian lira Italian Lira. The euro is accepted in Campione d'Italia, but the official currency is the Swiss Franc. footnote3 = The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. footnote4 = To call Campione d'Italia, it is necessary to use the Swiss code +41. }} '''Italy''' {{Audio-IPA en-us-Italy.ogg /'?t?li/}} ({{lang-it Italia}}, {{IPA-it i'ta:lja }}), officially the '''Italian Republic''' ({{lang-it Repubblica Italiana}}), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alps Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, and Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers 301,338 km² and is influenced by a temperate climate temperate seasonal climate. With 60ǎ million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world. The land known as Italy today has been the cradle of European cultures and peoples, such as the Etruscans and the Ancient Rome Romans. Italy's capital, Rome, was for centuries the political centre of Western world Western civilisation, as the capital of the Roman Empire. After its Decline of the Roman Empire decline, Italy would endure numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Normans and later, the Byzantines, among others. Centuries later, Italy would become the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance Renaissance, {{citation contribution=Italy: Birthplace of the Renaisssance title= European Rennaisance and Reformation location=Township of Washington, NJ publisher=Immaculate Heart Academy publication-date=[n.d.] accessdate=20 December 2009 url=http://www.im maculateheartacademy.org/outside2/socialstudie s/kuhns/1%20Italy%20Birthplace%20of%20the%20Renaissance.pdf }}. {{Verify credibility date=December 2009}} an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought. Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into numerous kingdoms and city-states (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan), but was Italian unification unified in 1861,{{cite web url=http://libra ry.thinkquest.org/TQ0312582/unification.html title=Unification of Italy publisher=Library.thinkquest.org date=4 April 2003 accessdate=19 November 2009}} a tumultuous period in history known as the "''Risorgimento''". In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a Italian Colonial Empire colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia, Albania, Rhodes, the Dodecanese and a concession in Concessions in Tianjin Tianjin, China.[http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=italian_colonial The Italian Colonial Empire - All Empires] Modern Italy is a democratic republic and the world's eighteenth most developed country,http://hdr.un dp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf with the Quality-of-Life Index eighth or tenth highest quality of life index rating in the world.http://www&# 46economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.p dfwww1.internationalliving.com/qofl2010/ Italy enjoys a List of countries by Human Development Index very high standard of living, and has a high List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita nominal GDP per capita&# 46[http://imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/20 09/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=26&pr.y= 9&sy=2009&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=&# 46&br=1&c=512%2C941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614 %2C668%2C311%2C672%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193% 2C962%2C122%2C674%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2 C556%2C513%2C678%2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C 684%2C339%2C273%2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C9 43%2C963%2C686%2C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C72 8%2C918%2C558%2C748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278 %2C622%2C692%2C156%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449% 2C628%2C564%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2 C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C 662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C1 28%2C862%2C611%2C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C24 8%2C942%2C469%2C718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643 %2C936%2C939%2C961%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172% 2C184%2C132%2C524%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2 C364%2C134%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C 144%2C258%2C146%2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C9 23%2C263%2C738%2C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C74 2%2C176%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186 %2C433%2C925%2C178%2C746%2C436%2C926%2C136%2C466% 2C343%2C112%2C158%2C111%2C439%2C298%2C916%2C927%2 C664%2C846%2C826%2C299%2C542%2C582%2C443%2C474%2C 917%2C754%2C544%2C698&s=NGDPDPC&grp=0&a=] Italy is also a member of the G8 and G20 major economies G20. It has the world's List of countries by GDP (nominal) seventh-largest nominal GDP, List of countries by GDP (PPP) tenth highest GDP (PPP) [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/w eo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2008&ey=200 8&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C 941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614%2C668%2C311%2C6 72%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193%2C962%2C122%2C67 4%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2C556%2C513%2C678 %2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C684%2C339%2C273% 2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C943%2C963%2C686%2 C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C728%2C918%2C558%2C 748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278%2C622%2C692%2C1 