An institutional referendum was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of Italian contemporary history. Until 1946, Italy had been a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy since the Risorgimento and rulers of Savoy. However, Benito Mussolini imposed fascism after the 28 October 1922 March on Rome engaging Italy in World War II alongside Nazi Germany; the popular referendum resulted in voters favouring the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Monarchists were never able to prove these. A Constituent Assembly was elected at the same time; the Italian referendum was intended only to determine whether the head of state should come from a family dynasty or be elected by popular vote. Democracy was not a new concept in Italian politics; the Kingdom of Piedmont had become a constitutional monarchy with the liberalizing reforms of King Charles Albert's famous Albertine Statute in 1848. Suffrage limited to select citizens, was expanded. In this period, the provisions of the Statute were not observed, however.

Instead, the elected Chamber and the Head of Government took major roles. At the beginning of the 20th century, many observers thought that, by comparison to other countries, Italy was developing in the direction of a modern democracy. Essential issues that needed to be resolved included the relationship of the Kingdom with the Roman Catholic Church. A crisis arose in Italian society as a result of the First World War, social inequalities, the consequent tension between Marxist and other left-wing parties on one side and conservative liberals on the other; this crisis led to the advent of fascism, which destroyed freedoms and civil rights and established a dictatorship, breaking the continuity of the still fragile new parliamentary tradition. The support of the ruling class and the monarchy was crucial for the seizure of power by Benito Mussolini. After Mussolini's March on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a decree to declare a state of siege and instead asked Mussolini to form a new government.

The King's decision was within his powers under the Italian constitution, but contrary to the parliamentary practices of the Italian liberal state, as the Fascist Party had only a small minority of the parliamentary deputies. After the invasion of Italy by Allied forces in 1943, Mussolini's Grand Fascist Council, with the co-operation of the King, overthrew Mussolini and established a new government headed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio. However, worried by the new government's intention to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies and occupied Northern Italy. In the Gran Sasso raid, or Operation Oak, German paratroopers rescued Mussolini from the hilltop hotel in which he had been imprisoned by the new government. Under pressure from Hitler, Mussolini established a puppet state, the Italian Social Republic to administer the German-occupied territory, leading to Italy being split in two, each with its own government. In the north, Mussolini declared that the monarchy had been overthrown and began to establish a new republican state, with himself as Duce, but for practical purposes under the control of Karl Wolff and Rudolf Rahn.

The Italian Social Republic had its seat of government in the town of Salò, so is known as the Republic of Salo. Southern Italy, remained nominally under the control of the new legitimist government of Badoglio, continuing to operate as the Kingdom of Italy. Rome descended into chaos, as fighting erupted between Mussolini loyalists and supporters of the new government, as well as leftist opponents of fascism who emerged from hiding; the King and the Badoglio government left Rome to seek the protection of the Allied forces that occupied the South. With half of the Italian peninsula occupied by the Germans and the rest by the Allies, a return to civil rights was suspended due to the complete disorder in the country; the pre-Fascist-era parties had been formally disbanded, so far as they still existed their activity was clandestine and limited, with no form of contact with most of the population. The future relationships between these parties, the balance of power, was left to be decided at a quieter time.

However, some political forces organized the Italian Resistance, which enjoyed strong popular support. However, without an election, which could not be held because of the chaotic situation, it was impossible to determine how many people the Resistance represented. All of the Resistance was anti-monarchist. At the end of the war, Italy was a damaged country, with innumerable victims, a destroyed economy, a desperate general condition; the defeat left the country deprived of the Empire it had fought for in the past two decades and occupied by foreign soldiers. For some years after 1945, politically motivated fighting continued; the emergence of political forces to replace fascism could not occur until the internal conflict ended and elections could be held. After fighting had died down, a few months were needed before attention could be given to institutional matters; the first important question regarded the royal family, blamed by many for the fascist regime, the war, the defeat. Republican traditions in Italy traditionally hark back to the Roman Repu

