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.
Italian Army
–
The Italian Army is the land defence force of the Italian Armed Forces of the Italian Republic. The armys history dates back to the unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Cold War the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan, the headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome, at the back of the Presidential Palace. The army is a force of active-duty personnel, numbering 99,042 personnel in 2016. The Italian Army originated as the Royal Army which dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy following the seizure of the Papal States and the unification of Italy. In 1861, under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was invited to take the throne of the independent kingdom. Italian expeditions were dispatched to China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the Italian Royal Armys first real taste of modern warfare was during World War I. Most of the actions were fought in northern Italy and the Royal Army suffered many casualties, Italian discipline was also harsher, with punishments for infractions of duty of a severity not known in the German, French, and British armies. On paper, the Royal Army was one of the largest ground forces in World War II, though in reality it could not field the numbers claimed, due to their generally smaller size, many Italian divisions were reinforced by an Assault Group of two battalions of Blackshirts. Reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were, almost always and this perception was the result of disastrous Italian offensives against Egypt and the performance of the army in the Greco-Italian War. Both campaigns were ill-prepared and executed inadequately, Italian medium M11, M13, M14 and M15 tanks were at a marked disadvantage against the comparatively heavily armed American Sherman tanks, for example. There were too few weapons, obsolete anti-tank guns. When the Soviet offensive Operation Saturn began on December 12,1942 the Italian 8th Army was quickly crushed, in North Africa, the Italian 132 Armored Division Ariete and the 185 Airborne Division Folgore fought to total annihilation at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Although the battle was lost, the resistance of the Italian soldiers at the Battle of Keren in East Africa is still commemorated today by the Italian military. After the Axis defeat in Tunisia the morale of the Italian troops dropped, the sagging morale led to the overthrow of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy 15 days later. The Italian Co-Belligerent Army was the army of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy in September 1943. The Italian soldiers fighting in this no longer fought for Benito Mussolini as their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio. The kingdom was replaced by a Republic in 1946 and the Royal Army changed its name to become the Italian Army, initially five infantry divisions were active, including the newly renamed Infantry Division Friuli
3.
Alpini
–
The Alpini, are an elite mountain warfare military corps of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpine Troops Headquarters. Established in 1872, the Alpini are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world and their original mission was to protect Italys northern mountain border with France and Austria. In 1888 the Alpini deployed on their first mission abroad, in Africa, during World War II, the Alpini fought alongside the Axis forces, mainly across the Eastern Front and in the Balkans Campaigns. After the end of the Cold War, the Italian Army was reorganised in the 1990s, three out of five Alpini brigades and many support units were disbanded. Currently, the Alpini are deployed in Afghanistan, in 1872, Captain Giuseppe Perrucchetti published a study in the May edition of the Military Review. In the study, he proposed to assign the defence of mountain borders of the recently established Kingdom of Italy to soldiers recruited locally, indeed, thanks to their knowledge of the surroundings and personal attachment to the area, they would be highly capable and better motivated defenders. Perrucchetti drew heavily on the work of Lieutenant General Agostino Ricci, five months after Perrucchettis article, the first 15 Alpini companies were formed by Royal decree no.1056. The units became active on October 15,1872, making the Alpini the oldest active Mountain Infantry in the world, at first the Alpini were organized as a militia, capable of defending Italy’s northern mountainous borders. Austrias surrender in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 resulted in Italy annexing the province of Venetia, prior to gaining the new northern borders, homeland defence was based on the so-called Quadrilatero strategy. That outdated strategy, however, ignored the geopolitics of the new Italian Kingdom and it called for primary defence of the Po Valley region farther to the southwest, but left the Alpine region undefended. Recruiting Italys mountain valleys locals and organising them into a corps was indeed an innovative idea. They possessed superior knowledge of mountain territory and greatest adaptability to Alpine conditions, at the beginning, the mountain regions were divided into seven military districts, each commanded by an Officer and home to at least two Alpini companies, each consisting of 120 personnel. Soldiers were equipped with the Vetterli 1870 rifle, in 1873 nine more companies were added, thus totalling 24. In 1875, the companies doubled in size, having 250 soldiers and 5 officers, on November 1,1882, the Alpini organisation doubled in size to 72 companies and a total of 20 Alpini battalions. The latter plus 8 Alpini mountain artillery batteries were now organized into six numbered Alpini regiments, Special Bn. and Fourth Bn. were issued blue tufts. Soldiers of the Mountain Artillery units were issued a green tuft with a patch in the middle onto which the number of the battery was written in golden numbers. On June 7,1883, the green flames collar patch was introduced, the Cappello Alpino, with its black raven feather, was also introduced at that time
4.