56%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C22 8%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636 %2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960% 2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2 C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C248%2C942%2C469%2C 718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643%2C936%2C939%2C9 61%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172%2C184%2C132%2C52 4%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2C364%2C134%2C732 %2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C144%2C258%2C146% 2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C923%2C263%2C738%2 C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C742%2C176%2C866%2C 534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C1 78%2C746%2C436%2C926%2C136%2C466%2C343%2C112%2C15 8%2C111%2C439%2C298%2C916%2C927%2C664%2C846%2C826 %2C299%2C542%2C582%2C443%2C474%2C917%2C754%2C544% 2C698&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=9&pr.y=12] and the Government budget by country fifth highest government budget in the world.ht tps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2056.html It is also a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, and the Western European Union. Italy, on addition to this, has the world's List of countries by military expenditures eight-largest defence budget and shares Nuclear sharing NATO's nuclear weapons. Italy, especially Rome, has an important place in politics political, military and culture cultural affairs, with worldwide organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),{{cite web url=http://www.fao.org/VA/Employ.htm title=Working opportunities with FAO publisher=Fao.org date= accessdate=17 October 2009}} World Food Programme (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Glocal Forum,{{cite web url=http://www.glocalforum.org/ title=The Glocal Forum publisher=The Glocal Forum date= accessdate=27 October 2009}} and the NATO Defence College being headquartered in the country and the city. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power, alongside the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia,[http: //links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266(198801)103%3A406%3C154%3APIEGBF%3E2nj.CO%3B2-7 jstor.org][http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060501fae ssay85305/ben-w-heineman-jr-fritz-heimann/the-long-war-against-corruption.html foreignaffairs.org] Ben W. Heineman, Jr., and Fritz Heimann speak of Italy as a major country or "player" along with Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, in "The Long War Against Corruption".M. De Leonardis, ''Il Mediterraneo nella politica estera italiana del secondo dopoguerra'', Bologna, Il Mulino, 2003, p. 17[http://translate.google.com/tra nslate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.carabinieri 6it/Internet/Editoria/Rassegna%2BArma/&sa=X&oi=tr anslate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhtt p://www.carabinieri.it/Internet/Editoria/Rassegna%252BArma/%26hl%3Den carabinieri.it][http://books& #46google.com/books?id=X4xw8-Oj9usC&pg=PA157&l pg=PA157&dq=regional+power+italy+in+europe&source =web&ots=gTHBeTgih6&sig=KwrRgq_eL95u747CzfFzNxFid80#PPP1,M1 books.google.com] and Italy has been classified in a Composite Index of National Capability study, measuring hard power, as being the eleventh greatest worldwide national p ower.http://correlatesofwar.org/COW2%20Data/Capabilities/nmc3-02.htm The country has a Education Index high public education level, list of countries by labour force high labour force,{{cite web url=https://ww w.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2095rank.html title=CIA - The World Factbook - Country Comparison :: Labor force publisher=Cia.gov date= accessdate=27 October 2009}} is a Globalization Index globalised nation,{{cite web url=http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/static/pdf/press_release_2009_en.pdf title=KOF - Pressemitteilung format=PDF date= accessdate=27 October 2009}} and also has 2009's nation branding sixth best international reputation.[http://www.nation-branding.info/2009/10/07/nation-brands-index-2009/ Nation Branding » Nation Brands Index 2009] Italy also has the world's nineteenth highest life expectancy,{{cite web url=https://www.cia.gov/library /publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html title=CIA - The World Factbook - Country Comparison :: Life expectancy at birth publisher=Cia.gov date= accessdate=27 October 2009}} and the world's second best healthcare system.http://www.lista fterlist.com/ListAfterListcomListsAbout/tabid/ 57/ListID/7700/Default.aspxhttp://c thealth.server101.com/Old%20Universal%20Hea lth%20Care/united_states_spends_most_on_health,_b ut_france_no__1_in_treatment.htmhtt p://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/ It is the world's fifth most visited country, with over 43Ǔ million international arrivals,http://unwto.org/facts/eng/p df/highlights/UNWTO_Highlights08_en_HR.pdf and boasts a long tradition in the arts, science and technology, including the world's highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date (44)&# 46http://www.initaly.com/regions/ethni c/unesco.htmhttp://geography.abo ut.com/od/culturalgeography/a/worldheritagesites.htm EtymologyItalia}},Oxford Latin Dictionary OLD, p. 974: "first syll. naturally short (cf. Quintilian Quint.''Inst.''1Ǒሊ), and so scanned in Gaius Lucilius Lucil.825, but in dactylic verse lengthened ''metri gratia''." is uncertain. According to one of the more common explanations, the term was borrowed through Ancient Greek Greek from the Oscan language Oscan ''Víteliú'', meaning "land of young cattle" (''cf.'' Latin Lat ''vitulus'' "calf", Umbrian language Umb ''vitlo'' "calf").J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' (London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997), 24. