1.
Frecce Tricolori
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They were formed in 1961 as an Air Force team, replacing unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various commands by the end of the 1920s. The team flies the Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seat fighter-trainer craft capable of 898 km/h at sea level, the teams official name is, 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale Frecce Tricolori. Subsequently, except in the Second World War period, many fighter wings had demonstration teams such as Cavallino Rampante, Getti Tonanti, Diavoli Rossi, Tigri Bianche, in 1961 the Air Force General Staff decided to form a single aerobatic team, the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale. In 2000 they reached 50,000 flying hours on the Aermacchi MB-339, in 2005 they won the award for best exhibition at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, England. They were the first non-Russian unit to receive the Russian Silver Medal for Aeronautical Merit, on 8 September 2007 the Frecce Tricolori took part at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti in Modena and honoured him with a fly-past leaving green-white-red smoke trails. In September 2013 it was announced that the team will stop using MB-339s for the 2017 season and instead will use Aermacchi M-345 HET trainers, which will replace the MB-339 in the Italian air force. On 28 August 1988, in the Ramstein airshow disaster,70 people lost their lives due to the collision of three Frecce Tricolori jets. The burning jets broke up and crashed, one hit a crowd of spectators, official website Aermacchi MB-339 PAN for FlightGear Frecce Tricolori on Airliners. net Air14 Payerne
2.
Italian institutional referendum, 1946
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An institutional referendum was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of Italian contemporary history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy since the Risorgimento and previously rulers of Savoy. However, Benito Mussolini, enjoying the support of the monarch, imposed fascism after the 28 October 1922 March on Rome. In 1946, Italy became a republic after the results of a popular referendum, monarchists had suspicions of fraud, but were never able to prove these. A Constituent Assembly was elected at the same time, the Italian referendum was intended only to determine whether the head of state should come from a family dynasty or be elected by popular vote. Democracy was not a new concept in Italian politics, the Kingdom of Piedmont had become a constitutional monarchy with the liberalizing reforms of King Charles Alberts famous Albertine Statute in 1848. Suffrage, initially limited to citizens, was gradually expanded, in 1911. In this period, the provisions of the Statute were often not observed, instead, the elected Chamber and the Head of Government took major roles. At the beginning of the 20th century, many thought that, by comparison to other countries. Essential issues that needed to be resolved included the relationship of the Kingdom with the Roman Catholic Church and this crisis led to the advent of Fascism, which destroyed freedoms and civil rights and established a dictatorship, breaking the continuity of the still fragile new parliamentary tradition. The support of the class and especially the monarchy was crucial for the seizure of power by Benito Mussolini. After Mussolinis March on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a decree to declare a state of siege, however, Germany, worried by the new governments intention to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies, invaded and occupied Northern Italy. In the Gran Sasso raid, or Operation Oak, German paratroopers rescued Mussolini from the hotel in which he had been imprisoned by the new government. The Italian Social Republic had its seat of government in the town of Salò, southern Italy, meanwhile, remained nominally under the control of the new legitimist government of Badoglio, continuing to operate as the Kingdom of Italy. Rome descended into chaos, as fighting erupted between Mussolini loyalists and supporters of the new government, as well as leftist opponents of fascism who emerged from hiding, the King and the Badoglio government left Rome to seek the protection of the Allied forces that occupied the South. With half of the Italian peninsula occupied by the Germans and the rest by the Allies, the pre-Fascist-era parties had been formally disbanded, and so far as they still existed their activity was clandestine and limited, with no form of contact with most of the population. Consequently, the relationships between these parties, and the balance of power, was left to be decided at a later, quieter time. Almost all of the Resistance was anti-monarchist, at the end of the war, Italy was a severely damaged country, with innumerable victims, a destroyed economy, and a desperate general condition
3.
Italian Air Force
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The Italian Air Force is the aerial defence force of the Italian Republic. The Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on March 28,1923, after World War II, when Italy was made a republic by referendum, the Regia Aeronautica was given its current name. Since its formation the service has held a prominent role in modern Italian military history, the aerobatic display team is the Frecce Tricolori. Among the earlier adopters of military aviation, Italys air arm dates back to 1884, the Air Service operated balloons based near Rome. In 1911, reconnaissance and bombing sorties during the Italo-Turkish War by the Servizio Aeronautico represented the first ever use of heavier than air aircraft in armed conflict. On 28 March 1923, the Italian air force was founded as an independent service by King Vittorio Emanuele III of the Kingdom of Italy and this air force was known as the Regia Aeronautica. During the 1930s, the fledgeling Regia Aeronautica was involved in its first military operations, first in Ethiopia in 1935, after a period of neutrality, Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940 alongside Germany. The Regia Aeronautica could deploy more than 3,000 aircraft, the Regia Aeronautica fought from the icy steppes of Russia to the sand of the North African desert losing men and machines. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Italy was divided two sides, and the same fate befell the Regia Aeronautica. The Air Force was split into the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south aligned with the Allies, the end of the hostilities, on 8 May 1945, opened the gates to the rebirth of military aviation in Italy. A popular vote by the people resulted in the end of the Kingdom of Italy, hence the Regia Aeronautica lost its Royal designation, and it became the Aeronautica Militare, a name that it has continued to hold ever since. American military aid sent by the Mutual Defense Assistance Program brought about the introduction of American-made P-47 Thunderbolt, then in 1952, the Italian Air Force was granted jet fighters for the first time, American F-84G Thunderjets and F-86D Sabre jets. Next F-84F jet fighters and C-119 Flying Boxcar transport planes were sent from the United States to the Italian Air Force, during the 1970s, the Air Force acquired the Italian Aeritalia G222 and the modern American C-130 Hercules tactical transport planes, capable of carrying cargo or paratroopers. It also received the new Lockheed-Aeritalia F-104S Starfighter fighters for ground attack and this was a huge development and production project. Tornado fighters are still in service with all three countries, plus a few more, as of 2012, also, Italian companies worked together with the Embraer Company of Brazil in the smaller project of developing and producing the AMX International AMX aircraft. In 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Italy joined the coalition forces, with the need to replace the obsolescent F-104 Starfighters, Italy joined with Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom in the development of the Eurofighter Typhoon. With the Eurofighter Typhoon still some years from introduction to service, the ADV Tornados served as fighter-interceptors to supplement and then to replace the old F-104 Starfighters. The last of the Italian F-104s was removed from service in 2004 and this latter one occurred just a few minutes flying time east of the Italian peninsula, and the commanders-in-chief of the Italian Air Force soon saw the need to improve the Italian air defenses
4.
