1.
7th Alpini Regiment
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The 7th Alpini Regiment is a light Infantry regiment of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain combat. The Alpini are an infantry corps of the Italian Army. During World War I the regiment consisted of 10 battalions and saw fighting in the Alps against Austria’s Kaiserjäger. The mortar company is equipped with 120mm mortars, while the anti-tank company fields Spike anti-tank guided missile systems
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Italian Army
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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
4.
Mountain warfare
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Mountain warfare refers to warfare in the mountains or similarly rough terrain. This type of warfare is also called Alpine warfare, after the Alps mountains, Mountain warfare is one of the most dangerous types of combat as it involves surviving not only combat with the enemy but also the extreme weather and dangerous terrain. Mountain ranges are of importance since they often act as a natural border. Attacking a prepared enemy position in mountain terrain requires a ratio of attacking soldiers to defending soldiers than a war conducted on level ground. Movement, reinforcements, and medical evacuation up and down steep slopes, the term mountain warfare is said to have come about in the Middle Ages after the monarchies of Europe found it difficult to fight the Swiss armies in the Alps. This was because the Swiss were able to fight in smaller units, similar styles of attack and defence were later employed by guerrillas, partisans and irregulars who hid in the mountains after an attack, making it challenging for an army of regulars to fight back. In Bonapartes Italian campaign, and the 1809 rebellion in Tyrol, other example of mountain warfare was the Crossing of the Andes carried out by the Argentinean Army of the Andes commanded by Gen José de San Martín in 1817. One of the division passed 5000 m height, Mountain warfare came to the fore once again, during World War I, when some of the nations involved in the war had mountain divisions that had hitherto not been tested. During the summer of 1918, the Battle of San Matteo took place on the Italian front, in December 1914, another offensive was launched by the Turkish supreme commander Enver Pasha with 95, 000-190,000 troops against the Russians in the Caucasus. Insisting on an attack against Russian positions in the mountains in the heart of winter. Since the partition in 1947, both countries have been locked in skirmishes and wars mainly in this Himalayan region with the highest mountains in the world. The first hostilities between the two nations in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 showed that both were ill-equipped to fight in biting cold, let alone at the highest altitudes in the world. During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, hostilities broke out between the Republic of India and the Peoples Republic of China at some of the highest altitudes over the Himalayan mountains. Later wars between India and Pakistan were mainly fought in the rather than in the mountains, although several major mountain battles took place in all these conflicts. This changed in the Kargil War when Indian forces were faced with the task of flushing out intruders. This proxy warfare became the modern war that was fought exclusively on mountains. South Georgia is an island, and since the war took place during the southern winter. It was unusual, in that it combined aspects of water long range expeditions, Arctic warfare
5.
Comando Truppe Alpine
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The Comando Truppe Alpine or COMTA commands the Mountain Troops of the Italian Army, called Alpini and various support and training units. It is the successor to the 4º Corpo dArmata Alpino of the Cold War, the Alpinis are light Infantry units specializing in Mountain Combat. The subordinate units of the COMTA distinguished themselves during combat in World War I, the history of the COMTA begins after the second Italian war of independence. Following the Italian-French victory over the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed the Papal Legations in present-day Emilia Romagna, the command consisted of the 4th, 7th and 13th division of the Line. At the outbreak of the third Italian war of independence the command covered the flank of the main army. The command under General Enrico Cialdini consisted of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 20th division of the line, cialdinis army finally reached the Isonzo river on 24 July 1866. After the Kingdom of Sardinia extended its borders following the war by annexing the territory of Veneto the 4th Higher Military Command was disbanded in spring of 1867. On 15 August 1870 the IV Army Corps was activated for the campaign to capture of Rome. After the troops of the corps had entered Rome the corps was turned into the General Army Command, during the campaign the corps commanded the 2nd, 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th division of the line. In 1873 the command was renamed as 4th General Command and transferred to Florence to act as command for Tuscany. On 22 January 1877 the corps was renamed as IV Army Corps, in 1888 the corps moved to Genoa. In spring 1915 the corps under general Mario Nicolis di Robilant was moved towards the Austrian border, in the twelfth battle of the Isonzo the corps was covering the northern flank of the Italian 2nd Army between Mount Rombon and Dolje. The main Austro-German attack was aimed at the Italian IV and XXVII Corps, the Italian defences were quickly overcome and the rapid advance cut the IV Corps line of retreat. Most of the men and material of the IV Corps were captured by the Central Powers troops, after World War I the corps was moved once again to Bologna until it moved to Verona in 1927 and tasked with territorial and defence duties along the valley of the Adige. The corps consisted of the 9th Infantry Division Pasubio in Verona, in 1935 the corps was moved to Bolzano, but quickly dispatched to reinforce the Italian troops that faced stiffer than expected resistance during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. The corps commanded the 5th Infantry Division Cosseria, 1st Blackshirt Division 23 March, during the campaign in Abyssinia the IV Army Corps participated in the Battle of Shire. After the return from Abyssinia the corps was tasked with defending the Northern borders of Italy, specifically in the case of war with Hitlers Third Reich the corps was tasked with manning the Alpine Wall in South Tyrol and delaying the advancing enemy for as long as possible. Although Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel in 1939 the construction of the fortifications along the Alpine Wall continued unabated, when Italy declared war on France on 10 June 1940 the corps was near the French-Italian border
6.
Saint Maurice
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Saint Maurice was according to tradition the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the saint of several professions, locales. He is also a revered saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church. According to the material, Maurice was an Egyptian, born in AD250 in Thebes. He was brought up in the region of Thebes Maurice became a soldier in the Roman army and he was gradually promoted until he became the leader of the Theban legion, formed of 6600 soldiers. He was an acknowledged Christian at a time when the Church was considered to be a threat to the Roman Empire, yet, he moved easily within the pagan society of his day. The legion, entirely composed of Christians, had called from Thebes in Egypt to Gaul to assist Emperor Maximian to defeat a revolt by the bagaudae. The Theban Legion was dispatched with orders to clear the St. Bernard Pass across Mt. Blanc, before going into battle, they were instructed to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods and pay homage to the emperor. Maurice pledged his men’s military allegiance to Rome and he stated that service to God superseded all else. To engage in wanton slaughter was inconceivable to Christian soldiers he said and he and his men refused to worship Roman gods. However, when Maximian ordered them to some local Christians. Ordering the unit to be punished, Maximian had every tenth soldier killed, more orders followed, the men refused as encouraged by Maurice, and a second decimation was ordered. In response to the Theban Christians refusal to attack fellow Christians, the place in Switzerland where this occurred, known as Agaunum, is now named Saint Maurice-en-Valais, site of the Abbey of Saint Maurice-en-Valais. So reads the earliest account of their martyrdom, contained in the letter which Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, addressed to his fellow bishop. There is a difference of opinion among researchers as to whether or not the story of the Theban Legion is based on historical fact, the legend, by St. Eucherius of Lyons, is classed by Bollandist Hippolyte Delehaye among the historical romances. Donald F. OReilly, in Lost Legion Rediscovered, argues that evidence from coins, papyrus, denis Van Berchem, of the University of Geneva, proposed that Eucherius presentation of the legend of the Theban legion was a literary production, not based on a local tradition. The military staunchly followed Isis or Mithras, until Constantines time at the earliest, if the legend was a later fabrication by Eucherius, its dissemination served to draw pilgrims to the abbey at Agaunum. Saint Maurice became a saint of the Holy Roman Emperors
7.
