1.
Italy
–
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.
1922
–
As of the start of 1922, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January – The year begins with the British Empire at its largest extent, covering a quarter of the world, january 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. January 8 – The Social Democratic Youth League of Norway is founded, january 9 – Julieta founded the Chilean communist party. January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, january 11 – The first successful insulin treatment of diabetes is made, by Frederick Banting in Toronto. January 12 – The British government releases the remaining Irish prisoners captured in the War of Independence, january 13 – The flu epidemic has claimed 804 victims in Britain. January 15 – Michael Collins becomes Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government, january 24 – Christian K. Nelson patents the Eskimo Pie. January 26 – Italian forces occupy Misrata in Libya, january 28 – Knickerbocker Storm, Snowfall from the biggest-ever recorded snowstorm in Washington, D. C. causes the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre to collapse, killing 98. January 29 – The union of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, january 30 – Radio KZKZ-AM, the second radio station in the Philippines, begins broadcasting. February – Ring Magazine is first published, february 1 – Irish American film director William Desmond Taylor is found murdered at his home in Los Angeles, the case is never solved. February 2 – Ulysses, by James Joyce, is published in Paris on his 40th birthday by Sylvia Beach, february 5 – DeWitt and Lila Wallace publish the first issue of Readers Digest. February 6 Pope Pius XI succeeds Pope Benedict XV, to become the 259th pope, five Power Naval Disarmament Treaty signed between the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy. Japan returns some of its control over the Shandong Peninsula to China, february 8 President of the United States Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House. In the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Cheka becomes the Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie, february 14 Finnish Minister of the Interior Heikki Ritavuori is assassinated by Ernst Tandefelt. Baragoola, last of the Binngarra class Manly ferries, is launched at Balmain, february 15 – Inaugural session of the Permanent Court of International Justice. February 25 – French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru is beheaded by the guillotine, february 26 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States. March 2 An ice mass breaks the Oder Dam in Breslau, the British Civil Aviation Authority is established. March 4 – The movie Nosferatu is released, March 10 – Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay for sedition. March 10-14 – The Rand Revolt or Rebellion, a strike by white South African mine workers begins on 28 December 1921, March 15 – Egypt having gained self-government from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt
3.
History of Italy
–
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
4.
Kingdom of Italy
–
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
5.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
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
6.
Prime Minister of Italy
–
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
7.
Ivanoe Bonomi
–
Ivanoe Bonomi was an Italian politician and statesman before and after World War II. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1909 and he was among those expelled from the party in 1912, for his advocacy of reformism and moderation, as well as his support for the Italian invasion of Libya. Bonomi joined the Italian Reformist Socialist Party, and supported Italys participation in World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. Bonomi served as Minister of Public Works from 1916 until 1917, later in 1921 he became Treasury Minister. A few months later, he became Prime Minister of Italy for the first time, early in 1922, his government collapsed, and he was replaced as Prime Minister by Luigi Facta, amidst the Fascist insurgency led by Benito Mussolini. In October 1922, Mussolini gained power through the March on Rome, in 1940, Bonomi joined an anti-Fascist movement. By 1943, when Mussolini was deposed, Bonomi had become a leader of the group, and was appointed Prime Minister of the new Italian government, in 1944, when Rome was taken by the Allies. He led Italy as the country was being gained from the Fascist Italian Social Republic and the Nazi German occupiers, numerous reforms in social security were made during Bonomis time as prime minister. Bonomi came near to resignation in November 1944 over war strategy, in 1948, he became President of the Italian Senate, and served in that position until his death. After having been a member of the Labour Democratic Party in 1943, he later joined in 1947 the Italian Democratic Socialist Party
8.
Luigi Facta
–
Luigi Facta was an Italian politician, journalist and last Prime Minister of Italy before the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Facta was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont, Italy and he studied law and later became a journalist. He entered politics in 1892 when he was elected to the chamber of deputies for Pinerolo, Facta, a member of the Liberal Party, served as undersecretary of the justice and interior departments in the coalition cabinets for much of his time in Parliament. He was also finance minister from 1910 until 1914 and 1920 until 1921, at the outbreak of World War I, Facta supported neutrality for Italy, but then supported the war when Italy entered it. His son was killed in the war, and he said that he was proud to give a son to his country, Facta was appointed Prime Minister in February 1922. At the time, Italy was in turmoil, and was dealing with Mussolinis fascist insurgency. When Mussolini decided to march on Rome, Facta reacted and wanted to declare the martial law, such a declaration needed to bear the monarchs signature before it could take effect. Facta always refused to explain the reasons that brought the King Victor Emmanuel III not to sign the declaration of emergency. The following day Facta and his government resigned to demonstrate they did not approve the Kings decision, the King then requested that Mussolini come to Rome to form a new government. In 1924, King Victor Emmanuel III named Facta senator
9.
Benito Mussolini
–
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy, known as Il Duce, Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism. In 1912 Mussolini was the member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party. Mussolini was expelled from the PSI for withdrawing his support for the stance on neutrality in World War I. He served in the Royal Italian Army during the war until he was wounded and discharged in 1917, Mussolini denounced the PSI, his views now centering on nationalism instead of socialism, and later founded the fascist movement. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history until the appointment of Matteo Renzi in February 2014, within five years he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943, a few months later, he became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a German client regime in northern Italy, he held this post until his death in 1945. Mussolini had sought to delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942, however, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, resulting in declarations of war by France and the United Kingdom and starting World War II. In the summer of 1941 Mussolini sent Italian forces to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union, and war with the United States followed in December. On 24 July 1943, soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, the Grand Council of Fascism voted against him, on 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north and his body was then taken to Milan, where it was hung upside down at a service station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise. Mussolini was born in Dovia di Predappio, a town in the province of Forlì in Romagna on 29 July 1883. During the Fascist era, Predappio was dubbed Duces town, pilgrims went to Predappio and Forlì, to see the birthplace of Mussolini. His father, Alessandro Mussolini, was a blacksmith and a Socialist, while his mother, Benito was the eldest of his parents three children. His siblings Arnaldo and Edvige followed, as a young boy, Mussolini would spend some time helping his father in his smithy. His fathers political outlook combined views of anarchist figures like Carlo Cafiero and Mikhail Bakunin, the military authoritarianism of Garibaldi, in 1902, at the anniversary of Garibaldis death, Benito Mussolini made a public speech in praise of the republican nationalist. The conflict between his parents about religion meant that, unlike most Italians, Mussolini was not baptized at birth, as a compromise with his mother, Mussolini was sent to a boarding school run by Salesian monks. After joining a new school, Mussolini achieved good grades, in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland, partly to avoid military service
10.