Sheldon A. Wasserman is an American physician and politician serving as Milwaukee County Supervisor for the 3rd District. Wasserman is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1995 to 2009, representing the 22nd Assembly District. Wasserman earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his M. D. degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1987. He has three children. In 2008, Wasserman unsuccessfully challenged Republican state senator Alberta Darling in the 8th District. In 2016, after eight years out of politics, Wasserman was elected to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors without opposition, representing the 3rd District, which comprises the East Side of Milwaukee and several North Shore suburbs. Wisconsin Assembly - Representative Sheldon Wasserman official government website Sheldon Wasserman for State Senate official campaign website Profile at Vote Smart Follow the Money - Sheldon Wasserman 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions

Naraka is the Sanskrit word for the realm of hell in Dharmic traditions. According to some schools of Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, Naraka is a place of torment; the word'Neraka' in Indonesian and Malaysian has been used to describe the Islamic concept of Hell. Alternatively, the "hellish beings" that are said to reside in this underworld are referred to as "Narakas"; these beings are termed in Hindi as Narakis and Narakavasis. Naraka in Vedas, is a place, it is mentioned in dharmaśāstras, itihāsas and Purāṇas but in Vedic samhitas and Upaniṣads. Some Upanisads speak of'darkness' instead of hell. A summary of Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gita, mentions hell several times. Adi Sankara mentions it in his commentary on Vedanta sutra. Except the views of Hindu philosopher Madhva, it is not seen as place of eternal damnation within Hinduism. Still, some people like members of Arya Samaj don't accept the existence of Naraka or consider it metaphorical. In Puranas like Bhagavata Purana, Garuda Purana and Vishnu Purana there are elaborate descriptions of many hells.

They are situated above the Garbhodaka ocean. Yama, Lord of Justice, assigns appropriate punishments. Nitya-samsarins can experience Naraka for expiation. After the period of punishment is complete, they are reborn on earth in animal bodies. Therefore, neither naraka nor svarga are permanent abodes. Yama Loka is the abode of Lord Yama. Yama is Dharma king. According to Hindu scriptures, Yama's divine assistant Lord Chitragupta maintains a record of the individual deeds of every living being in the world, based on the complete audit of his deeds, dispatches the soul of the deceased either to Svarga or to the various Narakas according to the nature of their sins; the scriptures describe that people who have done a majority of good deeds could come to Yama Loka for redemption from the small sins they have committed, once the punishments have been served for those sins they could be sent for rebirth to earth or to heaven. In the epic of Mahabharata the Pandavas spent a brief time in hell for their small sins.

At the time of death, sinful souls are vulnerable for capture by Yamadutas, servants of Yama. Yama ordered his servants to leave Vaishnavas alone. Sri Vaishnavas are taken by Vishnudutas to Gaudiya Vaishnavas to Goloka. In Buddhism, Naraka refers to the worlds of greatest suffering. Buddhist texts describe a vast array of realms of torment in Naraka; the descriptions are not always consistent with each other. Though the term is translated as "hell", unlike the Abrahamic hells, Naraka is not eternal, though when a timescale is given, it is suggested to be extraordinarily long. In this sense, it is similar to purgatory, but unlike both Abrahamic hell and purgatory, there is no divine force involved in determining a being's entry and exit to and from the realm and no soul is involved. Rather, the being is brought here—as is the case with all the other realms in the Buddhist cosmology—by natural law: the law of karma, they remain until the negative karma that brought them there has been used up. In Jainism, Naraka is the name given to realm of existence in Jain cosmology having great suffering.

The length of a being's stay in a Naraka is not eternal, though it is very long—measured in billions of years. A soul is born into a Naraka as a direct result of his or her previous karma, resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result. After his karma is used up, he may be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of an earlier karma that had not yet ripened. Jain texts mention that these hells are situated in the seven grounds at the lower part of the universe; the seven grounds are: Ratna prabha Sharkara prabha. Valuka prabha. Panka prabha. Dhuma prabha. Tamaha prabha. Mahatamaha prabha. Shurangama Sutra - Volume 6, Chapter 5: The Twelve Categories of Living Beings List of numbers in Hindu scriptures Definition at godrealized.com Wat Thawet Buddhist Learning Garden Feature Article