First Italo-Ethiopian War
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The First Italo-Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from a treaty which, the Italians claimed, turned the country into an Italian protectorate. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops having initial success until Ethiopian troops counterattacked Italian positions and besieged the Italian fort of Meqele, forcing its surrender. Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italians a decisive loss and forced their retreat back into Eritrea. This was not the first African victory over Western colonizers, according to one historian, In an age of relentless European expansion, Ethiopia alone had successfully defended its independence. The Khedive of Egypt Ismail Pasha, Ismail the Magnificent had conquered Eritrea as part of his efforts to give Egypt an African empire, Ismail had tried to follow that conquest with Ethiopia, but the Egyptian attempts to conquer that realm ended in humiliating defeat. Egypt had very much in the French sphere of influence until 1882 when Britain occupied Egypt. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had turned the Horn of Africa into a strategic region as a navy based in the Horn could interdict any shipping going up. By building naval bases on the Red Sea that could intercept British shipping in the Red Sea, the French hoped to reduce the value of the Suez Canal for the British, and thus lever them out of Egypt. On 3 June 1884, a treaty was signed between Britain, Egypt and Ethiopia that allowed the Ethiopians to occupy parts of Eritrea and allowed the Ethiopian goods to pass in and out of Massawa duty-free. After initially encouraging the Emperor Yohannes IV to move into Eritrea to replace the Egyptians, in 1882, Italy had joined the Triple Alliance, allying herself with Austria and Germany against France. On 5 February 1885 Italian troops landed at Massawa to replace the Egyptians, the Italian government for its part was more than happy to embark upon an imperialist policy to distract its people from the failings in post Risorgimento Italy. To compensate, a chauvinist mood was rampant in Italy with the newspaper Il Diritto writing in an editorial, the year 1885 will decide her fate as a great power. It is necessary to feel the responsibility of the new era, to become again strong men afraid of nothing, with the love of the fatherland, of all Italy. On March 25,1889, the Shewa ruler Menelik II, having conquered Tigray and Amhara, Menelik II continued the policy of Tewodros II of integrating Ethiopia. However, the treaty did not say the same thing in Italian and Amharic. Italian diplomats, however, claimed that the original Amharic text included the clause, moreover, Menelik did not know Italian and only signed the Amharic text of the treaty, being assured that there were no differences between the Italian and Amharic texts before he signed. Francesco Crispi, the Italian Prime Minister was an ultra-imperialist who believed the newly unified Italian state required the grandeur of a second Roman empire, Crispi believed that the Horn of Africa was the best place for the Italians to start building the new Roman empire
8.
Boxer Rebellion
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The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihequan Movement a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty. The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence, Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China, Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu, the Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the execution of those suspected of being Boxers. The Empress Dowager then sponsored a set of institutional and fiscal changes in an attempt to save the dynasty by reforming it. The Righteous and Harmonious Fists arose in the sections of the northern coastal province of Shandong long known for social unrest, religious sects. American Christian missionaries were probably the first to refer to the well-trained, athletic men as Boxers, because of the martial arts. Their primary practice was a type of possession which involved the whirling of swords, violent prostrations. The opportunities to fight back Western encroachment and colonization were especially attractive to unemployed village men, the tradition of possession and invulnerability went back several hundred years but took on special meaning against the powerful new weapons of the West. The Boxers, armed with rifles and swords, claimed supernatural invulnerability towards blows of cannon, rifle shots, furthermore, the Boxer groups popularly claimed that millions of soldiers of Heaven would descend to assist them in purifying China of foreign oppression. The Big Swords, emboldened by this support, also attacked their local Catholic village rivals. The Big Swords responded by attacking Catholic churches and burning them, the line between Christians and bandits, remarks one recent historian, became increasingly indistinct. As a result of pressure in the capital, Yuxian executed several Big Sword leaders. More martial secret societies started emerging after this, the early years saw a variety of village activities, not a broad movement or a united purpose. Martial folk religious societies such as the Baguadao prepared the way for the Boxers, like the Red Boxing school or the Plum Flower Boxers, the Boxers of Shandong were more concerned with traditional social and moral values, such as filial piety, than with foreign influences. One leader, for instance, Zhu Hongdeng, started as a healer, specializing in skin ulcers. Zhu claimed descent from Ming dynasty emperors, since his surname was the surname of the Ming imperial family and he announced that his goal was to Revive the Qing and destroy the foreigners
9.
Italo-Turkish War
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The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from September 29,1911, to October 18,1912. As a result of conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica. These territories together formed what became known as Italian Libya, during the conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. Although minor, the war was a significant precursor of the First World War as it sparked nationalism in the Balkan states, seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the weakened Ottomans, the members of the Balkan League attacked the Ottoman Empire before the war with Italy had ended. The Italo-Turkish War saw numerous changes, notably the airplane. The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an aeroplane by rifle fire, when Italian diplomats hinted about possible opposition by their government, the French replied that Tripoli would have been a counterpart for Italy. In 1902, Italy and France had signed a treaty which accorded freedom of intervention in Tripolitania. However, the Italian government did little to realize the opportunity and knowledge of Libyan territory, the Italian press began a large-scale lobbying campaign in favour of an invasion of Libya at the end of March 1911. It was fancifully depicted as rich in minerals, well-watered, also, the population was described as hostile to the Ottoman Empire and friendly to the Italians, the future invasion was going to be little more than a military walk, according to them. The Socialist party had strong influence over public opinion, however, it was in opposition and also divided on the issue. It acted ineffectively against a military intervention, the future fascist leader Benito Mussolini – at this time still a left-wing Socialist – took a prominent anti-war position. A similar opposition was expressed in Parliament by Gaetano Salvemini and Leone Caetani, an ultimatum was presented to the Ottoman government led by the Committee of Union and Progress party on the night of 26–27 September. Through Austrian intermediation, the Ottomans replied with the proposal of transferring control of Libya without war and this suggestion was comparable to the situation in Egypt, which was under formal Ottoman suzerainty, but was actually controlled by the United Kingdom. Giolitti refused, and war was declared on September 29,1911, despite the time it had had to prepare the invasion, the Italian Royal Army was largely unprepared when the war broke out. The Italian fleet appeared off Tripoli in the evening of September 28, the city was conquered by 1,500 sailors, much to the enthusiasm of the interventionist minority in Italy. Another proposal for a settlement was rejected by the Italians. The Turks did not have an army in Trablusgarp. Many of the Ottoman officers had to travel there by their own means, often secretly, through Egypt, the Ottoman navy was too weak to transport troops by sea
10.
Italian Front (World War I)
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The Italian Front was a series of battles at the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918 in World War I. Fighting along the front displaced much of the population, of which several thousand died from malnutrition. The Allied victory at Vittorio Veneto and the disintegration of Austria-Hungary ended the military operations, moreover, Austria-Hungary omitted to consult Italy before sending the ultimatum to Serbia and refused to discuss compensation due according to the art. By the 1910s, the expansionist ideas of this movement were taken up by a significant part of the Italian political elite. The annexation of those Austrian territories that were inhabited by Italians, became the main Italian war goal, however, of around 1.5 million people living in those areas, 45% were Italian speakers, while the rest were Slovenes, Germans and Croats. In northern Dalmatia, which was also among the Italian war aims, on 23 May, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Italys entry was engineered in secret by the 1915 Treaty of London, set up between the British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, the Italian Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino and the French Foreign Minister Jules Cambon. On February 16,1915, despite concurrent negotiations with Austria, the final choice was aided by the arrival of news in March of Russian victories in the Carpathians. The Treaty of London was concluded on April 26 binding Italy to fight within one month, not until May 4 did Salandra denounce the Triple Alliance in a private note to its signatories. During the Italo-Turkish War in Libya, the Italian military suffered equipment, at the opening of the campaign, Austro-Hungarian troops occupied and fortified high ground of the Julian Alps and Karst Plateau, but the Italians initially outnumbered their opponents three-to-one. An Italian offensive aimed to cross the Soča river, take the fortress town of Gorizia. This offensive opened the first Battles of the Isonzo, because the Austrian forces occupied higher ground, Italians conducted difficult offensives while climbing. The Italian forces therefore failed to drive much beyond the river, despite a professional officer corps, severely under-trained Italian units lacked morale. Also many troops deeply disliked the newly appointed Italian commander, general Luigi Cadorna, moreover, preexisting equipment and munition shortages slowed progress and frustrated all expectations for a Napoleonic style breakout. Like most contemporaneous militaries, the Italian army primarily used horses for transport but struggled, the Italians recuperated, rearmed with 1200 heavy guns, and then on 18 October 1915 launched Third Battle of the Isonzo, another attack. Forces of Austria-Hungary again repulsed this Italian offensive, which concluded on 4 November without resulting gains, the Italians again launched another offensive on 10 November, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo. Italian Armies in the North East of the country, the offensive began on 11 March 1916 with 15 divisions, and resulted in no gain. Later in 1916, four more battles along the Isonzo river erupted, the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, launched by the Italians in August, resulted in a success greater than the previous attacks
11.