Demographics of Italy
–
However the distribution of the population is widely uneven. In addition, after centuries of net emigration, from the 1980s Italy has experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history, according to the Italian government, there were an estimated 5,000,073 foreign nationals resident in Italy. High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s, after which they started to dramatically decline, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, one in five Italians was over 65 years old. However, as a result of the immigration of the last two decades, in recent years Italy experienced a significant growth in birth rates. The total fertility rate has climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008. Since the 1984 Lateran Treaty agreement, Italy has no official religion, however, it recognizes the role the Catholic Church plays in Italian society. 87. 8% of the population identify as Catholic,5. 8% as non-believers or atheists,2. 6% as Muslims, about 68% of Italian population is classified as urban, a relatively low figure among developed countries. However, none of these new local authorities has yet fully operative. Between 1898 and 1914, the years of Italian diaspora. Italian communities once thrived in the former African colonies of Eritrea, Somalia, all of Libyas Italians were expelled from the North African country in 1970. In addition, after the annexation of Istria in 1945, up to 350,000 ethnic Italians left Titoist Yugoslavia. Today, large numbers of people with full or significant Italian ancestry are found in Brazil, Argentina, US, France, Venezuela, Uruguay, Canada, the official figures also exclude illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers are very difficult to determine. In May 2008 The Boston Globe quoted an estimate of 670,000 for this group, the second most important area of immigration to Italy has always been the neighbouring North Africa, with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from the Far East, the number of unregistered Romanians is difficult to estimate, but the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network suggested that in 2007 that there might have been half a million or more. Overall, at the end of the 2000s the foreign population of Italy was from, Europe, Africa, Asia. The distribution of immigrants is largely uneven in Italy,84. 9% of immigrants live in the northern and central parts of the country, while only 15. 1% live in the southern half of the peninsula. Ethnologue has estimated there are about 55 million speakers of the language in Italy. However, between 120 and 150 million people use Italian as a second or cultural language, worldwide and its development was also influenced by the Germanic languages of the post-Roman invaders
11.
March on Rome
–
The March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolinis National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy. The march took place from 22 to 29 October 1922, in March 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the first Italian Combat Leagues at the beginning of the two red years. He suffered a defeat in the election of November 1919 mainly due to Mussolini’s attempt to “out-socialist the socialists” at the ballot box, but, by the election of 1921, Mussolini entered the Parliament. Out of his Fascist party the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale were formed, in August 1920, the Blackshirts were used to break the general strike which had started at the Alfa Romeo factory in Milan. In November 1920, after the assassination of Giordana, the Blackshirts were used as a tool by the state to crush the socialist movement. Trade unions were dissolved while left-wing mayors resigned, the fascists, included on Giovanni Giolittis National Union lists at the May 1921 elections, then won 36 seats. Mussolini then withdrew his support to Giolitti and attempted to out a temporary truce with the socialists by signing a Pacification Pack in summer 1921. This provoked a conflict with the most fanatical part of the movement, in July 1921, Giolitti attempted without success to dissolve the squadristi. In August, an anti-fascist general strike was triggered, but failed to rally the Italian Peoples Party and was repressed by the fascists. A few days before the march, Mussolini consulted with the U. S. Ambassador Richard Washburn Child about whether the U. S. government would object to Fascist participation in a future Italian government, Child encouraged him to go ahead. Generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted to the preparations of the March of 18 October, other organizers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni and Ulisse Igliori. On 24 October 1922, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples, Our program is simple, meanwhile, the Blackshirts, who had occupied the Po plain, took all strategic points of the country. On 26 October, former prime minister Antonio Salandra warned current Prime Minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation, however, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side. To meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, having had previous conversations with the king about the repression of fascist violence, he was sure the king would agree. However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order, on 28 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the business class, and the right-wing. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 29 October 1922, Mussolini thus legally reached power, in accordance with the Statuto Albertino, the Italian Constitution. The March on Rome was not the seizure of power which Fascism later celebrated and this transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose speeches and policies emphasized free market
12.
Italo Balbo
–
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
13.
Cesare Maria De Vecchi
–
Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician. De Vecchi was born in Casale Monferrato on 14 November 1884, after graduating in jurisprudence he became a successful lawyer in Turin. His stance on the First World War was interventionist, and he took part in the final events of the conflict. On his return to Italy he gave his support to the National Fascist Party, in which he would represent the monarchical. He became president of the Turin war veterans and head of the local Fascist squadre, in 1921, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. De Vecchi became Commander General of the Milizia, was one of the quadrumvirs who organised the March on Rome and he himself became Undersecretary at the Treasury and then at the Finance Ministry. In December 1922 he inspired the squadre of Brandimarte to the 1922 Turin Massacre, from 1923 to 1928, De Vecchi was governor of Italian Somaliland, a role which took him away from the centre of the Italian political scene. He was made Count of Val Cismon and he was appointed Senator by King Victor Emmanuel III. He became the first ambassador to the Vatican after the Concordat of 1929, from 1936 to 1940, De Vecchi acted as governor of the Italian Aegean Islands promoting the official use of the Italian language. After returning to Italy in 1949, De Vecchi supported the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement together with Rodolfo Graziani, however, he refused to accept any political or institutional office within the MSI. Cesare Maria De Vecchi died in Rome in 1959 and this article originated as a translation of its counterpart in the Italian Wikipedia as retrieved on 2007-03-18
14.