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italian tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Samnite Wars. The name ''Italia'' originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy—according to Antiochus of Syracuse, the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (modern Calabria). But by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula.Guillotining, M., History of Earliest Italy, trans. Ryle, M & Soper, K. in Jerome Lectures, Seventeenth Series, pሪ HistoryHistory of Italy}} {{See also Historical states of Italy}} Prehistory to Magna Graeciathumb 160px right Emperor Augustus, who ruled Rome from 16 January 27 BC to 19 August AD 14. {{Main Prehistoric Italy Ancient Italic peoples Magna Graecia}} Excavations throughout Italy reveal a modern human presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago.Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2001, ch. 2. ISBN 0306464632. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC Greek colonies were established all along the coast of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. Subsequently, Romans referred to this area as ''Magna Graecia'', as it was so densely inhabited by Greeks.Luca Cerchiai, Lorena Jannelli, Fausto Longo, Lorena Janelli, 2004. ''The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily'' (Getty Trust) ISBN 0-89236-751-2T. J. Dunbabin, 1948. ''The Western Greeks''A. G. Woodhead, 1962. ''The Greeks in the West'' The colonists who started arriving in the eighth century BC brought with them their Hellenic civilization, which was to leave a lasting imprint in Italy and particularly on the culture of ancient Rome. Ancient RomeAncient Rome History of Italy during Roman times Italia (Roman Empire)}} Ancient Rome was at first a small agricultural community founded circa the 8th century BC that grew over the course of the centuries into a colossal Roman empire empire encompassing the whole Mediterranean Sea, in which Ancient Greek and Roman cultures merged into one civilization. This civilization was so influential that parts of it survive in modern law, Central Administration administration, philosophy and arts, forming the ground that Western world Western civilization is based upon. In its twelve-century existence it transformed itself from monarchy to Roman Republic republic and finally to autocracy. In steady decline since the 2nd century AD, the empire finally broke into two parts in 285 AD: the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire in the East. The western part under the pressure of Goths finally dissolved, leaving the Italian peninsula divided into small independent kingdoms and feuding city states for the next 14 centuries, and leaving the Byzantine Empire eastern part sole heir to the Roman legacy. Middle AgesRegnum Italicum Kingdom of the Lombards Italy in the Middle Ages Medieval commune Republic of Florence Republic of Venice Republic of Genoa Years of the 12th - 14th century in Italy}} File:Iron Crown.JPG thumb left The Iron Crown of Lombardy Iron Crown with which Lombards Lombard rulers were crowned. In the sixth century AD the Byzantine Emperor Justinian reconquered Italy from the Ostrogoths. The invasion of a new wave of Germanic peoples Germanic tribes, the Lombards, doomed his attempt to resurrect the Western Roman Empire but the repercussions of Justinian's failure resounded further still. For the next thirteen centuries, whilst new nation-states arose in the lands north of the Alps, the Italian political landscape was a patchwork of feuding city states, petty tyrannies, and foreign invaders. For several centuries the armies and Exarchs, Justinian's successors, were a tenacious force in Italian affairs - strong enough to prevent other powers such as the Arabs, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Papacy from establishing a unified Italian Kingdom, but too weak to drive out these "interlopers" and recreate Roman Italy. File:Italy 1494 v2.png thumb right 160px Italy was divided for centuries into small city-states. Italy's regions were eventually subsumed by their neighbouring empires with their conflicting interests and would remain divided up to the 19th century. It was during this vacuum of authority that the region saw the rise of the Signoria and the medieval commune Comune. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian city-states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the Signoria to individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state, most notably the House of Scaliger Della Scala family in Verona, the house of Visconti Visconti in Milan and the Medici in Florence. Italy during this period became notable for its merchant Republics. These city-states, oligarchy oligarchical in reality, had a dominant merchant class which under relative freedom (political) freedom nurtured academic and artistic advancement. The four classic Repubbliche Marinare Maritime Republics in Italy were Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi. Venice and Genoa were Europe's gateways to trade with the East, with the former producer of the renowned venetian glass. Florence was the capital of silk, wool, banks and jewelry. The Maritime Republics were heavily involved in the Crusades, taking advantage of the new political and trading opportunities, most evidently in the conquest of Zadar Zara and Constantinople funded by Venice. During the late Middle Ages Italy was divided into smaller Italian city-states city-states and territories: the kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the