1.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, 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, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
History of Italy
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The history of Italy begins with the arrival of the first hominins 850,000 years ago at Monte Poggiolo. Italy shows evidence of habitation by modern humans beginning about 43,000 years ago. It is reached by the Neolithic as early as 6000–5500 BC Cardium Pottery, among the Italic peoples, the Latins, originally situated in the Latium region, and their Latin language would come to dominate the peninsula with the Roman conquest of Italy in the 3rd century BC. The decline and collapse of the Western Empire by the end of the 5th century is taken to mark the end of Late Antiquity, a Lombard Kingdom of Italy was established, although parts of the peninsula remained under Byzantine rule and influence until the 11th century. With the rise of nationalism and the idea of the state in the 19th century. The new Kingdom of Italy, established in 1861, quickly modernized and built a colonial empire, colonizing parts of Africa. However, many regions of the nation remained rural and poor. Part of the allied powers of World War I, Italy defeated its historical enemy. Soon afterwards, however, the state collapsed to social unrest. Italy joined the Axis powers in World War II, falling into a bloody Civil War in 1943, in 1946, as a result of a Constitutional Referendum, the monarchy was abolished. The new republic was proclaimed on 2 June 1946, in the 1950s and 1960s, Italy saw a period of rapid modernization and sustained economic growth, the so-called Italian economic miracle. Italy plays a prominent role in regional and global military, cultural, in prehistoric times, the Italian peninsula was rather different from its current shape. During the last Ice Age, the islands of Elba and Sicily were connected to the mainland. The Adriatic Sea was far smaller, since it started at what is now the Gargano peninsula, the arrival of the first hominins was 850,000 years ago at Monte Poggiolo. The presence of the Homo neanderthalensis has been demonstrated in archaeological findings dating to c.50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens sapiens appeared during the upper Palaeolithic. Remains of the prehistoric age have been found in Liguria, Lombardy. The most famous is perhaps that of Ötzi the Iceman, the mummy of a hunter found in the Similaun glacier in South Tyrol. During the Copper Age, Indoeuropean people migrated to Italy, approximatively four waves of population from north to the Alps have been identified
3.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
4.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
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Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians, during his long reign, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 in favour of his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year. He was called by the Italians Il Re soldato for having led his country during both the wars, and, after Italys victory in the First World War Il Re vittorioso. He was also nicknamed Sciaboletta due to his height of 1.53 m, Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the child of Umberto I, King of Italy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa, from birth until his accession, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of the Prince of Naples. On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro, on 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel acceded to the throne upon his fathers assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was Remember, to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms. Though parliamentary rule had been established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, when World War I began, Italy at first remained neutral, despite being part of the Triple Alliance. However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing her to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente, most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. At this juncture, Victor Emmanuel declined Salandras resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war and he was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathering on 16 May 1915 and it was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed the genuine affection of the majority of his people. Still, during the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of social background. The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among Italys sorely tried working classes and this caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable
5.
Prime Minister of Italy
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The office of Prime Minister is established by Articles 92 through to 96 of the Constitution of Italy. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic after each general election, prior to the establishment of the Italian Republic, the position was called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel III removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and the position was restored with Marshal Pietro Badoglio becoming Prime Minister in 1943, Alcide De Gasperi became the first Prime Minister of the Italian Republic in 1946. The Prime Minister is the President of the Council of Ministers—which holds executive power, the position is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems. The formal Italian order of precedence lists the office as being ceremonially the fourth most important Italian state office, as the President of the Council of Ministers the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet. In addition the Prime Minister leads a political party and generally commands the majority in the Parliament. Article 95 of the Italian constitution provides that the Prime Minister directs, the Prime Ministers activity has often consisted of mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. The office was first established in 1848 in Italys predecessor state, the Kingdom of Sardinia—although it was not mentioned in its constitution, from 1848 to 1861 ten Prime Ministers governed the Kingdom, most of them being right-wing politicians. After the Unification of Italy and the establishment of the kingdom, in fact the candidate for office was appointed by the king, and presided over a very unstable political system. The first Prime Minister was Camillo Benso di Cavour, who was appointed on 23 March 1861, from 1861 to 1911 Historical Right and Left Prime Ministers alternatively governed the country. One of the most famous and influential Prime Ministers of this period was Francesco Crispi, a patriot and statesman. He led the country for six years, from 1887 until 1891, Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury. Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, he went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally, and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure due to becoming involved in a banking scandal. He is often seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1892 Giovanni Giolitti, a young leftist politician, was elected Prime Minister by king Umberto I, but after less than a year he was forced to resign and Crispi returned to power. In 1903 after a period of instability he was appointed head of the government. Giolitti was the Prime Minister five times between 1892 and 1921 and the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history, after Mussolini, under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were instead a series of informal personal groupings with no links to political constituencies
6.