Italian Fascism
–
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
15.
Pope Benedict XV
–
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
16.
Misurata
–
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
17.
Italian Libya
–
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
18.
Pacification of Libya
–
The pacification resulted in mass deaths of the indigenous people in Cyrenaica - one quarter of Cyrenaicas population of 225,000 people died during the conflict. Italy had been in near-constant conflict with the Senussis since Italy seized control of Libya from the Ottoman Empire, warfare between the British versus the Senussis continued until 1917 when the Senussis made peace with the British. In 1917, Italy signed the Treaty of Acroma that acknowledged effective virtual independence of Libya from direct Italian control, in 1918, Tripolitanian rebels founded the Tripolitanian Republic. In 1922 Tripolitanian leaders offered Idris the position of Emir of Tripolitania, however prior to Idris being able to accept the position, the Italian government decided to initiate a campaign of reconquest of Libya. The rise to power of Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy, however attempts by Italian forces to occupy the forest hills of Jebel Akhtar were met with popular guerrilla resistance. This resistance was led by Senussi sheikh Omar Mukhtar, by doing this, the Italians cut off the physical connection formerly held by the rebels between Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. By late 1928, the Italians took control of Ghibla and its tribes were disarmed, attempted negotiations between Italy and Omar Mukhtar broke down and Italy then planned for the complete conquest of Libya from the rebels. In 1930, Italian forces conquered Fezzan and rose the Italian flag in Tummo, the camps held only rudimentary medical services, with the camps of Soluch and Sisi Ahmed el Magrun with 33,000 internees each having only one doctor between them. Typhus and other diseases spread rapidly in the camps as the people were physically weakened by meagre food rations provided to them, by the time the camps closed in September 1933,40,000 of the 100,000 total internees had died in the camps. To close rebel supply routes from Egypt, the Italians constructed a 300-kilometre barbed wire fence on the border with Egypt that was patrolled by armoured cars, in 1931, Italian forces seized Kufra where Senussi refugees were bombed and strafed by Italian aircraft as they fled into the desert. Mukhtar was captured by the Italians in 1931 followed by a court martial, mukhtars death effectively ended the resistance, and in January 1932, Badoglio proclaimed the end of the Pacification of Libya
19.
Pope Pius XI
–
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
20.
Papal conclave, 1922
–
After a reign of just eight years, Pope Benedict XV died on 22 January 1922 of pneumonia. At his death there were 61 members of the College of Cardinals, however, later that same day, Enrique Almaraz y Santos, the Archbishop of Toledo, died, leaving a college of 60 cardinals to elect Pope Benedicts successor. 53 of the 60 cardinals assembled in the Sistine Chapel on 2 February, the previous five conclaves had produced a constant tic-tacing between conservatives and liberals, from the conservative Pope Gregory XVI in 1831 to the liberal Pope Pius IX. By the time of his death in 1878 Pius IX had become a reactionary conservative and he however was succeeded by the liberal Pope Leo XIII, who on his death was succeeded by the populist conservative Pope Pius X. In 1914 the liberal Benedict XV, a protégé of the cardinal vetoed as pope in 1903, the question many asked was, from which side would the new pope come this time. The 1922 conclave was the most divided conclave in many years, while two of the previous three conclaves had lasted three days or less, the 1922 conclave lasted for five days. It took fourteen ballots for Achille Ratti, the Archbishop of Milan, at the conclave, the College of Cardinals was divided into two factions. One conservative faction known as the irreconcilables and integrationists led by the Secretary of the Holy Office Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val favored the policies and style of Pope Pius X. The other more conciliatory faction favoring the style and policies of Pope Benedict XV was led by the Cardinal-Camerlengo Pietro Gasparri who had served as Benedicts Secretary of State. Gasparri approached Ratti before voting began on the day and told him he would urge his supporters to switch their votes to Ratti. When it became clear that neither Gasparri nor del Val could win, Ratti is said to have responded, I hope and pray that among so highly deserving cardinals the Holy Spirit selects someone else. If I am chosen, it is indeed Cardinal Gasparri whom I will take to be my secretary of state, Ratti was elected pope on the conclaves fourteenth ballot on 6 February 1922 reportedly receiving 38 votes. It is then reported that Ratti replied It is Gods will, when further pressed for a more explicit answer he replied As it is Gods will, it cannot be refused. Since it is the will of God I must obey and accepted his election, upon Rattis acceptance, the cardinals lowered the canopies above their thrones with only Rattis canopy remaining unlowered and Cardinal Vannutelli asked the new pope by what name he would be called. Ratti chose Pius XI, explaining that Pius IX was the pope of his youth and Pius X had appointed him head of the Vatican Library. According to a subsequent report by The New York Times the new Pope also told the cardinals he chose the name Pius because he wanted a Pius to end the Roman question which had begun under a Pius. As his first act as pope, Pius XI revived the traditional public blessing from the balcony, Urbi et Orbi and this suggested his openness to a rapprochement with the government of Italy. I am the Supreme Pontiff now, also, at Pius XIs first appearance, the banner draped on the balcony displayed the arms of Pius IX—the pope who lost Rome to Italy—rather than the arms of his immediate predecessor Benedict XV
21.