Republic of Florence and the Papal States the centre, the Genoa Genoese and the Milanese the north and west, and the Venice Venetians the east. RenaissanceItalian Renaissance Italian Renaissance literature Italian Renaissance arts and culture Italian Renaissance society Latin translations of the 12th century Renaissance humanism}} File:Botticelli Venus.jpg thumb left 200px upright Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (Botticelli) Birth of Venus (Uffizi, Florence). The unique political structures of late Middle Ages Italy and its its dynamic social climate and florescent trade allowed the emergence of a unique cultural efflorescence. Italy never regained the unity it onde had in the days of the Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages was divided into smaller Italian city-states city states and territories: the kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the Republic of Florence and the Papal States the center, the Genoa Genoese and the Milanese the north and west, and the Venice Venetians the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most urbanised areas in Europe. Most historians agree that the ideas that characterized the Renaissance and their earliest apologists and supporters had their origin in late 13th century Florence or gravitated in or around Florence, as well as the other rival city-states. The Renaissance achieved its epitome, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374), Bocaccio, as well as the paintings of great masters starting with Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). The Renaissance was an extremely important period in Italian history, and in European history, and brought along numerous political, philosophical, literary, cultural, social and religious reforms.{{cite web url=http://www.britannic a.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27684/The-early-Italian-Renaissance title=Italy :: The early Italian Renaissance - Britannica Online Encyclopedia publisher=Britannica.com date= accessdate=19 November 2009}} File:Michelangelos David.jpg thumb right Michelangelo's David, a common symbol of the Italian Renaissance (Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence). The Renaissance was so called because it was a "rebirth" of many classical ideas that had long been buried in the chapters of classical Antiquity. One could argue that the fuel for this rebirth was the rediscovery of ancient texts that had been almost 'forgotten' by Western civilization, but were preserved in some monastery monastic libraries or private libraries of powerful and wealthy patrons (see the Medici). Some would argue that there were translations of Greek and Arabic language Arabic texts into Latin from the Muslim world Islamic world that found their way into Italy and contributed to the Italian/European Renaissance. However, most of the manuscripts were either already in the Italian Peninsula or in 'Greece' and were taken to Italy in the centuries preceding the Renaissance by the Italians themselves (by the traders who travelled regularly to the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece) and by Byzantine Greeks who migrated to Italy during the onslaught of the Ottoman empire, against the Byzantine Empire in the 1400s, and specially after 1453, once the Ottomans had conquered the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. These Byzantines fled the Turks, sometimes carrying precious manuscripts and their knowledge (Greek and Ancient Greek) and while fixating themselves in Italy made a discreet but crucial contribution to the Renaissance. Renaissance scholars such as Niccolò de' Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini scoured the libraries in search of works by such classical authors as Plato, Cicero and Vitruvius. The works of Ancient Greece ancient Greek and Hellenistic civilization Hellenistic writers (such as Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, and Ptolemy) and Islamic science Muslim scientists were diffused in the Christian world, providing new intellectual material for European scholars. The Black Death pandemic in 1348 left its mark on Italy by killing one third of the population.Stéphane Barry and Norbert Gualde, "The Biggest Epidemics of History" (La plus grande épidémie de l'histoire, in L'Histoire n°310, June 2006, ppሥ–46< ref>"[http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Ital ian_Studies/dweb/plague/effects/death_toll.shtml Plague]". Brown.edu. However, the recovery from the disaster of the Black Death led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phase of the Humanism and Renaissance (15th-16th centuries) when Italy again returned to be the center of Western civilization, strongly influencing the other European countries with Courts like Este in Ferrara and De Medici in Florence. Florence became Italy's main centre of the Renaissance. Numerous artists, such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli{{cite web url=http://www.learner.org/interactives/renaissance/florence_sub2.html title=Renaissance - Focus on Florence publisher=Learner.org date= accessdate=19 November 2009}} worked in the city. Its economy flourished, and according to the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', Florence from the 14th century to the 16th century was one of Europe's greatest cities, and its numerous museums, palazzi and churches, such as the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi have been described by the encyclopedia as works of art themselves.