Italo Balbo
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After serving in World War I, Balbo became the leading Fascist organizer in his home region of Ferrara. He was one of the four architects of the March on Rome that brought Mussolini. In 1926, he began the task of building the Italian Royal Air Force and took a role in popularizing aviation in Italy. In 1933, perhaps to relieve tensions surrounding him in Italy, he was given the government of Italian Libya, Balbo was the only leading Fascist to oppose both anti-Jewish racial laws and Mussolinis alliance with Nazi Germany. Early in World War II, he was killed by fire when his plane was shot down over Tobruk by Italian anti-aircraft guns. In 1896, Balbo was born in Quartesana in the Kingdom of Italy, Balbo was very politically active from an early age. At only 14 years of age, he attempted to join in a revolt in Albania under Ricciotti Garibaldi, as World War I broke out and Italy declared its neutrality, Balbo supported joining the war on the side of the Allies. He joined in several pro-war rallies, at the end of the war, Balbo had earned one bronze and two silver medals for military valour and reached the rank of Captain due to courage under fire. After the war, Balbo completed the studies he had begun in Florence in 1914–15 and he obtained a law degree and a degree in Social Sciences. His final thesis was written on the economic and social thought of Giuseppe Mazzini, Balbo was a Republican, but he hated Socialists and the unions and cooperatives associated with them. Balbo returned to his town to work as a bank clerk. In 1921, Balbo joined the newly created National Fascist Party and he began to organize Fascist gangs and formed his own group nicknamed Celibano, after their favorite drink. They broke strikes for local landowners and attacked communists and socialists in Portomaggiore, Ravenna, Modena, the group once raided the Estense Castle in Ferrara. Italo Balbo had become one of the Ras, adopted from an Ethiopian title somewhat equivalent to a duke, of the Fascist hierarchy by 1922, the Ras typically wished for a more decentralized Fascist Italian state to be formed, against Mussolinis wishes. At 26 years of age, Balbo was the youngest of the Quadrumvirs, the Quadrumvirs were Michele Bianchi, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, Emilio De Bono, and Balbo. Mussolini himself would not participate in the operation that ultimately brought Italy under Fascist rule. In 1923, as one of the Quadrumvirs, Balbo became a member of the Grand Council of Fascism. This same year, he was charged with the murder of anti-Fascist parish priest Giovanni Minzoni in Argenta and he fled to Rome and in 1924 became General Commander of the Fascist militia and undersecretary for National Economy in 1925
7.