Blackshirts
–
Its members were distinguished by their black uniforms and their loyalty to Benito Mussolini, the Duce of Fascism, to whom they swore an oath. The founders of the groups were nationalist intellectuals, former army officers and young landowners opposing peasants. Their methods became harsher as Mussolinis power grew, and they used violence, in 1943 the MVSN was integrated into the Italian armed forces. The Blackshirts were established as the squadristi in 1919 and consisted of disgruntled former soldiers. It was given the task of leading fights against their bitter enemies – the Socialists and they may have numbered 200,000 by the time of Mussolinis March on Rome from 27 to 29 October 1922. The Italian Social Republic, located in the areas of northern Italy occupied by Germany, Benito Mussolini was the leader, or Commandant-General and First Honorary Corporal, of the blackshirts, but executive functions were carried out by the Chief of Staff, equivalent to an army general. The MVSN was formed in imitation of the ancient Roman army, as follows, instead, they derive from the structure of the armies of ancient Rome. Zona = division Legione = regiment, each legion was a unit consisting of a small active cadre. 7th CCNN Division - The 7th CCNN Division Cirene was never deployed overseas or even fully equipped before it was disbanded, the rifle companies had three platoons. Each Legion had a MMG company with four platoons of three weapons each, the Blackshirts replacements battalions were organized as the Blackshirts Rifle Battalions, but its platoon were overstrength and with only 1 x LMG in each platoon. The Blackshirt Divisions contained regular soldiers and volunteer militia from the Fascist Party, after the campaigns in Northern Spain in October 1937, the 2nd CCNN Division was consolidated with the 1st CCNN and renamed the XXIII de Marzo Division Llamas Negras. In 1940 the MVSN was able to muster 340,000 first-line combat troops, Mussolini also pushed through plans to raise 142 MVSN combat battalions of 650 men each to provide a Gruppo di Assalto to each army division. These Gruppi consisted of two cohorts plus Gruppo Supporto company of two machine gun manipoli and two 81 mm mortar manipoli. These mobile groups suffered heavy casualties due to being undermanned, under equipped, the three divisions were destroyed in combat in North Africa. The MVSN fought in every theater where Italy did, all other ranks closely approximated those of the old Roman army as follows. The paramilitary fascist Iron Guard members in Romania wore green shirts. G, wodehouse Axis History Factbook/Italy/Militia Comando Supremo
22.
Italian Communist Party
–
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played a part in the Italian resistance movement. It changed its name in 1943 to PCI and became the second largest political party of Italy after World War II, at the time it was the largest communist party in the West. The more radical members of the party left to form the Communist Refoundation Party, the PCI participated to its first general election in 1921, obtaining 4. 6% of the vote and 15 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1926, the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini outlawed the PCI, although forced underground, the PCI maintained a clandestine presence within Italy during the years of the Fascist regime. Many of its leaders were also active in exile, during its first year as a banned party, Antonio Gramsci defeated the partys left wing, led by Amadeo Bordiga. Gramsci replaced Bordigas leadership at a conference in Lyon, and issued a manifesto expressing the programmatic basis of the party, however, Gramsci soon found himself jailed by Mussolinis regime, and the leadership of the party passed to Palmiro Togliatti. Togliatti would lead the party until it emerged from suppression in 1944, the communists contribution to the new Italian democratic constitution was decisive. The Gullo decrees of 1944, for instance, sought to improve social, in the first general elections of 1948 the party joined the PSI in the Popular Democratic Front, but was defeated by the Christian Democracy party. The party gained considerable success during the following years and occasionally supplied external support to centre-left governments. It successfully lobbied Fiat to set up the AvtoVAZ car factory in the Soviet Union, the party did best in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria, where it regularly won the local administrative elections, and in some of the industrialized cities of Northern Italy. At the city government level during the course of the period, the PCI demonstrated their capacity for uncorrupt, efficient. After the elections of 1975, the PCI was the strongest force in all of the municipal councils of the great cities. The PCIs municipal showcase was Bologna, which was held continuously by the PCI from 1945 onwards, from 1946 to 1956, the Communist city council built 31 nursery schools,896 flats, and 9 schools. Health care improved substantially, street lighting was installed, new drains and municipal launderettes were built, in 1972, the then-mayor of Bologna, Renato Zangheri, introduced a new and innovative traffic plan with strict limitations for private vehicles and a renewed concentration on cheap public transport. Bolognas social services continued to expand throughout the early and mid-Seventies, communists administrations at a local level also helped to aid new businesses while also introducing innovative social reforms. The Soviet Unions brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 created a split within the PCI, the party leadership, including Palmiro Togliatti and Giorgio Napolitano, regarded the Hungarian insurgents as counter-revolutionaries, as reported at the time in lUnità, the official PCI newspaper
23.
Rijeka
–
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,624 inhabitants, the metropolitan area, which includes adjacent towns and municipalities, has a population of more than 240,000. According to the 2011 census data, the majority of its citizens are presently Croats, along with small numbers of Bosniaks, Italians. Rijeka is the city of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The citys economy depends on shipbuilding and maritime transport. Rijeka hosts the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc, first built in 1765, as well as the University of Rijeka, founded in 1973, historically Fiumano served as a lingua franca for the many ethnicities inhabiting the multicultural port-town. In 2016, Rijeka was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2020, alongside Galway, historically, Rijeka was also called Tharsatica, Vitopolis, or Flumen in Latin. The city is called Rijeka in Croatian, Reka in Slovene and it is called Fiume in Italian. All these names mean river in their respective languages, meanwhile, Hungarian has adopted the Italian name while in German the city has been called Sankt Veit am Flaum or Pflaum. The Bay of Rijeka, which is bordered by Vela Vrata, Srednja Vrata, the City of Rijeka lies at the mouth of river Rječina and in the Vinodol micro-region of the Croatian coast. Two important land transport routes start in Rijeka due to its location, the first route is to the Pannonian Basin given that Rijeka is located alongside the narrowest point of the Dinaric Alps. The other route, across Postojna Gate connects Rijeka with Slovenia, Italy, the city long retained its dual character. Pliny mentioned Tarsatica in his Natural History, in the time of Augustus, the Romans rebuilt Tharsatica as a municipium Flumen, situated on the right bank of small river Rječina. It became a city within the Roman Province of Dalmatia until the 6th century, after the 4th century Rijeka was rededicated to St. Vitus, the citys patron saint, as Terra Fluminis sancti Sancti Viti or in German Sankt Veit am Pflaum. From the 5th century onwards, the town was ruled successively by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards, Croats settled the city starting in the 7th century giving it the Croatian name, Rika svetoga Vida. At the time, Rijeka was a feudal stronghold surrounded by a wall, at the center of the city, its highest point, was a fortress. In 799 Rijeka was attacked by the Frankish troops of Charlemagne and their Siege of Trsat was at first repulsed, during which the Frankish commander Duke Eric of Friuli was killed. However, the Frankish forces finally occupied and devastated the castle, while the Duchy of Croatia passed under the overlordship of the Carolingian Empire, from about 925, the town was part of the Kingdom of Croatia, from 1102 in personal union with Hungary
24.