Second Italo-Ethiopian War
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The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a colonial war that started in October 1935, after a battle on 5 December 1934, and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire. The war resulted in the occupation of Ethiopia. Politically, like the Mukden Incident in 1931, the Abyssinia Crisis in 1935 is often seen as a demonstration of the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations. Italy and Ethiopia were member nations and yet the League was unable to control Italy or to protect Ethiopia when Italy clearly violated Article X of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the victory also brought Mussolini unprecedented popularity within Italy. Shortly after the war, Ethiopia was consolidated with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland into Italian East Africa, the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 stated that the border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia was twenty-one leagues parallel to the Benadir coast. In 1930, Italy built a fort at the Welwel oasis in the Ogaden, the fort at Welwel was well beyond the twenty-one league limit and the Italians were encroaching on Ethiopian territory. In November 1934, Ethiopian territorial troops, escorting the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, the British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid embarrassing Italy. Italian and Ethiopian troops remained encamped in close proximity, in early December 1934, the tensions on both sides erupted into what was known as the Wal Wal incident. The resultant clash left approximately 110 Ethiopians and between 30 and 50 Italians and Somalis dead and led to the Abyssinia Crisis at the League of Nations, on 4 September 1935, the League of Nations exonerated both parties for the Wal Wal incident. The United Kingdom and France, keen to keep Italy as an ally against Germany, Italy soon began to build its forces on the borders of Ethiopia in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. To this end, on 7 January 1935, France signed an agreement with Italy giving them essentially a hand in Africa to secure Italian co-operation. Next, in April, Italy was further emboldened by being a member of the Stresa Front, in June, non-interference was further assured by a political rift that had developed between the United Kingdom and France following the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. His comments stirred up a furor inside Japan, where there had been popular affinity for the African Empire, with an attack appearing inevitable, Emperor Haile Selassie ordered a general mobilization of the Army of the Ethiopian Empire. His new recruits consisted of around 500,000 men, some of whom were armed with nothing more than spears, many soldiers carried more modern weapons, including rifles, but many of these were from before 1900 and were outdated. Haile Selassies Mobilization Order stated, All men and boys able to carry a spear go to Addis Ababa, every married man will bring his wife to cook and wash for him. Every unmarried man will bring any unmarried woman he can find to cook, women with babies, the blind, and those too aged and infirm to carry a spear are excused. Anyone found at home after receiving this order will be hanged, according to Italian estimates, on the eve of hostilities the Ethiopians had an army of 350, 000–760,000 men
12.
World War II
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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
13.
Military Order of Italy
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The Military Order of Italy is the highest military order of the Italian Republic and the former Kingdom of Italy. It was founded as the Military Order of Savoy, an order by the King of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele I. The order is awarded in five degrees for distinguished wartime conduct of units of the forces or individual personnel that has proven expertise. The order was continued on the unification of Italy in 1861 and was revived, under its new name and it is bestowed by decree of the President of the Italian Republic, head of the order, on the recommendation of the Minister of Defence. Recipients of the Ordine militare di Savoia were transferred retaining their existing accoutrements, the various degrees of the order, which may be conferred posthumously, are as follows, The lowest of these may also be awarded for peacetime actions. The badge is a golden cross, enamelled in white, with a wreath of green-enamelled laurel. Officers and Knights wear this badge on a ribbon on the left chest, commanders and Grand Officers wear it on a necklet. The obverse central disc during the monarchy was red enamel with a white enamel cross, the current version is in white enamel with the letters R. I. In both cases the disc is surrounded by a red ring bearing the inscription Al Merito Militare. The reverse central disc is in red enamel with crossed swords, during the monarchy it had the letters V. E. on the sides of the sword and the year 1855 above it. The current version has no cypher but has the additional year 1947, the star is an eight-pointed faceted silver star with the badge at the centre. This is worn by Knights Grand Cross and Grand Officers only, the ribbon is blue—red—blue in equal dimensions. Knights Grand Cross wear a sash with the badge of the order suspended from it, list of Italian orders of knighthood Military Order of Savoy Civil Order of Savoy Presidenza della Repubblica - Le Onorificenze Ordini dinastici della Real Casa di Savoia
14.
Gold Medal of Military Valour
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The face of the medal displayed the profile of the king, and on its reverse was a flag decoration and the words al valore. On 14 August 1815, Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia replaced it with the Military Order of Savoy, charles Albert of Sardinia revived it on March 26,1833, and added to it the Silver and Bronze medals. These had, on their faces, the coat of arms of Savoy with laurel branches, the crown. On the reverse were two branches enclosing the name of the decorated soldier, and the place and date of the action. With the proclamation of the Republic on June 2,1946, for actions performed by individuals during World War I, the Gold Medal was awarded some 368 times, as well as 37 times to military units, and once to the Unknown Soldier. Only four of the awards went to foreigners, one of these being Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The other three were for acts of gallantry in which the recipient was killed in action or died from his injuries. The Gold Medal of Military Valor was one of the most parsimoniously awarded medals of World War I, the Axis-affiliated Italian Social Republic created another design of the medal to give to members of the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano from 1943 to 1945. This version of the award was not given recognition by the postwar Italian government, cinque anni di storia italiana 1940-1945, da lettere e diari di caduti
15.
Silver Medal of Military Valor
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The Silver Medal of Military Valor is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a medal, and, below it. These were intended for officers or common soldiers who had distinguished themselves in combat. These medals fell into disuse during the period of Napoleonic domination, according to royal decree no.753 of 24 May 1915, the number of times one individual could receive a medal for valor was limited to three, after which a promotion was foreseen. This limit was abolished with royal decree no.975 of 15 June 1922, during World War I, the medal was awarded to military personnel, units above the level of company and civilians for exceptional valor in the face of the enemy. During World War I, the medal was given out some 38,614 times for acts of heroism. Thus, the Italian Silver Medal for Military Valor is equivalent in frequency and prestige to the British Military Cross, italo Balbo William George Barker VC Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia Federico Cafiero Mark W
16.
War Cross for Military Valor
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The War Cross for Military Valor is an Italian decoration for military valor. Established in 1922, the cross may only be awarded in time of war, the medal is a Greek cross made of copper. Inscribed on the arms is Al Valor Militare. On the top arm of the cross is the monogram of the Italian Republic, the bottom arm depicts a Roman sword sheathed in bay leaves. The back of the cross depicts a five-pointed star, with rays radiating from behind that star out to the arms of the cross, the cross is suspended from a solid blue ribbon
17.
Africa
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Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
18.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
19.
World War I
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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
20.
Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
21.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
22.
