Greeks settled in the southern tip of the Italian Peninsula in the
eighth and seventh centuries B.C.; Etruscans, Romans, and others
inhabited the central and northern mainland. The peninsula
subsequently was unified under the Roman Republic. The neighboring
islands came under Roman control by the third century B.C.; by the
first century A.D., the Roman Empire effectively dominated the
Mediterranean world. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the
West in the fifth century A.D., the peninsula and islands were
subjected to a series of invasions, and political unity was lost.
Italy became an oft-changing succession of small states,
principalities, and kingdoms, which fought among themselves and were
subject to ambitions of foreign powers. Popes of Rome ruled central
Italy; rivalries between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors, who
claimed Italy as their domain, often made the peninsula a
battleground.
The commercial prosperity of northern and central Italian cities,
beginning in the 11th century, combined with the influence of the
Renaissance, mitigated somewhat the effects of these medieval
political rivalries. Although Italy declined after the 16th century,
the Renaissance had strengthened the idea of a single Italian
nationality. By the early 19th century, a nationalist movement
developed and led to the reunification of Italy--except for Rome--in
the 1860s. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was
proclaimed King of Italy. Rome was incorporated in 1870. From 1870
until 1922, Italy was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament
elected under limited suffrage.
20th-Century History
During World War I, Italy renounced its standing alliance with
Germany and Austria-Hungary and, in 1915, entered the war on the
side of the Allies. Under the postwar settlement, Italy received
some former Austrian territory along the northeast frontier. In
1922, Benito Mussolini came to power and, over the next few years,
eliminated political parties, curtailed personal liberties, and
installed a fascist dictatorship termed the Corporate State. The
king, with little or no effective power, remained titular head of
state.
Italy allied with Germany and declared war on the United Kingdom and
France in 1940. In 1941, Italy--with the other Axis powers, Germany
and Japan--declared war on the United States and the Soviet Union.
Following the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, the King dismissed
Mussolini and appointed Marshal Pietro Badoglio as Premier. The
Badoglio government declared war on Germany, which quickly occupied
most of the country and freed Mussolini, who led a brief-lived
regime in the north. An anti-fascist popular resistance movement
grew during the last two years of the war, harassing German forces
before they were driven out in April 1945. A 1946 plebiscite ended
the monarchy, and a constituent assembly was elected to draw up
plans for the republic.
Under the 1947 peace treaty, minor adjustments were made in Italy's
frontier with France, the eastern border area was transferred to
Yugoslavia, and the area around the city of Trieste was designated a
free territory. In 1954, the free territory, which had remained
under the administration of U.S.-U.K. forces (Zone A, including the
city of Trieste) and Yugoslav forces (Zone B), was divided between
Italy and Yugoslavia, principally along the zonal boundary. This
arrangement was made permanent by the Italian-Yugoslav Treaty of
Osimo, ratified in 1977 (currently being discussed by Italy,
Slovenia, and Croatia). Under the 1947 peace treaty, Italy
relinquished its overseas territories and certain Mediterranean
islands.
The Roman Catholic Church's status in Italy has been determined,
since its temporal powers ended in 1870, by a series of accords with
the Italian Government. Under the Lateran Pacts of 1929, which were
confirmed by the present constitution, Vatican City is recognized by
Italy as an independent, sovereign entity. While preserving that
recognition, in 1984, Italy and the Vatican updated several
provisions of the 1929 accords. Included was the end of Roman
Catholicism as Italy's formal state religion.
Italy's Cultural Contributions
Europe's Renaissance period began in Italy during the 14th and 15th
centuries. Literary achievements--such as the poetry of Petrarch,
Tasso, and Ariosto and the prose of Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and
Castiglione--exerted a tremendous and lasting influence on the
subsequent development of Western civilization, as did the painting,
sculpture, and architecture contributed by giants such as da Vinci,
Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, and Michelangelo.
The musical influence of Italian composers Monteverdi, Palestrina,
and Vivaldi proved epochal; in the 19th century, Italian romantic
opera flourished under composers Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi,
and Giacomo Puccini. Contemporary Italian artists, writers,
filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers contribute
significantly to Western culture. |
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