Bologna
–
Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
25.
Rovigo
–
For the Renaissance composer, see Francesco Rovigo. For the infantry division, see 105 Motorised Division Rovigo, the comune of Rovigo extends between the rivers Adige and Canal Bianco,40 kilometres west of the Adriatic Sea, except the frazione of Fenil del Turco that extends south of the Canal Bianco. Rovigo appears to be first mentioned in a document from Ravenna dating April 24,838, the viscounts of Rovigo built a line of brick walls in the 1130s in the name of the House of Este. The current Torre Donà is a remnant of the castle some time in between, it is 66 m high and it may have been the highest brick tower at that time if the date of construction is correct. In 1194 Rovigo became a possession of Azzo VI dEste, duke of Ferrara. The Este authority ended in 1482, when the Venetians took the place by siege, although the Este recovered the city during the War of the League of Cambrai, the Venetians, returning in 1514, retained possession until the French Revolution. In 1806 Napoleon I Bonaparte created it a duché grand-fief for general Anne Jean Marie René Savary, the Austrians in 1815 made it a royal city. With the fall of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, Rovigo was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, in the year it was connected by railway to Padua, Ferrara, Verona. In the 1900s the first modern industries were established, the most important of which was a sugar refinery, in 1927 the territory of the comune was extended including close municipalities. In 1937 the course of the Adigetto Canal was diverted to the west edge of the town, in the years 1943–1945 Rovigo was part of the Italian Social Republic and it has been in Italy since 1946. In the 1950s and 1960s Rovigo had a development and it had the highest urbanization rate among the towns in the Veneto region after World War II. The architecture of the bears the stamp both of Venetian and of Ferrarese influence. Main sights include, Rovigo Cathedral, the Co-Cathedral in the bishopric of Adria–Rovigo, it was built before the 11th century. The art works of the interior includes a Resurrection of Christ by Palma the Younger, ruins of the Castle, of which two towers remain Madonna del Soccorso, church best known as La Rotonda. If was built between 1594 and 1606 by Francesco Zamberlan of Bassano, a pupil of Palladio, to house an image of a sitting Madonna with Child carrying a rose. The edifice has octagonal plan, surrounded by a portico, begun in 1594, the original construction had a cupola, which was later substituted by a simple ceiling for static reasons. The fine campanile, standing at 57 m, was according to plans by Baldassarre Longhena. Immacolata Concezione, Church dating to 1213, san Francesco, church in Gothic-Romanesque style but with extensive intervention from the 19th century
26.
Labour Day
–
Labour Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation. For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers Day, for other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, often one with special significance for the labour movement in that country. For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers Day, some countries vary the actual date of their celebrations so that the holiday occurs on a Monday close to 1 May. The remainder of this article addresses those countries for whom Labour Day is not linked to International Workers Day and it is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March, in Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In the Northern Territory and Queensland it is called May Day and it is on the fourth Monday of March in the territory of Christmas Island. The first march for a day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856. On this day stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as being among the first organised workers in the world to achieve an 8-hour day, with no loss of pay. Labour Day is a holiday in the Bahamas, celebrated on the first Friday in June in order to create a long weekend for workers. The traditional date of Labour Day in the Bahamas, however, is 7 June, Labour Day is meant to honor and celebrate workers and the importance of their contributions to the nation and society. In the capital city, Nassau, thousands of people come to watch a parade through the streets, for many residents and visitors to the Bahamas, the afternoon of Labour Day is a time to relax at home or perhaps visit the beach. Labour Day has been celebrated in Canada on the first Monday in September since the 1880s, the origins of Labour Day in Canada can be traced back to December 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Unions strike for a 58-hour work-week. The Toronto Trades Assembly called its 27 unions to demonstrate in support of the Typographical Union who had been on strike since 25 March. George Brown, Canadian politician and editor of the Toronto Globe hit back at his striking employees, Labour leaders decided to call another similar demonstration on 3 September to protest the arrests. Seven unions marched in Ottawa, prompting a promise by Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to repeal the barbarous anti-union laws, Parliament passed the Trade Union Act on 14 June the following year, and soon all unions were seeking a 54-hour work-week. The Toronto Trades and Labour Council held similar celebrations every spring, American Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was asked to speak at a labour festival in Toronto, Canada on 22 July 1882. Returning to the United States, McGuire and the Knights of Labor organised a parade based on the Canadian event on 5 September 1882 in New York City
27.