German Reich
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Deutsches Reich was the official name for the German nation state from 1871 to 1943 in the German language. It translates literally to German Empire, with a context approximating that of German Realm, from 1943 to 1945, the official name was – but not formally proclaimed – Großdeutsches Reich on account of the new territories annexed into the states administration during the Second World War. Informally, this nation was known simply as Germany. The Nazis also contemptuously referred to it as the System, following the Anschluss annexation of Austria in 1938, Nazi Germany informally named itself the Greater German Reich. This name was made the state name only during the last two years of Nazi rule under Adolf Hitler, though the change was never proclaimed. After World War II, the denotation German Reich quickly fell into disuse in Allied-occupied Germany, however, though the German word Reich translates to the English word empire, this translation was not used throughout the full existence of the German Reich. As the literal translation German Empire denotes a monarchy, the term is used only in reference to Germany before the fall of the monarchies at the end of World War I in 1918. After the unification of Germany, under the reign of the Prussian king Wilhelm I and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, on 14 April 1871, the Reichstag parliament passed the Constitution of the German Empire, which was published two days later. On the other hand, the German Reich of 1871 comprised extended Prussian territories with large sections of the population, like Posen. Before and during the events of World War I, the German state was called an empire in English, German Reich was used in legal documents and English-language international treaties — for example, the Kellogg–Briand Pact and the Geneva Conventions. If the term Empire had still been considered valid at this point and that Reich was never translated to Empire after 1918 has to do with the lack of a precise equivalent in English. Old English had the word rīc which was cognate with Reich, on 8 May 1945, with the capitulation of the German armed forces, the supreme command of the Wehrmacht was handed over to the Allied Powers. This claimed identity was however, contested by most other countries of the world, other countries tended to regard the German Reich to have been divided into two states. On meeting these conditions under Article 7.2 The United Germany accordingly full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs and this was confirmed in the 1990 rewording of the preamble, Germans. have achieved the unity and freedom of Germany in free self-determination. This Basic Law thus applies to the entire German people, national colours of Germany Germany Greater Germanic Reich, a conceptual entity that the Nazis planned to establish during World War II. Administrative history of the German Reich German Reich map of states 1913
23.
Alpenkorps (German Empire)
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The Alpenkorps was a provisional mountain formation of division size formed by the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was considered by the Allies to be one of the best in the German Army, the Royal Bavarian 1st and 2nd Snowshoe Battalions were formed in Munich, Bavaria on November 21,1914. A third battalion was formed in April 1915 from the 4th, 5th and 6th companies of the second battalion, in May 1915, the three battalions were brought together with a fourth to form the 3rd Jäger Regiment. In October 1915, the designation Schneeschuhbataillon was eliminated, also in May 1915, the previously separate Bavarian 1st, 2nd and 2nd Reserve Jäger Battalions were joined to form the Royal Bavarian 1st Jäger Regiment. The Prussian 10th, 10th Reserve and 14th Reserve Jäger Battalions were also joined together, chevauleger-Regiment König Gebirgs-Artillerie-Abteilung Nr.1 Kgl. Bayerische Gebirgs-Minenwerfer-Abteilung Nr.269 Gebirgs-Minenwerfer-Abteilung Nr.2701, Jäger-Regiment Jäger-Regiment Nr.2 MG-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr.24 Gebirgs-MG-Abteilung Nr.204 Gebirgs-MG-Abteilung Nr.2053. Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 7, Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr.204 Gebirgs-Artillerie-Abteilung Nr.6 I. /Kgl, bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.1 Stab Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr.102 Pionier-Kompanie Nr.283 Gebirgs-Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr, the unit had an air arm, which was FFA9, flying Pfalz Parasol aircraft. After four months, the Alpenkorps returned briefly to the Western Front, as now the Austrian defenders were sufficient in numbers, the Austrian Kaiserschützen honored the men of the Alpenkorps by awarding them their unit insignia, the Edelweiss. After only a week in France and the Dolomites, the Alpenkorps was sent to fight in the Serbian Campaign, the Alpenkorps returned to France in March 1916. After a short respite, it entered into the Battle of Verdun in June 1916, the regiments of the Alpenkorps lost over 70% of their strength in the fighting around Fort Vaux and Fleury. After leaving the line, the regiments were reconstituted, and in mid-July 1916 the 3rd Jäger Regiment was transferred from the division, the 2nd Brigade headquarters was eliminated and the Alpenkorps became a triangular division with 1st Brigade controlling the other two Jäger regiments and the Infanterie-Leib-Regiment. Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente on August 27,1916, in September, the Alpenkorps was dispatched to fight in the Romanian Campaign. The Infanterie-Leib-Regiment suffered a number of losses in the fighting in Romania, including one of its most prominent members, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria. The Alpenkorps remained in Romania until April 1917 and then returned to the Western Front. In August 1917, the Alpenkorps returned to Romania and participated in the battles there in the wake of the Kerensky Offensive. In September 1917, the Alpenkorps was sent once more to the Italian Front to reinforce the Austrian Army for the upcoming 12th Battle of the Isonzo. Another company commander who distinguished himself at Caporetto, the Infanterie-Leib-Regiments Ferdinand Schörner, the Alpenkorps returned to the Western Front in 1918
24.
Axis powers
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The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
25.
Eastern Front (World War II)
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The battles on the Eastern Front constituted the largest military confrontation in history. They were characterized by unprecedented ferocity, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life due to combat, starvation, exposure, disease, and massacres. The Eastern Front, as the site of nearly all extermination camps, death marches, ghettos, of the estimated 70 million deaths attributed to World War II, over 30 million, many of them civilian, occurred on the Eastern Front. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome of the European portion of World War II and it resulted in the destruction of the Third Reich, the partition of Germany for nearly half a century and the rise of the Soviet Union as a military and industrial superpower. The two principal belligerent powers were Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies. Though never engaged in action in the Eastern Front, the United Kingdom. The joint German–Finnish operations across the northernmost Finnish–Soviet border and in the Murmansk region are considered part of the Eastern Front, in addition, the Soviet–Finnish Continuation War may also be considered the northern flank of the Eastern Front. Despite their ideological antipathy, both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union shared a dislike for the outcome of World War I. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed in August 1939 was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It contained a secret protocol aiming to return Central Europe to the pre–World War I status quo by dividing it between Germany and the Soviet Union, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would return to Soviet control, while Poland and Romania would be divided. I need the Ukraine so that they cant starve us out, the two powers invaded and partitioned Poland in 1939. The annexations were never recognized by most Western states, the annexed Romanian territory was divided between the Ukrainian and Moldavian Soviet republics. Adolf Hitler had argued in his autobiography Mein Kampf for the necessity of Lebensraum, acquiring new territory for Germans in Eastern Europe, Wehrmacht officers told their troops to target people who were described as Jewish Bolshevik subhumans, the Mongol hordes, the Asiatic flood and the red beast. The vast majority of German soldiers viewed the war in Nazi terms, Hitler referred to the war in unique terms, calling it a war of annihilation which was both an ideological and racial war. In addition, the Nazis also sought to wipe out the large Jewish population of Central, after Germanys initial success at the Battle of Kiev in 1941, Hitler saw the Soviet Union as militarily weak and ripe for immediate conquest. On 3 October 1941, he announced, We have only to kick in the door, thus, Germany expected another short Blitzkrieg and made no serious preparations for prolonged warfare. Throughout the 1930s the Soviet Union underwent massive industrialization and economic growth under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, Stalins central tenet, Socialism in one country, manifested itself as a series of nationwide centralized Five-Year Plans from 1929 onwards. It served as a testing ground for both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army to experiment with equipment and tactics that they would later employ on a wider scale in the Second World War
26.