Italian Fascism
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Italian Fascism, also known simply as Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, as developed in Italy. According to Sternhell “most syndicalist leaders were among the founders of the Fascist movement, ” who, in years, gained key posts in Mussolini’s regime. ”Other historians argued that Fascism billed itself “not only as an alternative. This economic system intended to resolve conflict through collaboration between the classes. It was opposed to Marxist socialism because of its opposition to nationalism. It believed the success of Italian nationalism required respect for tradition, the National Fascist Party founded in 1921, declared that the party was to serve as a revolutionary militia placed at the service of the nation. It follows a policy based on three principles, order, discipline, hierarchy, Mussolini often referred to Fascist Italy during World War II as the proletarian nations that rise up against the plutocrats. It identifies modern Italy as the heir to the Roman Empire and Italy during the Renaissance, Italian Fascism historically sought to forge a strong Italian Empire as a Third Rome, identifying ancient Rome as the First Rome, and Renaissance-era Italy as the Second Rome. Italian Fascism has directly promoted imperialism, such as within the Doctrine of Fascism, ghostwritten by Giovanni Gentile on behalf of Mussolini, The Fascist state is a will to power, the Roman tradition is here a powerful force. According to the Doctrine of Fascism, an empire is not only a territorial or military or mercantile concept, but a spiritual and moral one. One can think of an empire, that is, a nation, Fascism sought the incorporation of claimed unredeemed territories to Italy. Mussolini identified Dalmatia as having strong Italian cultural roots for centuries via the Roman Empire, the Fascist regime imposed mandatory Italianization upon the German and South Slav populations living within Italys borders. This resulted in significant violence against South Slavs deemed to be resisting Italianization, the Fascist regime endorsed Albanian irredentism, directed against the predominantly Albanian-populated Kosovo and Epirus - particularly in Chameria inhabited by a substantial number of Albanians. The Fascist regime claimed the Ionian Islands as Italian territory, on the basis that the islands had belonged to the Venetian Republic from the mid-14th until the 18th century. To the west of Italy, the Fascists claimed that the territories of Corsica, Nice, as a result, Piedmont-Sardinia was pressured to concede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for France accepting the unification of Italy. The Fascist regime produced literature on Corsica that presented evidence of the Italianità of the island, the Fascist regime produced literature on Nice that justified that Nice was an Italian land based on historic, ethnic, and linguistic grounds. The Fascists quoted Medieval Italian scholar Petrarch who said The border of Italy is the Var, to the north of Italy, the Fascist regime in the 1930s had designs on the largely Italian-populated region of Ticino and the Romansch-populated region of Graubünden in Switzerland. In November 1938, Mussolini declared to the Grand Fascist Council, the Fascist regime accused the Swiss government of oppressing the Romansch people in Graubünden. Mussolini argued that Romansch was an Italian dialect and thus Graubünden should be incorporated into Italy, Ticino was also claimed because the region had belonged to the Duchy of Milan from the mid-fourteenth century until 1515
8.
Pope Benedict XV
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Pope Benedict XV, born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, was Pope from 3 September 1914 until his death in 1922. His pontificate was overshadowed by World War I and its political, social. Between 1846 and 1903, the Catholic Church had experienced two of its longest pontificates in history up to that point, together Pius IX and Leo XIII ruled for a total of 57 years. ”The war and its consequences were the main focus of Benedict XV. He immediately declared the neutrality of the Holy See and attempted from that perspective to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917, German Protestants rejected any “Papal Peace” as insulting. The French politician Georges Clemenceau regarded the Vatican initiative as being anti-French, after the war, he repaired the difficult relations with France, which re-established relations with the Vatican in 1921. During his pontificate, relations with Italy improved as well, as Benedict XV now permitted Catholic politicians led by Don Luigi Sturzo to participate in national Italian politics, the new Code of Canon Law is considered to have stimulated religious life and activities throughout the Church. He named Pietro Gasparri to be his Cardinal Secretary of State, World War I caused great damage to Catholic missions throughout the world. Benedict XV revitalized these activities, asking in Maximum Illud for Catholics throughout the world to participate, for that, he has been referred to as the Pope of Missions. His last concern was the persecution of the Catholic Church in Soviet Russia. Benedict XV was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and authorized the Feast of Mary, after seven years in office, Pope Benedict XV died on 22 January 1922 after battling pneumonia since the start of that month. He was buried in the grottos of Saint Peters Basilica, with his diplomatic skills and his openness towards modern society, he gained respect for himself and the papacy. Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Pegli, a suburb of Genoa, Italy, third son of Marchese Giuseppe della Chiesa and his wife Marchesa Giovanna Migliorati. Genealogy findings report that his fathers side produced Pope Callixtus II and also claimed descent from Berengar II of Italy and he is also a descendant of Blessed Antonio della Chiesa. His wish to become a priest was rejected early on by his father who insisted on a career for his son. At age 21 he acquired a doctorate in Law on 2 August 1875 and he had attended the University of Genoa, which after the unification of Italy, was largely dominated by anti-Catholic and anti-clerical politics. With his doctorate in Law and at legal age, he asked his father for permission to study for the priesthood. He insisted however, that his son conduct his studies in Rome not in Genoa. Della Chiesa entered the Collegio Capranica and was there in Rome when, in 1878, the new pope received the students of the Capranica in private audience only a few days after his coronation
9.