Ferrara
–
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 kilometres north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, the town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has qualified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity, Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco and Codigoro. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae in 757 to Pope Stephen II. Obizzo II dEste was proclaimed ruler of Ferrara five hundred years later. He also became seignior of nearby Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289, in 1452 the Este rulers were created Dukes of Modena and Reggio, and in 1471 Ferrara also became a duchy. In 1597, when Alfonso II died without heirs, the House of Este lost Ferrara to the Papal States. Ferrara remained a part of the Papal States from 1598 to 1859, with an interruption during the Napoleonic period, in 1859 it became part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress was constructed by Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called Castel Tedaldo, at the south-west angle of the town, all of the fortress was dismantled following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the bricks used for new constructions all over the town. On August 23,1944, the Ferrara synthetic rubber plant was a target of Strategic bombing during World War II, the town is still surrounded by more than 9 kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th-centuries. Along with those of Lucca, they are the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy, the imposing brick Castello Estense sited in the very centre of the town is iconic of Ferrara. The castle, erected in 1385, is surrounded by a moat, the pavilions on the top of the towers date from the 16th-century refurbishment. The City Hall, renovated in the 18th century, was the residence of the Este family. Close by it is the former Cathedral of San Giorgio, The Romanesque lower part of the main façade, according to a now lost inscription the church had been commissioned by Guglielmo I of Adelardi. The sculpture of the portal was signed by a Nicholaus. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, the recumbent lions guarding the entrance are copies of the originals, now in the narthex of the church. An elaborate 13th-century relief depicting the Last Judgement is found in the story of the porch
28.
Cesare Mori
–
Cesare Mori was a prefect before and during the Fascist period in Italy. He is known in Italy as the Iron Prefect because of his campaigns against the Mafia on Sicily in the second half of the 1920s. Mori was born in Pavia and grew up in an orphanage and was recognised by his natural parents in October 1879 at the age of seven. He studied at the Turin Military Academy, however, he married a girl, Angelina Salvi, who did not have the dowry stipulated by military regulations of the time, and had to resign. At the end of the First World War, the situation of Sicilian criminality got worse when war veterans joined gangs of bandits, in 1919 Mori was sent back to Sicily as the head of special forces against brigandage. In his roundups, Mori distinguished himself for his energetic and radical methods, at Caltabellotta he arrested more than 300 people in one night. The press wrote of a blow to the Mafia, but Mori said to a member of his staff, These people havent understood yet that brigands. We have hit the first, who are undoubtedly the most visible aspect of Sicilian criminality, in 1920, he returned to the mainland and served in Turin as quaestor, followed by Rome and Bologna. In 1921 he was prefect of Bologna, and was one of the few members of the forces of law, Mori was removed and sent to Bari. He retired with his wife to Florence in 1922, when the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini took over the government after the March on Rome. Due to his reputation as a man of action, he was recalled to service in 1924 by the Minister of the Interior. In the same year Mori adhered to the fascist party and he was successively appointed prefect of Trapani, arriving there in June 1924. In the telegram, Mussolini wrote to Mori, Your Excellency has carte blanche, if the laws still in force hinder you, this will be no problem, as we will draw up new laws. Mori took up his post in Palermo in November 1925 and remained in office until 1929, within the first two months he arrested over five hundred men, a number that would only grow in the following years. In January 1926, he undertook what was probably his most famous action, the occupation of the village of Gangi, using carabinieri and police forces he ordered house-to-house searches, picking up bandits, small-time Mafia members and various suspects who were on the run. He did not hesitate to lay siege to towns, use torture and these harsh methods earned him the nickname of Iron Prefect. Mori understood the basis of Mafia power, receiving as a favour that which is due them as their right. Mori’s methods were similar to those of the Mafia
29.
Filippo Turati
–
Filippo Turati was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and Socialist politician. His Inno dei Lavoratori, adapted to music, became the most popular song of the nascent labor movement, Turati became interested in politics, being attracted to the democratic movement before joining the more specific Socialist groups. His most important sociological work of period is Il Delitto e la Questione Sociale. He met Anna Kulischov while working on a survey of conditions in Naples. Kulischov and Costa had split by the time she met Turati, the two immediately fell in love, and lived together until her death in 1925. Turati and Anna Kulischov were the most instrumental intellectuals in the founding of the Italian Socialist Party in 1892 and it was the most influential Marxist review in Italy before World War I. Shut down by Benito Mussolinis Fascist regime, it was reestablished after World War II, in the years following the partys foundation, the Italian government attempted to suppress it. Turati advocated alliances with other Italian democratic forces, meant to defeat the governments reactionary policies, in 1898 Turati was arrested and charged with being the inspirator of the popular riot that broke out in the whole country against the rise of the bread price. He was freed the following year, in 1901, Giuseppe Zanardelli, a Liberal, became Prime Minister – accompanied by Giovanni Giolitti as the Minister of the Interior – Giolitti who would dominate Italian politics until 1915. When the party Directorate refused to sanction the vote, he convinced the deputies to do so anyway, between 1901 and 1906, power in the party seesawed between the Turati-led reformists and the revolutionaries under various leaders. After 1906, splits surfaced among the reformists themselves, in 1912, as a result of Socialist reaction against the Italo-Turkish War, revolutionaries took over the party. Benito Mussolini, one of their leaders, became editor of the party newspaper Avanti, Turati opposed Mussolini, but proved unable to dislodge him. He had opposed the conflict, and would oppose Italys entrance into World War I – while Mussolini moved to an irredentist position, despite the fact that he was a pacifist in June 1918 he strongly supported the Italian Army that was fighting the Battle of Solstizio. Following World War I, Mussolini created the paramilitary Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, Filippo Turati and Anna Kulischov, who knew Mussolini well, were major opponents of Fascism, and lived under constant surveillance and threats. This policy was rejected and the PSI split in 1921, with the formation of the Italian Communist Party, in 1922, when Turatis group was expelled and established a new group, the Unitary Socialist Party. In 1924, Turatis disciple and Secretary of the PSU, Giacomo Matteotti, was assassinated by Mussolinis Ceka, this seminal event prompted Mussolini to formalize his dictatorship between 1925 and 1926. In 1926, Turati fled Italy in an escape to France – aided by Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri, Sandro Pertini and Adriano Olivetti. He died in the French capital in March 1932, after World War II, Turatis remains were transferred after to Milans Cimitero Monumentale, where he is buried next to Anna Kulischov
30.