Saluzzo
–
Saluzzo is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the surrounding mountains. It has a population of approximately 17,000, Saluzzo was the birthplace of the writer Silvio Pellico and of typographer Giambattista Bodoni. Saluzzo was a civitas of the Vagienni, or mountain Ligures and this district was brought under Roman control by the Consul Marcus Fulvius circa 125BC. The marquisate embraced the territory lying between the Alps, the Po and the Stura, and was extended on several occasions, in the Middle Ages it had a chequered existence, often being in conflict with powerful neighbours, chiefly the Counts of Savoy. After Manfred IIs death, his widow had to accept a series of tributes, thomas III, a vassal of France, wrote the romance Le chevalier errant. Ludovico I started the Golden Age of the city and imposed himself as a mediator between the neighbouring powers, Ludovico II constructed a tunnel, no longer in use, through the Monviso, a remarkable work for the time. He was a patron of clerics and authors, in 1490 Ludovico regained power, but after his deaths his sons struggled longly for the rule and impoverished the state. In 1588 Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy took possession of the city, thenceforward Saluzzo shared the destinies of Piedmont, with which it formed one of the keys of the house of Italy. The Marquisate of Saluzzo is the setting of Boccaccios tale of Griselda, Saluzzo Cathedral, Church was built in Lombard-Gothic style. The façade is decorated with rose-windows, frescoes and statues, the interior contains a magnificent Baroque high altar, plus a 16th-century terracotta group portraying the Deposition, ad Adoration of the Shepherds by Sebastiano Ricci. San Bernardo church formerly belonging to the Conventuals, has interesting tombs of the counts della Torre, San Giovanni, Dominican church begun in 1330 in Gothic style and completed in 1504 with Bramantesque influences. The apse, from 1504, houses a Funerary Chapel of Ludovico II, work by Antoine Le Moiturier covered with green stone, the sepulchre of Ludovico II is a Renaissance work by Benedetto Briosco. Annexed are the Gothic cloister and the Capitular Hall with the Mausoleum of a vicar-general of the marquisate, Galeazzo Cavassa di Carmagnola, casa Cavassa, site of the civic museum and rebuilt with a Renaissance interior. San Agostino and San Bernardino Town Hall is the former Jesuit College, while the older one, the 16th century Villa Belvedere has elegant rooms with late-Renaissance decorations. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles. LItalia da scoprire, Guide di BellItalia, ed. Giorgio Mondadori,2006
5.
4th Alpine Division Cuneense
–
The 4th Alpine Division Cuneense was an Italian division composed of Alpini - light Mountain Infantry - and Mountain Artillery units. The division participated in all Italian campaigns of World War II with the exception of the North African Campaign, the headquarters of the division was in the city of Cuneo, and the majority of its soldiers were drafted from the surrounding valleys - hence the name Cuneense. The division also had 176 horses,4,698 mules and 584 transport vehicles at its disposal, on 21 June 1940 the “Cuneense” division began to advance with other Italian units into Southern France. The division was sent to Albania, where it participated in the Greco-Italian War. The Cuneense advanced through Montenegro and reached Dubrovnik at the end of the campaign, taking up positions along the Don river the Italian units covered part of the left flank of the German Sixth Army, which spearheaded the German summer offensive of 1942 into the city of Stalingrad. After the Red Army successfully encircled the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad during Operation Uranus, the Alpinis held the front on the river Don, but within three days the Soviets advanced 200 km to the left and right of the Alpini. On the evening of 17 January the commanding officer of the corps General Gabriele Nasci finally ordered a full retreat, at this point the Julia and Cuneense divisions were already heavily decimated and only the Tridentina division was still capable of conducting combat operations. On 24 January the Cuneense formed its own column and marched south of the Tridentina division, as the Soviets had already occupied every village bitter battles had to be fought to clear the way. On the morning of 28 January the division had walked 200 km, fought 20 battles, lost 80% of its men, temperatures during the nights were between -30 °C and -40 °C. During the 28th the last remnants of the division were annihilated by Cossack forces, the last survivors of the 1st Alpini regiment burned the regiments flag to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The Cuneense then ceased to exist, 2nd Alpini Regiment out of 5,206 men,208 survivors, none of the soldiers of the battalions Borgo San Dalmazzo and Saluzzo survived. 4th Alpine Artillery Regiment out of 3,897 men,379 survivors, none of the soldiers of the Artillery Group Mondovì survived. 4th Mixed Engineer Battalion out of 1,240 men,139 survivors Support units out of 1,313 men,159 survivors In total 1,607 men of the total of 17,460 survived Operation Little Saturn. Homepage of the 4th Alpine Division Cuneense
6.