Balkan Campaign (World War II)
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The Balkan Campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italys offensive had stalled, Germany sought, by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria, to aid Italy by attacking Greece from the east, while the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A coup détat in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Hitler to order the conquest of that country, the invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April, simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece. On 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion, by 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air and by 1 June all remaining Greek, although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied parts of both Yugoslavia and Greece shortly thereafter for the remainder of the war in the Balkans. After World War I, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There were attempted backroom negotiations that ultimately failed, however, after 1925, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sought to dominate Albania. In 1928, Albania became a kingdom under Zog I, who was a clan chief, Zog failed to stave off Italian ascendancy in Albanian internal affairs. On 7 April 1939, Mussolinis troops occupied Albania, overthrew Zog, the Italian invasion of Greece lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941 and was part of World War II. Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains, but soon the Greeks counter-attacked and the Italians were repulsed and driven back into Albania. The Italians spent much of the winter stabilizing a line which left them in control of only about two-thirds of Albania, a much anticipated Italian offensive in March 1941 failed to make sufficient progress. Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, intervened in April and invaded Greece after an invasion of Yugoslavia. The invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941 and ended with the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April. The invading Axis powers occupied and dismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, by cobbling together Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Croatia, and Syrmia, the Independent State of Croatia was created by Germany and Italy. Montenegro remained under Italian occupation, and Bulgaria was permitted to annex eastern areas of Yugoslavia, Hitler began planning to invade Greece in November 1940, after the British occupied Crete and Lemnos. He ordered the German Invasion of Greece — code-named Unternehmen Marita by Germany — on 13 December 1940 for execution in March 1941, the stated aim of the operation was to prevent the British from getting air bases within striking range of the Romanian oilfields. On 6 April 1941, the German Army invaded northern Greece, breaking through the Yugoslav lines in southern Yugoslavia allowed Germany to send reinforcements to the battlefields of northern Greece. The German army out-flanked the Greek Metaxas Line fortifications and, despite the assistance provided by a British expeditionary corps, on 20 May 1941, German paratroopers were dropped over the airfields of northern Crete to occupy the island
27.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
28.
Cappello Alpino
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The Cappello Alpino is the most distinctive feature of the Italian Armys Alpini troops uniform. The Alpini are light Infantry troops, specializing in mountain combat, initially the Cappello was only issued to the Alpini, but soon the Cappello was adopted by the Alpini Corps support units like Artillery, signals, engineers. Today the Cappello is issued to members of 15 Army regiments,3 battalions, thanks to the black raven feather, which is carried on each Alpini soldiers Cappello, the Alpinis are known as Le Penne Nere in Italy. A nickname the Alpini quickly adopted for themselves, on June 7,1883, the Fiamme Verdi collar patches were introduced thus making the Alpini officially a specialty within the Italian infantry corps. At the same time the issuing of the Cappello Alpino began, the Cappello Alpino is made of grey felt a quarter of an inch thick. In the front the rim is flattened to protect the face from rain, on the left and right side four small metal encrusted holes allow for an exchange of air. Around the lower half of the top section a green-grey leather band. Inside the Cappello has a black leather band where Cappello. When in combat the feather will be placed on the side of the helmet. Officers above the rank of captain originally wore a white eagle feather, non-commissioned officers and officers up to the rank of captain continue to carry a black eagle feather. The feather is approximately 10-12 inches long and is carried with a slight backward, the fregio is a coat of arms indicating the wearers regiment. It is black for soldiers, golden for officers, both variants are sewn to the front of the Cappello, today, soldiers serving on a permanent basis are issued the golden variant of the fregio too. The nappina is a piece of wood, on which a tuft of colored wool threads is sewn. The piece of wood contains a hole, in which the feather is sheathed. Also a thin bended wire juts out from the wood to allow the nappina to be latched onto the side of the Cappello Alpino. Soldiers of the Mountain Artillery units were issued a green tuft with a patch in the middle onto which the number of their battery was written in yellow. Officers below the rank of general and non-commissioned officers wear a golden colored metal wrap, later further nappinas were issued in various colors and forms. For an overview of the nappinas of all Alpini battalions see the article about the Alpini
29.
Raven
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A raven is one of several larger-bodied species of the genus Corvus. These species do not form a taxonomic group within the genus. The largest raven species are the common raven and the thick-billed raven, the modern English word raven has cognates in all other Germanic languages, including Old Norse hrafn and Old High German raban, all of which descend from Proto-Germanic *hrabanaz. Obsolete collective nouns for a group of ravens include unkindness and conspiracy, in practice, most people use the more generic flock
30.
Amaranth (color)
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Amaranth is a reddish-rose color that is a representation of the color of the flower of the amaranth plant. The color shown is the color of the red flower, but there are other varieties of amaranth that have other colors of amaranth flowers. The color amaranth is displayed at right and this color is also called amaranth red to distinguish it from the varying colors of other varieties of the amaranth flower. The color amaranth is similar to printers magenta and it is the color of the flower of those amaranth plants that have amaranth red colored flowers. The first recorded use of amaranth as a name in English was in 1690. The name amaranth comes from the Greek a + marainean, i. e. a flower believed to grow on Mount Olympus which never died, the color amaranth pink is displayed at right. This color is a representation of the color of pink amaranth flowers, the first recorded use of amaranth pink as a color name in English was in 1905. The Crayola crayon color radical red is displayed at right, the color radical red, which may also be called bright amaranth pink, was formulated by Crayola in 1990. This color is supposed to be fluorescent, but there is no mechanism for displaying fluorescence on a computer screen, the color amaranth purple is displayed at right. This color is a representation of the color of purple amaranth flowers, the first recorded use of amaranth purple as a color name in English was in 1912. Amaranth deep purple is the tone of amaranth that is called amaranth in the 1930 book by Maerz, picture of purple amaranth flower Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium, Amaranthus cruentus L
31.
2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment
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The 2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment is a military engineer regiment of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain combat. Founded in 1860 it is currently the oldest active Engineer Regiment of the Italian Army, since 1954 it has been part of the 4th Alpine Army Corps and thus a strong association with the Italian Armys mountain infantry corps - the Alpini. The Alpini distinguished themselves in combat during World War I and World War II, like the Alpini and the members of the Mountain Artillery regiments the soldiers of the 2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment wear the distinctive Cappello Alpino. Today the 2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment is part of the Alpine Brigade Julia
32.
Italian unification
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The process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to both Italian politics and Italian historiography, for short period is one of the most contested. Italian nationalism was based among intellectuals and political activists, often operating from exile, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman province of Italy remained united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and later disputed between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. Following conquest by the Frankish Empire, the title of King of Italy merged with the office of Holy Roman Emperor. However, the emperor was a foreigner who had little concern for the governance of Italy as a state, as a result. This situation persisted through the Renaissance but began to deteriorate with the rise of modern nation-states in the modern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then became the site of proxy wars between the powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and France. Harbingers of national unity appeared in the treaty of the Italic League, in 1454, leading Renaissance Italian writers Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini expressed opposition to foreign domination. Petrarch stated that the ancient valour in Italian hearts is not yet dead in Italia Mia, Niccolò Machiavelli later quoted four verses from Italia Mia in The Prince, which looked forward to a political leader who would unite Italy to free her from the barbarians. I am an Italian, he explained, the French Republic spread republican principles, and the institutions of republican governments promoted citizenship over the rule of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and other dynasties. The reaction against any outside control challenged Napoleons choice of rulers, as Napoleons reign began to fail, the rulers he had installed tried to keep their thrones further feeding nationalistic sentiments. After Napoleon fell, the Congress of Vienna restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian states under leadership of the Pope in his 1842 book, Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians. Pope Pius IX at first appeared interested but he turned reactionary, Giuseppe Mazzini and Carlo Cattaneo wanted the unification of Italy under a federal republic. That proved too extreme for most nationalists, the middle position was proposed by Cesare Balbo as a confederation of separate Italian states led by Piedmont. One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari, a political discussion group formed in Southern Italy early in the 19th century. After 1815, Freemasonry in Italy was repressed and discredited due to its French connections, a void was left that the Carbonari filled with a movement that closely resembled Freemasonry but with a commitment to Italian nationalism and no association with Napoleon and his government. The response came from middle class professionals and business men and some intellectuals, the Carbonari disowned Napoleon but nevertheless were inspired by the principles of the French Revolution regarding liberty, equality and fraternity. They developed their own rituals, and were strongly anticlerical, the Carbonari movement spread across Italy
33.