National Fascist Party
–
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism. The party ruled Italy from 1922 when Fascists took power with the March on Rome, to 1943, preceding the PNF, Mussolinis first established political party was known as The Fascist Revolutionary Party, which was, according to Mussolini, founded in 1915. After poor November 1919 election results, the PFR was eventually renamed in 1921 to the National Fascist Party and this economic system intended to resolve class 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 PNF assumed Italian government in 1922, consequent to the Fascist Leader Mussolinis oratory and Blackshirt paramilitary political violence. In September 1919, the nationalist response of outraged war hero Gabriele dAnnunzio was declaring the establishment of the Italian Regency of Carnaro, consequent to the Treaty of Rapallo the metropolitan Italian military deposed the Regency of Duce D’Annunzio on Christmas 1920. Founded in Rome on 9 November 1921, the National Fascist Party marked the transformation of the paramilitary Fasci Italiani di Combattimento into a coherent political group. The Fascist Party was instrumental in directing and popularizing support for Mussolinis ideology, compared to its predecessor, the PNF abandoned republicanism to turn decisively towards the right-wing of the political spectrum. On 22 October 1922 Mussolini attempted a coup détat which was titled by the Fascist propaganda, generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted to the preparations of the March of 18 October. Other organizers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni, on 24 October 1922, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples, Our program is simple, we want to rule Italy. Meanwhile, the Blackshirts, who had occupied the Po plain, on 26 October, former prime minister Antonio Salandra warned current Prime Minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Rome. However, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side, to meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, Luigi Facta ordered a state of siege for Rome. Having had previous conversations with the king about the repression of fascist violence, however, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order. On 28 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the class. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 29 October 1922, Mussolini thus legally reached power, in accordance with the Statuto Albertino, the Italian Constitution. The March on Rome was not the conquest of power which Fascism later celebrated and this transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose speeches and policies emphasized free market. On 15 December the Grand Council of Fascism was founded, it was the organ of the PNF
31.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
32.
Milan
–
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
33.
Genoa
–
Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
34.
Ancona
–
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of c.101,997 as of 2015. Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region, the city is located 280 km northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco. Ancona is one of the ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic. Greek merchants established a Tyrian purple dye factory here, in Roman times it kept its own coinage with the punning device of the bent arm holding a palm branch, and the head of Aphrodite on the reverse, and continued the use of the Greek language. When it became a Roman colony is uncertain and it was occupied as a naval station in the Illyrian War of 178 BC. Julius Caesar took possession of it immediately after crossing the Rubicon and its harbour was of considerable importance in imperial times, as the nearest to Dalmatia, and was enlarged by Trajan, who constructed the north quay with his Syrian architect Apollodorus of Damascus. At the beginning of it stands the marble triumphal arch with a single archway, Ancona was successively attacked by the Goths, Lombards and Saracens between the 3rd and 5th centuries, but recovered its strength and importance. It was one of the cities of the Pentapolis of the Roman Exarchate of Ravenna in the 7th and 8th centuries, in 840, Saracen raiders sacked and burned the city. After Charlemagnes conquest of northern Italy, it became the capital of the Marca di Ancona, after 1000, Ancona became increasingly independent, eventually turning into an important maritime republic, often clashing against the nearby power of Venice. An oligarchic republic, Ancona was ruled by six Elders, elected by the three terzieri into which the city was divided, S. Pietro, Porto and Capodimonte. It had a coin of its own, the agontano, Ancona was usually allied with Ragusa and the Byzantine Empire. In 1137,1167 and 1174 it was enough to push back the forces of the Holy Roman Empire. Anconitan ships took part in the Crusades, and their navigators included Cyriac of Ancona, in the struggle between the Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors that troubled Italy from the 12th century onwards, Ancona sided with the Guelphs. Differently from other cities of northern Italy, Ancona never became a seignory, the sole exception was the rule of the Malatesta, who took the city in 1348 taking advantage of the black death and of a fire that had destroyed many of its important buildings. The Malatesta were ousted in 1383, in 1532 it definitively lost its freedom and became part of the Papal States, under Pope Clement VII. Symbol of the authority was the massive Citadel. Together with Rome, and Avignon in southern France, Ancona was the city in the Papal States in which the Jews were allowed to stay after 1569. The southern quay was built in 1880, and the harbour was protected by forts on the heights, from 1797 onwards, when the French took it, it frequently appears in history as an important fortress
35.
Michele Bianchi
–
Michele Bianchi was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist leader. He was among the members of the Fascist movement. He as well was one of the architects behind the Great List which secured the parliamentary majority in favor of the fascists. Bianchi was born in Belmonte Calabro, in southern Italy and he studied law at the University of Rome, and dedicated himself from early on to journalism. He became a member of the Italian Socialist Party, and editor of the Party newspaper Avanti, presiding over the socialist branch in Rome. A delegate to the Bologna Congress in 1904, he backed the syndicalist line enforced by Arturo Labriola, in 1905, Bianchi renounced his position at Avanti. and took over leadership of the Gioventù socialista. The antimilitarist campaign he led had him imprisoned, then settled in Genoa. Bianchi adapted to his new residence, and became head of the Ligurian Labor Chamber, in 1906, after backing several workers riots, Bianchi expressed his pacifism in front of the PSI leadership, and was not universally welcomed. Transferred to Savona, he played a part in the events that led the syndicalists out of the PSI—in between the PSI Bologna Congress of 1907 and the first Syndicalist Congress in July 1908. He was outvoted, and resorted to expressing his views solely through the paper—which he turned into a daily, the backer of several local proletarian revolts in 1911. However, Bianchi was forced by the budget to shut down La Scintilla. He benefited from an amnesty and returned to Ferrara, where he created and headed the paper La Battaglia, Bianchi moved to Milan, becoming a major figure of the Milanese Syndical Union and the Unione Sindacale Italiana. Michele Bianchis attitude during World War I mirrored that of Benito Mussolini, he became a supporter of Italys entry into the conflict. In 1915, when Italy joined the Entente Powers, Bianchi volunteered for service and became a junior officer—first in the Infantry, with the end of the war, Bianchi joined Mussolinis Fasci italiani di combattimento, and then the National Fascist Party. In 1921, he became the PNF secretary, and attempted to join the Fascists with other right-wing movements. After stomping out an action against Fascist maneuvers, Bianchi was one of the Quattuorvirate who led the March on Rome. In the newly formed government, he was secretary of Internal Affairs. Again elected to the Chamber, his health worsened and he died soon after in Rome
36.