{{cite web url=htt p://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210642/Florence title=Florence (Italy) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia publisher=Britannica.com date= accessdate=19 November 2009}} Rome was also a city particularly affected by the Renaissance. This period of reform changed the city's face dramatically, with works like the Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the Borgia Apartment. Rome reached the highest point of splendour under Pope Julius II (1503–1513) and his successors Leo X and Clement VII, both members of the Medici family. In this twenty-years period Rome became one of the greatest centres of art in the world. The old St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor Constantine the Great, was re-built mainly by Michelangelo,{{cite web url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13369b.htm title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Basilica of Saint Peter publisher=Newadvent.org date=1 February 1912 accessdate=19 November 2009}} who in Rome became one the most famous painters of Italy creating frescos in the Cappella Niccolina, the Villa Farnesina, the Raphael's Rooms, plus many other famous paintings. Michelangelo started the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the Moses for the tomb of Julius. Rome lost in part its religious character, becoming increasingly a true Renaissance city, with a great number of popular feasts, horse races, parties, intrigues and licentious episodes. Its economy was rich, with the presence of several Tuscan bankers, including Agostino Chigi, who was a friend of Raphael and a patron of arts. Before his early death, Raphael also promoted for the first time the preservation of the ancient ruins. Foreign domination and Enlightenment (16th–19th centuries)thumb left A map depicting Western Europe's borders after the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt. File:J.Zoffany, La tribuna degli Uffizi (detail).jpg thumb right During the 18th century, Italy was one of the main centres of the Grand Tour, when many foreign aristocrats came to appreciate Italian culture and art. {{Main History of Italy during foreign domination and the unification Early Modern Italy Italian Wars}} After a century where the fragmented system of Italian states and principalities were able to maintain a relative independence and a balance of power in the peninsula, in 1494 the French king Charles VIII opened the first of a series of invasions, lasting half of the sixteenth century, and a competition between France and Spain for the possession of the country. Ultimately Spain prevailed (the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559 recognised the Spanish possession of the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples) and for almost two centuries became the hegemon in Italy. The holy alliance between Habsburg Spain and the Holy See resulted in the systematic persecution of any Protestant movement, with the result that Italy remained a Catholic country with marginal Protestant presence. During its long rule on Italy, the Spanish Empire systematically spoiled the country and imposed heavy taxation. It interfered and held a tight grip over the affairs of the Holy See Vatican. Moreover, Spanish administration was slow and inefficient, and its social consequences in the long term, in Southern Italy, where Spanish rule was effective, have lasted till the current age. Austria succeeded Spain as hegemon in Italy after the Peace of Utrecht (1713), having acquired the State of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples. The Austrian domination, thanks to the Age of Enlightenment Enlightenment embraced by Habsburgic emperors, somewhat improved the situation. The northern part of Italy, under the direct control of Vienna, gained economic dynamism and intellectual fervour. The main Italian cities, such as Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice, Florence and Naples became fertile grounds for intellectual discussion and thought, and several Italian philosophers and literary figures were active at the time, such as the Milanese Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria-Bonesana, better known as Cesare Beccaria, or Antonio Genovesi. Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany or also known as Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire, abolished the death penalty in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, a leap forward in the modernisation of Italy at the time. Italy in the 1700s was an important stop in the European Grand Tour, a period in which foreign, mostly British, aristocrats toured France, Italy and Greece to appreciate their arts and cultures, and their monuments. With the discovery of the classical ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1748, and the restoration of the derelict parts of the surviving ancient monuments in Rome, figures such as Goethe, Shelley, Keats and Byron toured the country. Cities such as Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples were the major attractions, and Sicily was popular too. Keats famously said that "Italy is the paradise of exiles".http://www.presiden cy.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9332&st=&st1= The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1815) stirred the ideas of Egalitarianism equality, democracy, law and nation which many in Italy endorsed and even supported as the basis on which they could and eventually would build national unity in Italy. This unity, or creation of Modern history of Italy modern Italy was yet to come in the second half of the nineteenth century (see Risorgimento and Italian Unification). The plague (disease) plague repeatedly returned to haunt Italy throughout the 14th to 17th centuries.{{cite web url=http://wwwencyclopedia.org/Plague title=Plague{{–}} LoveToKnow 1911 publisher=1911encyclopedia.org date= accessdate=3 November 2008}} Italy's last major epidemic occurred in 1656 in Naples.