Company (military unit)
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A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to six platoons, although the number may vary by country, unit type. Usually several companies are grouped as a battalion or regiment, the latter of which is formed by several battalions. Occasionally, independent or separate companies are organized for special purposes and these companies are not organic to a battalion or regiment, but rather report directly to a higher level organization such as a Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters. The modern military company became popularized during the reorganization of the Swedish Army in 1631 under King Gustav II Adolph, for administrative purposes, the infantry was divided into companies consisting of 150 men, grouped into regiments of eight companies. Tactically, the companies were organized into battalions and grouped with cavalry troops. From ancient times, some armies have used a base administrative. Furthermore, recent studies have indicated that humans are best able to maintain stable relationships in a group numbering between 100-250 members, with 150 members being the common number. The advent of accurate, long-range rifle fire, repeating rifles and this, coupled with the advent of radio communication, permitted relatively small numbers of men to have much greater firepower and combat effectiveness than previously possible. Companies, however, continue to remain within the range of 100-250 members, perhaps validating the premise that men fight best in organizations of around 150 members. These companies were not organic to any intermediate headquarters, but rather reported directly to the division headquarters, rifle companies consist of three platoons and a company headquarters. Until after the Second World War, the Royal Engineers and Royal Signals had both squadrons and companies depending on whether the units were supporting mounted or foot formations. The British Army infantry normally identifies its rifle companies by letter within a battalion, usually with the addition of a headquarters company and a support/heavy weapons company. Some units name their companies after regimental battle honours, this is commonly the case for composite units, for example the London Regiment with its Somme, Messines and Cambrai companies. The foot guards regiments use traditional names for some of their companies, for example Queens Company, Left Flank, Royal Marines companies are designated by a letter that is unique across the corps, not just within their command. The Intelligence Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Military Police, the defunct Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Pioneer Corps and Royal Army Ordnance Corps had companies, the Royal Corps of Transport had squadrons. British companies are commanded by a major, the officer commanding. The Honourable Artillery Company is in fact a regiment, not a company, in terms of organisation, canadian Army organisation is modelled after the British
34.
Militia
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For instance, the members of some U. S. Army National Guard units are considered professional soldiers, as they are trained to maintain the same standards as their full-time counterparts. Militias thus can be military or paramilitary, depending on the instance, some of the contexts in which the term militia is used include, Forces engaged in defense activity or service, to protect a community, its territory, property, and laws. The entire able-bodied population of a community, town, county, or state, a subset of these who may be legally penalized for failing to respond to a call-up. A subset of these who actually respond to a call-up, regardless of legal obligation, a private, non-government force, not necessarily directly supported or sanctioned by its government. An irregular armed force enabling its leader to exercise military, economic, an official reserve army, composed of citizen soldiers. Called by various names in different countries, such as the Army Reserve, National Guard, the national police forces in several former communist states such as the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries, but also in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia. The term was inherited in Russia and other former CIS countries, in France the equivalent term Milice has become tainted due to its use by notorious collaborators with Nazi Germany. A select militia is composed of a small, non-representative portion of the population, as regular military forces were insufficient to counter the British attackers, Santiago de Liniers drafted all males in the city capable of bearing arms into the military. These recruits included the peoples, who ranked low down in the social hierarchy. With these reinforcements, the British armies were twice defeated, the militias became a strong factor in the politics of the city afterwards, as a springboard from which the criollos could manifest their political ambitions. They were a key element in the success of the May Revolution, a decree by Mariano Moreno derogated the system of promotions involving criollos, allowing instead their promotion on military merit. The Argentine Civil War was waged by militias again, as both federalists and unitarians drafted common people into their ranks as part of ongoing conflicts and these irregular armies were organized at a provincial level, and assembled as leagues depending on political pacts. This system had declined by the 1870s, mainly due to the establishment of the modern Argentine Army, provincial militias were outlawed and decimated by the new army throughout the presidential terms of Mitre, Sarmiento, Avellaneda and Roca. Armenian militia also played a role in the Georgia-Abkhazia War of 1992–1993, in the Colony of New South Wales Governor Lachlan Macquarie proposed a colonial militia but the idea was rejected. Governor Ralph Darling felt a mounted force was more efficient than a militia. A military volunteer movement attracted wide interest during the Crimean War, following Federation, the various military reserve forces of the Commonwealth of Australia became the Citizen Military Force. In the beginning, members didnt have uniforms and often paraded in business attire and they were given instruction on guerrilla warfare, and later the private organization was taken over by the Australian Government and became part of the Australian Military Forces. After World War I, multiple militias formed as soldiers returned home to their villages, only to many of them occupied by Slovene
35.
Austro-Prussian War
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This conflict also paralleled the Third Independence War of Italian unification. It saw the abolition of the German Confederation and its replacement by a North German Confederation that excluded Austria. The war also resulted in the Italian annexation of the Austrian province of Venetia, for centuries, Central Europe was split into a few large states and hundreds of tiny entities, each maintaining its independence with the assistance of outside powers, particularly France. After 1815, the German states were again reorganized into a loose confederation. When Austria brought the dispute before the German Diet and also decided to convene the Diet of Holstein, when the German Diet responded by voting for a partial mobilization against Prussia, Bismarck claimed that the German Confederation was ended. Crown Prince Frederick was the member of the Prussian Crown Council to uphold the rights of the Duke of Augustenberg. Although he supported unification and the restoration of the medieval empire, the ultimate aim of most German nationalists was the gathering of all Germans under one state. Two ideas of national unity eventually came to the fore – once including, US newspaper The New York Times summarized its views of German nationalism shortly after the outbreak of the war, There is, in political geography, no Germany proper to speak of. There are Kingdoms and Grand Duchies, and Duchies and Principalities, inhabited by Germans, yet there is a natural undercurrent tending to a national feeling and toward a union of the Germans into one great nation, ruled by one common head as a national unit. Bismarck maintained that he orchestrated the conflict in order to bring about the North German Confederation, the Franco-Prussian War, taylor thinks Bismarck manipulated events into the most beneficial solution possible for Prussia. On 22 February 1866, Count Karolyi, Austrian ambassador in Berlin, sent a dispatch to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, possible evidence can be found in Bismarcks orchestration of the Austrian alliance during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, which can be seen as his diplomatic masterstroke. It was in the Prussian interest to gain an alliance with Austria to defeat Denmark and settle the issue of the duchies of Schleswig, the alliance can be regarded as an aid to Prussian expansion, rather than a provocation of war against Austria. Many historians believe that Bismarck was simply a Prussian expansionist, rather than a German nationalist and it was at the Gastein Convention that the Austrian alliance was set up to lure Austria into war. The timing of the declaration was perfect, because all other European powers were bound by alliances that forbade them from entering the conflict. Britain had no stake economically or politically in war between Prussia and Austria, the details of the discussion are unknown but many historians think Bismarck was guaranteed French neutrality in the event of a war. Italy was already allied with Prussia, which meant that Austria would be fighting both with no major allies of its own, Bismarck was aware of his numerical superiority but still he was not prepared to advise it immediately even though he gave a favourable account of the international situation. When the Prussian victory became clear, France attempted to extract concessions in the Palatinate. Naturally I was not doubtful of the answer for a second, I answered him, Good, then its war
36.