Misurata
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With a population of about 281,000, Misrata is the third-largest city in Libya, after Tripoli and Benghazi. It is the city of the Misurata District and has been called the trade capital of Libya. The harbor is at Qasr Ahmad, the name Misurata derives from the Misrata tribe, a section of the larger Berber Hawwara confederacy, whose homeland in Roman and early Arab times was coastal Tripolitania. And the city of Misurata is one of the stations that have been built by the Phoenicians. The flag then by the name of Thubactis Misurata and know that name in relation to the Berber tribe of Misurata, modern Misurata was established around the 7th century AD during the beginning of modern Libyas rule by the Caliphate. It had been a major caravan center named Thubaqt, some contemporary sources claim the town existed prior to Islamic rule, during the Roman Empire era and that its initial Arabic name derived from its Roman name Thubactis. Nonetheless the Roman town was located at some point on the oasis upon which the city sits. The two common identifications are at the eastern and western anchorages of modern Misurata or south and inland of the city, in any case, in the 7th century, it served as a caravan supply center and an important port. The Misrata tribe, a section of the larger Berber Hawwara confederacy, inhabited the region of Tripolitania during the Roman. The region of Tripolitania, which included Misurata, came under the regency of the Ottoman Empire in 1551. By the beginning of the 19th century, Misrata had been established as a center for the Trans-Saharan trade route, where caravans carrying gold, leather. The city was filled with thick areas of vegetable gardens while the surrounding countryside included fields of wheat, barley, date palms, misratas artisans also expanded on the citys ancient carpet industry for which it was regionally renowned. Although Misurata contained a well-built harbor, most of its trade was overland because the city of Benghazi to the east served as the preferable substitute for maritime shipping. As a result of the abolition of slavery and increasing European colonial influence in Sub-Saharan Africa, Trans-Saharan trade declined, however, the decline in Trans-Saharan trade saw the establishment of weekly and permanent markets in the city, replacing the seasonal markets associated with long-distance trade. Farmers concentrated on growing crops, relying on market relations to provide income for their families, instead of subsistence farming. Bedouins increasingly abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and began to settle into permanent dwellings within the city limits, to cope with an rising population due to immigration from the surrounding areas, Misrata witnessed a construction boom in the late 19th century. Two clans, the Muntasir and Adgham, dominated the political, social and economic aspects of Misrata and they made their income from commerce and protected their wealth by cooperating with the Ottoman provincial authorities. Both had extended families and economic holdings not just in Misrata, after their eventual defeat in 1858, they were left in an inferior position to that of the Muntasirs
10.
Italian Libya
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The Adriatic Seas opposite western Balkans shore, with Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Albania, was planned for Italian expansion as the Third Shore, with Libya on the Mediterranean becoming the fourth. Thus the Fourth Shore was the part of Greater Italy. After the Italian Empire conquest of Ottoman Libya in the 1911–1912 Italo-Turkish War and this group, first under the leadership of Omar Al Mukhtar and centered in the Jebel Akhdar Mountains of Cyrenaica, lead the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya. Resistance leaders were executed or escaped into exile, the forced migration of more than 100,000 Cyrenaican people ended in Italian concentration camps. Afterwards Libya was predominantly Italianized, and many Italian colonists moved there to populate Italian North Africa, the Italians in Libya numbered 108,419 at the time of the 1939 census. They were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast around the city of Tripoli, Libya was made an integral part of Italy in 1939 and the local population were granted a form of Italian citizenship. Tunisia was conquered by Italy in November 1942 and was added to the 4th Shore – Quarta Sponda – because of the community of Tunisian Italians living there. Italian colony During less than thirty years in Libya the Kingdom of Italy developed the cities and they built huge public works, such as new town districts with streets and buildings, modern ports, the Italian Libya Railways, and long highways. The Libyan economy and trade flourished very much, similar to what happened during the ancient Roman empire colony era, Italian farmers cultivated lands that had returned to being native desert for many centuries. Even archeology flourished, with