{{cite web url=http://faculty.ed .umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/goldenage.htm title=Naples in the 1600s publisher=Faculty.ed.umuc.edu date= accessdate=3 November 2008}} Italy’s population between 1700 and 1800 rose by about one-third, to 18 million.[http://www.britannica.co m/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy/27711/Reform-and-Enlightenment-in-the-18th-century Italy - Reform and Enlightenment in the 18th century]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' Italian unification (1816-1861) and Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) Risorgimento Italian unification History of Italy as a monarchy and in the World Wars Italian Campaign (World War I) Italian fascism Italian Social Republic Military history of Italy during World War II}} The creation of the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. In the context of the revolutions of 1848 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence war was declared on Austria-Hungary Austria. File:Partenza da Quarto.jpg thumb left Giuseppe Garibaldi leading the Expedition of the Thousand. Giuseppe Garibaldi, popular amongst southern Italians, led the Italian republican drive for unification in southern Italy,(Mack Smith, Denis (1997). ''Modern Italy; A Political History''. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472108956, p. 15. while the northern Italian monarchy of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia whose government was led by Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, had the ambition of establishing a united Italian state under its rule. The kingdom successfully challenged the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence with the help of Napoleon III of France Napoleon III, liberating the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia Lombardy-Venetia. It established Turin as capital of the newly formed state. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence. In 1866, Victor Emmanuel II of Italy Victor Emmanuel II aligned the kingdom with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War, waging the Third Italian War of Independence which allowed Italy to annex Venice. In 1870, as France during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War abandoned its positions in Rome, Italy rushed to fill the power gap by taking over the Papal State from French sovereignty. Italian unification finally was achieved, and shortly afterwards Italy's capital was moved from Florence to Rome. Whilst keeping the monarchy, the government became a parliamentary system, run by liberalism liberals. As Northern Italy became industrialized and modernized, Southern Italy and agricultural regions of the north remained under-developed and stagnant, forcing millions of people to migrate to the emerging Economy of Italy Industrial Triangle or abroad. The Sardinian Statuto Albertino of 1848, extended to the whole Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Kingdom of Italy in 1861, provided for basic freedoms, but the electoral laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from voting. In 1913, male universal suffrage was adopted. The Italian Socialist Party increased in strength, challenging the traditional liberal and conservative organisations. The high point of Italian diaspora Italian emigration was 1913, when 872,598 persons left Italy.{{cite journal last = Monticelli first = Giuseppe Lucrezio title = Italian Emigration: Basic Characteristic and Trends with Special Reference to the Last Twenty Years. journal = International Migration Review volume = 1 issue = 3, Special issue, The Italian Experience in Emigration pages = 10–24 date = Summer, 1967 id= ISSN 01979183 doi = 10/3002737 }} Starting from the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Italy developed into a colonial power by forcing Somalia, Eritrea and later Libya and the Dodecanese under its rule.(Bosworth (2005), pp. 49.) During World War I, Italy at first stayed neutral but in 1915 signed the Treaty of London (1915) Treaty of London, entering Triple Entente Entente on the promise of receiving Trento, Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia and parts of Ottoman Empire. During the war, 600,000 Italians died, and the economy collapsed. Under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) Peace Treaty of Saint-Germain, Italy obtained just Province of Bolzano-Bozen Bolzano-Bozen, Province of Trento Trento, Province of Trieste Trieste and Istria in a victory described as "mutilated" by the public. File:Meharisti.jpg thumb right Fascist stamp promoting a colonial art exhibition, 1934. The turbulence that followed the devastation of World War I, inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917 Russian Revolution, led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment, fearing a socialism socialist revolution, started to endorse the small National Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922 the fascists attempted a coup d'état coup (the ''Marcia su Roma'', "March on Rome"), but the king ordered the army not to intervene, instead forming an alliance with Mussolini. Over the next few years, Mussolini banned all political parties and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship. In 1935, Mussolini subjugated Ethiopia after a surprisingly lengthy campaign. This resulted in international alienation and the exodus of the country from the League of Nations. A first pact with Nazi Germany was concluded in 1936, and a second in Pact of Steel 1938. Italy strongly supported Franco in the Spanish civil war. The country was opposed to Adolf Hitler's anschluss annexations of