Veneto
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Veneto or Venetia is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Its population is five million, ranking fifth in Italy. The regions capital and largest city is Venice, Veneto was part of the Roman Empire until the 5th century AD. Later, after a period, it was part of the Republic of Venice until 1797. Venice ruled for centuries one of the largest and richest maritime republics. The Statute of Veneto describes Venetians as a people, besides Italian, most inhabitants also speak Venetian. The region is home to a notable nationalist movement, the regions largest party is the Venetist/Padanist Liga Veneta, a founding member of Lega Nord. The current President of Veneto is Luca Zaia, elected in 2010 with 60. 2% of the vote and the support of Lega Nord, The People of Freedom, Veneto is the 8th largest region in Italy, with a total area of 18,398.9 km2. At its northernmost corner it borders also on Austria, the north-south extension of Veneto is 210 km from the Austrian border to the mouth of the River Po. By area, 29% of its surface is mountainous, the highest massif in the Dolomites is the Marmolada-massif at 3,342 m. Other dolomitic peaks are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the Pale di San Martino, the Venetian Prealps are not as high and range between 700 m and 2,200 m. Fossil deposits are abundant there. The plain itself is subdivided into the plain and the lower plain. The lower plain is both a mainstay of production and the most populated part of the region. Several rivers flow through the region, the Po, Adige, Brenta, Bacchiglione, Livenza, Piave, the eastern shore of the largest lake in Italy, Lake Garda, belongs to Veneto. The coastline covers approximately 200 km, of which 100 km are beaches, the coasts of the Adriatic Sea are characterised by the Venetian Lagoon, a flat terrain with ponds, marshes and islands. The Po Delta to the south features sandbars and dunes along the coastline, the inland portion contains cultivable land recently reclaimed by a system of canals and dykes. Fish ponds have been created there as well, the delta and the lagoon are a stopping-point for migratory birds
37.
Military strategy
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Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek word strategos, the strategy, when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the art of the general. Military strategy deals with the planning and conduct of campaigns, the movement and disposition of forces, the father of Western modern strategic studies, Carl von Clausewitz, defined military strategy as the employment of battles to gain the end of war. B. H. Liddell Harts definition put less emphasis on battles, hence, both gave the pre-eminence to political aims over military goals. Sun Tzu is often considered as the father of Eastern military strategy and greatly influenced Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese historical, the Art of War by Sun Tzu grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society as well. It continues to influence many competitive endeavors in Asia, Europe, and America including culture, politics, the Eastern military strategy differs from the Western by focusing more on asymmetric warfare and deception. Military strategy is the planning and execution of the contest between groups of armed adversaries, Strategy, which is a subdiscipline of warfare and of foreign policy, is a principal tool to secure national interests. NATOs definition of strategy is presenting the manner in which military power should be developed and applied to achieve national objectives or those of a group of nations. Strategy may be divided into Grand Strategy, geopolitical in scope and military strategy that converts the geopolitical policy objectives into militarily achievable goals and campaigns. Field-Marshal Montgomery summed it up thus Strategy is the art of distributing and applying military means, such as armed forces and supplies, tactics means the dispositions for, and control of, military forces and techniques in actual fighting. Put more shortly, strategy is the art of the conduct of war, carnot, during the French Revolutionary Wars thought it simply involved concentration of troops. Strategy and tactics are closely related and exist on the same continuum, originally strategy was understood to govern the prelude to a battle while tactics controlled its execution. However, in the wars of the 20th century, the distinction between maneuver and battle, strategy and tactics, expanded with the capacity of technology and transit. Tactics that were once the province of a company of cavalry would be applied to a panzer army and it is often said that the art of strategies defines the goals to achieve in a military campaign, while tactics defines the methods to achieve these goals. Strategic goals could be We want to conquer area X, or We want to stop country Ys expansion in trade in commodity Z. Were going to do this by an invasion of the North of country X, Were going to blockade the ports of country Y. In its purest form, strategy dealt solely with military issues, in earlier societies, a king or political leader was often the same person as the military leader. If not, the distance of communication between the political and the leader was small
38.
Geopolitics
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Geopolitics is the study of the effects of geography on international politics and international relations. Geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to understand, explain and these include area studies, climate, topography, demography, natural resources, and applied science of the region being evaluated. Geopolitics focuses on power in relation to geographic space. In particular, territorial waters and land territory in correlation with diplomatic history, academically, geopolitics analyses history and social science with reference to geography in relation to politics. Outside of academia, a variety of groups offer a geopolitical prognosis, including non-profit groups, critical geopolitics deconstructs classical geopolitical theories, by showing their political/ideological functions for great powers during and after the age of imperialism. Mahan distinguished a key region of the world in the Eurasian context, namely, in this zone independent countries still survived – Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, China, and Japan. Mahan regarded those countries, located between Britain and Russia, as if between Scylla and Charybdis, of the two monsters – Britain and Russia – it was the later that Mahan considered more threatening to the fate of Central Asia. Mahan was impressed by Russias transcontinental size and strategically favorable position for southward expansion, therefore, he found it necessary for the Anglo-Saxon sea power to resist Russia. The Austro-Hungarian historian Emil Reich is considered to be the first having coined the acceptance in English as early as 1902, lea believed that while Japan moved against Far East and Russia against India, the Germans would strike at England, the center of the British Empire. He thought the Anglo-Saxons faced certain disaster from their militant opponents, sir Halford Mackinders Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside geography, but some thinkers would claim that it subsequently influenced the foreign policies of world powers. His formulation of the Heartland Theory was set out in his article entitled The Geographical Pivot of History, Mackinders doctrine of geopolitics involved concepts diametrically opposed to the notion of Alfred Thayer Mahan about the significance of navies in world conflict. He saw navy as a basis of Colombian era empire, the Heartland theory hypothesized a huge empire being brought into existence in the Heartland—which wouldnt need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to remain coherent. Mackinder posited that the centers of the Periphery were necessarily located in widely separated locations. The World Island could send its navy to destroy one of them in turn. Mackinder called this region the Heartland and it essentially comprised Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Western Russia, and Mitteleuropa. The Heartland contained the grain reserves of Ukraine, and many natural resources. Mackinders notion of geopolitics was summed up when he said, Who rules Central, who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the World, nicholas J. Spykman is both a follower and critic of geostrategists Alfred Mahan, and Halford Mackinder
39.
Po Valley
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The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. The flatlands of Veneto and Friuli are often considered apart since they do not drain into the Po, the plain is the surface of an in-filled system of ancient canyons extending from the Apennines in the south to the Alps in the north, including the northern Adriatic. Geo-political definitions of the valley depend on the defining authority, the Po Basin Water Board, authorized in 1989 by Law no. The law defines the Po basin as the territory from which rainwater or snow and glacier melt flows on the surface, the valley is crossed by a number of affluents running down from the Alps in the north and from the Apennines in the south. The Pos major affluents include the Tanaro, Scrivia, Trebbia, Panaro and Secchia in the south, Dora Riparia, Dora Baltea, Sesia, Ticino, Lambro, Adda, Oglio and Mincio in the north. Since the Messinian the system has been filling with sediment mainly from the older Apennines, the shoreline of the Adriatic depends on a balance between the sedimentation rate and isostatic factors. Until about 1950 the Po delta was prograding into the Adriatic, where the land surface now dips below sea level the river must run at a relative elevation between dikes. The Po Valley is often regarded as a syncline, or dip in the crust due to compression at the edges. Regardless of whether this concept accurately describes its geology, the valley is manifestly a sediment-filled trough, or virtual syncline, the upper areas of the Po valley take local names which reflect in their meanings their being modestly suited for farming. It varies from a few kilometres to as much as 50 km wide, the fontanili line is the outcrop, or intersection, of the anticlines water table with the surface at the edge of the bassa. The rock above the line is porous, surface water in the intermittent streams of the mountains tends to disappear below ground only to spring out again in the spring zone. The spring zone is called the middle valley. Surface runoff water is not of value to the valleys dense population for drinking and other immediate uses, being unreliable, often destructive and heavily polluted by sewage. Its main anthropic value is for power, irrigation and industrial transport. The cost of purifying it for consumption makes that process less feasible. The fresh drinking water comes from hundreds of thousands of wells concentrated especially in the fontanili zone, the older and smaller cities deriving from ancient times are still located there. The Po Valley has a subtropical climate. The conformation of the plain, surrounded by the Alps and the Apennines, the climate of the Po Valley becomes increasingly warmer and more humid farther south and east
40.