ancient city of Leptis Magna rediscovered and used as a symbol of the Italian right to recolonize the region, Libya was considered the new America for Italian emigrants of the 1930s. Indeed in 1938 the governor, Italo Balbo, brought 20,000 Italian farmers to colonize Italian Libya, the 22,000 Libyan Jews were allowed to integrate without problems in the society of the 4th Shore. However after the summer of 1941, with the arrival of the German Nazi Afrika Korps, all these new villages each had a mosque, a school, a social center with sports facilities and a cinema, and a small hospital. Italian state On January 9,1939, the colony of Italian Libya was incorporated into metropolitan Italy, the French, in 1848, had incorporated French Algeria in this manner. By 1939 the Italians had built 400 kilometres of new railroads and 4,000 kilometres of new roads, the most important and largest highway project was the Via Balbo, an east-west coastal route connecting Tripoli in western Italian Tripolitania to Tobruk in eastern Italian Cyrenaica. Most of these projects and achievements were completed between 1934 and 1940 when Italo Balbo was governor of Italian Libya, as it became the Fourth Shore, fezzan, designated as South Tripolitania, remained a military territory. A governor general, called the first consul after 1937, was in direction of the colony, assisted by the General Consultative Council. Traditional tribal councils, formerly sanctioned by the Italian administration, were abolished, administrative posts at all levels were held by Italians. An accord with Britain and Egypt obtained the transfer of a corner of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, known as the Sarra Triangle, in 1939 Libya was incorporated into metropolitan Italy
11.
Pope Pius XI
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Pope Pius XI, born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, reigned as Pope from 6 February 1922 to his death in 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 and he took as his papal motto, Pax Christi in Regno Christi, translated The Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ. During his pontificate, the hostility with the Italian government over the status of the papacy. He was unable to stop the persecution of the Church and the killing of clergy in Mexico, Spain and he canonized important saints, including Thomas More, Petrus Canisius, Konrad von Parzham, Andrew Bobola and Don Bosco. Pius XI created the feast of Christ the King in response to anti-clericalism and he took a strong interest in fostering the participation of lay people throughout the Catholic Church, especially in the Catholic Action movement. The end of his pontificate was dominated by speaking out against Hitler and Mussolini and defending the Catholic Church from intrusions into Catholic life and he died on 10 February 1939 in the Apostolic Palace and is buried in the Papal Grotto of Saint Peters Basilica. In the course of excavating space for his tomb, two levels of burial grounds were uncovered which revealed bones now venerated as the bones of St. Peter. Achille Ratti was born in Desio, in the province of Milan, in 1857 and he was ordained a priest in 1879 and embarked on an academic career within the Church. He obtained three doctorates at the Gregorian University in Rome, and then from 1882 to 1888 was a professor at the seminary in Padua and his scholarly specialty was as an expert paleographer, a student of ancient and medieval Church manuscripts. Eventually, he left teaching to work full-time at the Ambrosian Library in Milan. During this time, he edited and published an edition of the Ambrosian Missal and he became chief of the Library in 1907 and undertook a thorough programme of restoration and re-classification of the Ambrosians collection. He was also a mountaineer in his spare time, reaching the summits of Monte Rosa. The combination of a pope would not be seen again until the pontificate of John Paul II. In 1911, at Pope Pius Xs invitation, he moved to the Vatican to become Vice-Prefect of the Vatican Library, in October 1918, Benedict was the first head of state to congratulate the Polish people on the occasion of the restoration of their independence. In March 1919, he nominated ten new bishops and, soon after, Ratti was consecrated as a titular archbishop in October 1919. Benedict XV and Nuncio Ratti repeatedly cautioned Polish authorities against persecuting the Lithuanian and Ruthenian clergy, Ratti intended to work for Poland by building bridges to men of goodwill in the Soviet Union, even to shedding his blood for Russia. Benedict, however, needed Ratti as a diplomat, not as a martyr, the nuncios continued contacts with Russians did not generate much sympathy for him within Poland at the time. After Pope Benedict sent Ratti to Silesia to forestall potential political agitation within the Polish Catholic clergy, on 20 November, when German Cardinal Adolf Bertram announced a papal ban on all political activities of clergymen, calls for Rattis expulsion climaxed