Alpine Brigade Taurinense
–
The Alpine Brigade Taurinense is a light Infantry brigade of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. Its core units are the Alpini, the infantry corps of the Italian Army. The brigade’s name Taurinense alludes to the Roman name Augusta Taurinorum of the city of Turin around which the brigade is based, the Brigade carries on the name and traditions of the 1st Alpine Division Taurinense. The Taurinense was constituted on 15 April 1952 in the city of Turin, on 1 April 1964 the Alpini Parachutist Platoon merged with the other four Alpini Brigades Parachutist Platoons to form an Alpini Parachutist Company under direct command of the IV Army Corps. In 1970 the Mondovi Mountain Artillery Group was raised and added to the 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment, the remaining units came under direct control of the Taurinense Brigade. The 2nd Alpini Training Regiment had already dissolved in 1974. In 1975 the Taurinense Logistic Battalion was formed, the only such unit in the Italian Army. The only brigade which would have seen combat in such a case would have been the Julia, the other Alpini brigades would remain static. The Julia would have defended the Canal valley, the Cadore the Piave valley, on 23 March 1991 the Pinerolo Mountain Artillery Group was dissolved. On 1 August 1992 the Saluzzo Battalion was integrated in the reactivated 2nd Alpini Regiment, the same month the Anti-tank Company was disbanded. On 19 September 1992 the Aosta Artillery Group was integrated in the reactivated 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment, with the entry of the Susa Battalion into the reactivated 3rd Alpini Regiment on 23 October 1993 the reorganization of the brigade was for the time completed. Both Alpini regiments consisted of one battalion and a support company, the Command and Signal Battalion was merged with the Engineer Company into the newly formed Command and Tactical Support Battalion. At the same time the Mondovi Alpini Training Battalion was dissolved, a fate shared by Taurinense Logistic Battalion 2002. The 2nd Battalion of the Railway Engineer Regiment was reorganized as the 32nd Engineer Battalion and in 2004 renamed 32nd Alpini Engineer Regiment and subordinated to Taurinense. Today the brigade is based in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, the brigade headquarters is in the city of Turin and part of the Division Tridentina. The mortar companies of the Alpini regiments are equipped with 120mm mortars, the Cavalry regiment is equipped with a mix of Centauro tank destroyers and Puma 4x4 wheeled armored personnel carriers. The artillery regiment of the brigade fields 18x FH-70 towed howitzers, Italian Army Homepage, History of the Alpine Brigade Taurinense
7.
Borgo San Dalmazzo
–
Borgo San Dalmazzo is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 kilometres south of Turin and about 8 kilometres southwest of Cuneo. Borgo San Dalmazzo takes its name from Saint Dalmatius of Pavia, sights include the parish church of San Dalmazzo. Borgo San Dalmazzo borders the municipalities, Boves, Cuneo, Gaiola, Moiola, Roccasparvera, Roccavione, Valdieri. A Nazi concentration camp was active in Borgo San Dalmazzo during the Second World War, Borgo San Dalmazzo is twinned with, Breil-sur-Roya, France La Vega, Dominican Republic Valdeblore, France Official website
8.
Province of Cuneo
–
Cuneo or Coni is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, to the north it borders on the province of Turin. To the east it borders on the province of Asti, to the south it borders on the Ligurian provinces of Savona and Imperia. It is also known as the Provincia Granda, the big province, because it is the third largest province in Italy, briga Marittima and Tenda were part of this province before cession to France in 1947. Its capital is the city of Cuneo, communes of the province of Cuneo Piemonte Bole, David. Innovative policies for Alpine towns, Alpine space small local urban centres innovative pack, losing Paradise, The Water Crisis in the Mediterranean. Earth Repair, A Transatlantic History of Environmental Restoration, the Aging Population and the Competitiveness of Cities, Benefits to the Urban Economy
9.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
10.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
Borgo San Dalmazzo, Val Stura, Monte Argentera, Cuneo
Dronero, Val Maira, Bicocca
Saluzzo, Val Varaita, Monte Viso
2nd Alpini Regiment HQ based in Cuneo
Command and Logistic Support Company
Alpini Battalion Saluzzo