Vetterli rifle
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The Vetterli rifles were a series of Swiss army service rifles in use from 1869 to circa 1890, when they were replaced with Schmidt–Rubin rifles. Modified Vetterli rifles were used by the Italian Army. The Swiss Vetterli rifles combined the American Winchester Model 1866s tubular magazine with a regular bolt featuring for the first time two opposed rear locking lugs and this novel type of bolt was a major improvement over the simpler Dreyse and Chassepot bolt actions. The Vetterli was also the first repeating rifle to feature a self-cocking action. The Vetterli was the replacement for the Eidgenössischer Stutzer 1851, an Amsler-Milbank metallic cartridge conversion from previous Swiss muzzle-loading rifles, the model 1867 was the first iteration of Vetterli rifles. It was accepted into service in February 1868, the model 1867, like its successors, featured a 12-round under barrel tubular magazine and bolt action feed system. The primary distinguishing feature of the Model 1867 was the external hammer and it was discovered soon after that the cleaning rod in its current placement was easily damaged and was subsequently moved to the under-barrel position. The model was designated the Model 1869, the 1869 Repetiergewehr Vetterli was the first iteration of Vetterli rifles to go into full mass production. He also adapted his rifle into a single-shot centerfire variant procured by the Italian Army, in 1871 the Model 1869 was updated by removing the loading gate and magazine cutoff switch. This change was designated the Model 1869/71 Even while manufacture of the M1869/71 was underway and it omitted some redundant parts and featured a modified sight as well as a stronger barrel and stronger iron hoops. The Stutzer variant of the 1871 rifle was used to equip the Scharfschützen companies of the army, the Stutzer were equipped with a sensitive Stecher action and featured a shorter barrel. The Kavallerie-Repetierkarabiner was another shortened variant of the 1871 rifle for use by the cavalry, to accelerate the sluggish production of the Vetterli rifles, the federal authorities built a new arms factory in Berne, the Eidgenössische Waffenfabrik, in 1875. That factory produced the 1878 variant of the Vetterli rifle and its some 25 improvements included a new bayonet and lug, improved sights and a finger hook on the trigger cover. A Stutzer variant with a Stecher action, but otherwise identical to the rifle, was also produced, the Italian Army adopted a modified Vetterli design, however as a single-shot, in 1870. Unlike the Swiss model, it was chambered for a centrefire cartridge, in 1887, the Italian military updated its single-shot Model 1870 Vetterli rifles with a four-round Vitali box magazine. During World War I, like many nations Italy faced a shortage of infantry rifles. Hand- und Faustfeuerwaffen der Schweizer Armee von 1842 bis heute, pp.25 et seq. ISBN 3-905216-03-5. Swiss Vetterli rifles on militaryrifles. com Media related to Vetterli rifle at Wikimedia Commons Italian Vetterli rifles
41.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
42.
Artillery battery
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The term is also used in a naval context to describe groups of guns on warships. Historically the term referred to a cluster of cannon in action as a group. Such batteries could be a mixture of cannon, howitzer, or mortar types, a siege could involve many batteries at different sites around the besieged place. The term also came to be used for a group of cannon in a fixed fortification and they were usually organised with between six and 12 ordnance pieces, often including cannon and howitzers. By the late 19th century battery had become standard mostly replacing company or troop, in the 20th century the term was generally used for the company level sub-unit of an artillery branch including field, air-defence, anti-tank and position. 20th-century firing batteries have been equipped with mortars, guns, howitzers, rockets, during the Napoleonic Wars some armies started grouping their batteries into larger administrative and field units. Groups of batteries combined for field combat employment called Grand Batteries by Napoleon, administratively batteries were usually grouped in battalions, regiments or squadrons and these developed into tactical organisations. These were further grouped into regiments, simply group or brigades, to further concentrate fire of individual batteries, from World War I they were grouped into artillery divisions in a few armies. Coastal artillery sometimes had completely different organizational terms based on shore defence sector areas, the rank of a battery commander has also varied, but is usually a lieutenant, captain, or major. The number of guns, howitzers, mortars or launchers in a battery has also varied. In the 19th century four to 12 guns was usual as the number to maneuver into the gun line. By late 19th century the artillery battery was divided into a gun line. The gun line consisted of six guns and 12 ammunition mules, during the American Civil War, artillery batteries often consisted of six field pieces for the Union Army and four for the Confederate States Army, although this varied. Batteries were divided into sections of two guns apiece, each section normally under the command of a lieutenant, the full battery was typically commanded by a captain. Often, particularly as the war progressed, individual batteries were grouped into battalions under a major or colonel of artillery, in the 20th century it varied between four and 12 for field artillery, or even two pieces for very heavy pieces. Other types of such as anti-tank or anti-aircraft have sometimes been larger. Some batteries have been dual-equipped with two different types of gun or mortar, and taking whichever was more appropriate when they deployed for operations, from the late 19th century field artillery batteries started to become more complex organisations. Fixed artillery refers to guns or howitzers on mounts that were anchored in one spot, or on carriages intended to be moved only for the purposes of aiming
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Battalion
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A battalion is a military unit. The use of the term varies by nationality and branch of service. Typically a battalion consists of 300 to 800 soldiers and is divided into a number of companies, a battalion is typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In some countries the word battalion is associated with the infantry, the term was first used in Italian as battaglione no later than the 16th century. It derived from the Italian word for battle, battaglia, the first use of battalion in English was in the 1580s, and the first use to mean part of a regiment is from 1708. The battalion must, of course, have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days, the battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalions companies are often homogeneous with respect to type, a battalion includes a headquarters company and some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers, and was used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Other corps usually use the term regiment instead, an infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment. It normally has a company, support company, and three rifle companies. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding, the HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer, mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men in it, and, as of 2012, with successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion. A battalion group or battlegroup consists of a battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100–200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece, the nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels, though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors, with the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling. Combat companies consist of infantry, combat engineers, or tanks, in the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to squadron
Italy
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Alto Tanaro
Val Tanaro
Val Camonica
Alta Valtellina
Oneglia
as part of the Tridentina Division:
Tridentina Support Battalion
Alpine Brigade Taurinense:
Taurinense Command and Tactical Support Battalion
2nd Alpini Regiment 
Saluzzo Battalion
3rd Alpini Regiment 
Susa Battalion
9th Alpini Regiment 
Vicenza Battalion
1st Mountain Artillery Regiment 
Aosta Artillery Group
32nd Alpine Engineer Regiment 
30° Battaglione
Taurinense Logistic Regiment with 
with one logistic battalion
Alpine Brigade Julia:
5th Alpini Regiment 
Morbegno Battalion
7th Alpini Regiment 
8th Alpini Regiment 
3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment 
2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment 
Julia Logistic Regiment with 
4th Alpini Parachutist Regiment 
Monte Cervino Battalion
2nd Alpine Signal Regiment 
Alpini Training Center with the "Btg Aosta" in Aosta
6th Alpini Regiment "Btg Bassano" (high altitude training areas) in Bruneck (South Tyrol)