Italian Socialist Party
–
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and, later, social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in Genoa in 1892, the PSI dominated the Italian left until after World War II, the PSI was disbanded in 1994 as a result of the Tangentopoli scandals. It was part of a wave of new socialist parties at the end of the 19th century and had to endure persecution by the Italian government during its early years. At the start of the 20th century, however, the PSI chose not to oppose the governments led by five-time Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti. This conciliation with the governments and its improving electoral fortunes helped to establish the PSI as a mainstream Italian political party by the 1910s. Despite the partys improving electoral results, however, the PSI remained divided into two branches, the Reformists and the Maximalists. The Reformists, led by Filippo Turati, were mostly in the unions. The Maximalists, led by Costantino Lazzari, were affiliated with the London Bureau of socialist groups, in 1912 the Maximalists led by Benito Mussolini prevailed at the party convention and this led to the split of the Italian Reformist Socialist Party. In the 1919 general election the PSI reached its highest result ever,32. 0% and 156 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, during this time period, Mussolini belonged to the Bolshevik wing of the Italian Socialist Party who purged moderate or reformist socialists. The national syndicalists intended to support Italian republicans in overthrowing the monarchy if such reforms were not made, the dominant internationalist and pacifist wing of the party remained committed to avoiding what it called a bourgeois war. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the PSI quickly aligned itself in support of the communist Bolshevik movement in Russia, from 1919 to the 1920s the Socialists and the Fascists emerged as prominent rival movements in Italys urban centres, often resorting to political violence in their clashes. In 1919, the Socialist Party of Turin formed the Red Army of Turin, the left-wing of the party broke away in 1921 to form the Communist Party of Italy, a division from which the PSI never been recovered and which had enormous consequences on Italian politics. In 1922, another split occurred when the reformist wing of the party, in 1924 Giacomo Matteotti, a member of the PSU, was assassinated by Fascists and shortly afterwards a Fascist dictatorship was established in Italy. In 1925 the PSI and all political parties except the Fascist Party were banned. The partys leadership remained in exile during the Fascist years and in 1930 the PSU was re-integrated into the PSI, the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1930 and 1940. In the 1946 general election, the first after World War II, for the 1948 general election the Socialists led by Pietro Nenni chose to take part in the Popular Democratic Front along with the PCI. This caused the split of the faction within the party led by Giuseppe Saragat. The PSI was weakened by the split and was far less organized than the PCI, as a result, the Socialist parliamentary delegation was cut by a half
37.
Giacomo Matteotti
–
Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections. Eleven days later he was kidnapped and killed by Fascists, Matteotti was born a son of a wealthy family, in Fratta Polesine, Province of Rovigo in Veneto. He graduated in law at the University of Bologna, an atheist and from early on an activist in the socialist movement and the Italian Socialist Party, he opposed Italys entry into World War I. He was elected deputy three times, in 1919,1921 and 1924, as a follower of Filippo Turati, Matteotti became the leader of the Unitary Socialist Party in the Italian Chamber of Deputies after the scission of the Socialist Party. He openly spoke out against Fascism and Benito Mussolini, and for a time was leader of the opposition to the National Fascist Party, from 1921 he denounced fascist violence in a pamphlet titled Inchiesta socialista sulle gesta dei fascisti in Italia. During a kidnap attempt, he was bundled into a car and his corpse was found near Riano,23 Kilometers from Rome, on 16 August 1924, after an extensive search. Five men were arrested a few days after the kidnapping, only three were convicted and shortly after released under amnesty by King Victor Emmanuel III, one, Filippo Panzeri, escaped before the arrests of his accomplices. Before the trial against the murderers, the High Court of the Senate started a trial against general Emilio De Bono, commander of the Fascist paramilitary groups Blackshirts, but he was discharged. After the Second World War, in 1947, the trial against Francesco Giunta, Cesare Rossi, Dumini, Viola, Poveromo, Malacria, Filippelli, Dumini, Viola and Poveromo were sentenced to life imprisonment. In none of three trials was evidence found of Mussolinis involvement. The involvement of Mussolini in the assassination is much debated, the main biographer of Mussolini, Renzo De Felice, was convinced that the Duce was not innocent. Even Aurelio Lepre and Emilio Gentile thought that Mussolini wanted the death of Matteotti, De Felice argued that maybe Mussolini himself was a political victim of a plot, and almost surely he was damaged by the crisis that followed the murder. Many fascists left the Party, and his government was about to collapse, moreover, his secret attempt to bring Socialists and Populars into a new reformist government was ruined. John Gunther wrote in 1936 that Most critics nowadays do not think that the Duce directly ordered the assassination, but his moral responsibility is indisputable, perhaps with underlings believing they were carrying out Mussolinis desire performing the kidnapping and murder on their own. Other historians, including Justin Pollard and Denis Mack Smith, thought Mussolini was probably aware of the assassination plot, the death of Matteotti sparked widespread criticism of Fascism. A general strike was threatened in retaliation, since Mussolinis government did not collapse and the King refused to dismiss him, all the anti-fascists started to abandon the Chamber of Deputies. They retired on the Aventine Mount, like ancient Roman plebeians and they thought to force the Crown to act against Mussolini, but on the contrary this strengthened Mussolini
38.
Naples
–
Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, however, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