Austria, but did not interfere with it. Italy supported Germany's annexation of Sudetenland, however {{Citation needed date=April 2009}}. On 7 April 1939 Italy occupied Albania, a ''de facto'' protectorate for decades, and entered World War II in 1940, taking part in the late stages of the Battle of France. Mussolini, wanting a quick victory like Hitler's Blitzkriegs in Poland and France, invaded Greece in October 1940 via Albania but was forced to accept a humiliating defeat after a few months. At the same time, Italy, after initially conquering British Somalia, saw an allied counter-attack lead to the loss of all possessions in the Horn of Africa. Italy was also defeated by British forces in North Africa and was only saved by the urgently dispatched German Africa Corps led by Erwin Rommel. Italy was Italian Campaign (World War II) invaded by the Allies in June 1943, leading to the collapse of the fascist regime and the arrest of Mussolini. In September 1943, Italy Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces surrendered. The country remained a Italian Campaign (World War II) battlefield for the rest of the war, as the allies were moving up from the south as the north was the base for loyalist Italian fascist and German Nazi forces. The whole picture became more complex by the activity of the Italian partisans; see Italian resistance movement. The Nazis left the country on 25 April 1945 and the remaining Italian fascist forces eventually disbanded. Nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) died between June 1940 and May 1945. An estimated 200,000 partisans took part in the Italian resistance movement Resistance, and German or fascist forces killed some 70,000 Italians (including both partisans and civilians) for Resistance activities.< ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy Italy]". Encyclopædia Britannica. At least 54,000 Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Italian prisoners of war died in the Soviet Union. The Italian Republic (1946–)Birth of the Italian Republic History of the Italian Republic Years of lead (Italy) Tangentopoli}} File:Partisans in Milan.jpg thumb left Italian resistance movement Partisans parading in Milan after the liberation of the city in 1945. In 1946, Vittorio Emanuele III's son, Umberto II, was forced to abdicate. Birth of the Italian Republic Italy became a republic after a Referendum in Italy referendum held on 2 June 1946, a day celebrated since as Republic Day (Italy) Republic Day. This was also the first time in Italy that Italian women were entitled to vote.{{it icon}} [http://www.i nsmli.it/pubblicazioni/35/Voto%20donne%20versione%20def.pdf Italia 1946: le donne al voto, dossier a cura di Mariachiara Fugazza e Silvia Cassamagnaghi] The Republican Constitution was approved and came into force on 1 January 1948. Under the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the eastern border area was lost to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia, and, later, the free territory of Trieste was divided between the two states. Fears in the Italian electorate of a possible Communist takeover proved crucial for the first universal suffrage electoral outcome on the 18th of April 1948 when the Christian Democracy (Italy, historical) Christian Democrats, under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi, won the election with 48 percent of the vote. In the 1950s Italy became a member of NATO and allied itself with the United States. The Marshall Plan helped revive the Italian economy which, until the 1960s, enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth commonly called the "Economic Miracle". In 1957, Italy was a founder member of the European Economic Community (EEC), which became the European Union (EU) in 1993. From the late 1960s till late 1980s the country experienced a hard economic crisis and the Years of Lead (Italy) Years of Lead, a period characterized by widespread social conflicts and terrorist acts carried out by extra-parliamentary movements. The Years of Lead culminated in the assassination of the Christian Democracy (Italy, historical) Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro in 1978, bringing to an end the "Historic Compromise" between the DC and the Italian Communist Party Communist Party. In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945, two governments were led by non-Christian-Democrat premiers: a republican (Giovanni Spadolini) and a socialist (Bettino Craxi); the Christian Democrats remained, however, the main force supporting the government. The Italian Socialist Party 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 MGM-31 Pershing Pershing missiles in Italy, a move the Communists hotly contested. File:Rometreaty.jpg thumb right The 1957 Treaties of Rome signing ceremony. From 1992 to 2009, Italy faced significant challenges, as voters, disenchanted with past political paralysis, massive government debt and extensive corruption (collectively called Tangentopoli after being uncovered by Mani pulite – "Clean hands"), demanded political, economic, and ethical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government coalition: between 1992 and 1994 the Christian Democracy (Italy, historical) Christian Democrats underwent a severe crisis and was dissolved, splitting up into several pieces, while the Italian Socialist Party Socialists and the other governing minor parties also dissolved. The 1994 elections put media magnate Silvio Berlusconi into the Prime Minister's seat. However, he was forced to step down in December of that year when the ''Lega Nord'' Party withdrew its support. In April 1996, national elections led to the victory of a ce n |
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