Giorgio Napolitano
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Giorgio Napolitano, OMRI is an Italian politician who was the 11th President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the only Italian President to be reelected to the Presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, critics refer to him as Re Giorgio. He is the longest serving President in the history of the modern Italian Republic, although the presidency is a nonpartisan office as guarantor of Italys Constitution, Napolitano was a longtime member of the Italian Communist Party. He was a member of a modernizing faction on the right of the party. First elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1953, he took an assiduous interest in parliamentary life and he was Minister of the Interior from 1996 to 1998 under Romano Prodi. Napolitano was appointed a Senator for life in 2005 by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, in May 2006, he was elected by parliament as President of Italy. During his first term of office, he oversaw both of the centre-left, led by Prodi, and the centre-right, led by Silvio Berlusconi. In November 2011, Berlusconi resigned as Prime Minister amid financial, Napolitano, in keeping with his constitutional role, then asked former EU commissioner Mario Monti to form a cabinet which was referred to as a government of the president by critics. On being reelected as President with broad cross-party support in parliament, when Letta handed in his resignation on 14 February 2014, Napolitano mandated Matteo Renzi to form a new government. After a record eight and a half years as president, Napolitano resigned at age 89 in January 2015, Giorgio Napolitano was born in Naples, in 1925. His father, Giovanni, was a lawyer and poet, his mother was Carolina Bobbio. From 1938 to 1941 he studied at the Classical Lyceum Umberto I of Naples, in 1942, he matriculated at the University of Naples Federico II, studing law. During this period, Napolitano adhered to the local University Fascist Youth, where he met his core group of friends, as he would later state, the group was in fact a true breeding ground of anti-fascist intellectual energies, disguised and to a certain extent tolerated. He played in a comedy by Salvatore Di Giacomo at Teatro Mercadante in Naples, Napolitano dreamt of being an actor and spent his early years performing in several productions at the Teatro Mercadante. Napolitano has often cited as the author of a collection of sonnets in Neapolitan dialect published under a pseudonym, Tommaso Pignatelli. He denied this in 1997 and, again, on the occasion of his presidential election and he published his first acknowledged book, entitled Movimento Operaio e Industria di Stato, in 1962. Following the end of the war in 1945, Napolitano joined the Communist Party and suddenly became its secretary for Naples. In 1947, he graduated in jurisprudence with a dissertation on political economy
5.
Lancia Flaminia
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The Lancia Flaminia is a luxury car produced by Italian automaker Lancia from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancias flagship model at time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as saloon, coupé and cabriolet, the Flaminia coupé and convertible were coachbuilt cars with bodies from several prestigious Italian coachbuilders. Four presidential stretched limousine Flaminias were produced by Pininfarina for use on state occasions, there were 12,633 Flaminias sold over 13 years. The Flaminia was named after the Via Flaminia, the leading from Rome to Ariminum. This respected the established Lancia tradition of naming individual models after Roman roads, the Flaminias chassis was a development of the Aurelias, but was significantly upgraded. The front suspension was changed to a conventional configuration with double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers. The rear suspension retained the De Dion setup, with a transaxle mounted at the rear as in the Aurelia, the first Berlina was available with drum brake or discs, all other models used discs only. The original two bodies of the Flaminia were developed by Pininfarina and modelled after his two Aurelia-based motor show specials, named Florida, the Florida I, presented at the 1956 Turin Motor show, was a saloon with rear suicide doors. The Florida II, presented a year later at the Salon International de lAuto in Geneva, was a 2-door coupé, the production version of the Lancia Flaminia appeared in 1957. Flaminia development timeline, Spring 1955, Pinin Farina Florida 4-door based on Lancia Aurelia chassis, March 1956, Pinin Farina Florida 2-door based on Lancia Aurelia chassis. April 1956, Lancia Flaminia with suicide door and coil spring suspension, March 1957, Lancia Flaminia with traditional door arrangement. For more details, see Lancia V6 engine The Flaminias engine was an evolution of the worlds first production V6 and it had increased bore and decreased stroke. The engines were mounted longitudinally, powering the wheels through a 4-speed rear-mounted transaxle. A version with increased displacement was introduced in 1962, the first Flaminia berlina was revealed at the Turin Motor show in March 1957. It differed from the version by having, Florida-inspired, rear doors that opened opposite to the front doors.1956 Lancia range All the other versions have front-hinged doors. The saloon version of the car was designated by the Italian word for this body style. Designed by Pininfarina based on the Florida I prototype, this was the body to be built by Lancia themselves
6.
End of World War II in Europe
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The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well as the German surrender to the Soviet Union and the Western Allies took place in late April and early May 1945. Allied forces begin to take large numbers of Axis prisoners, The total number of prisoners taken on the Western Front in April 1945 by the Western Allies was 1,500,000. April also witnessed the capture of at least 120,000 German troops by the Western Allies in the last campaign of the war in Italy, in the three or four months up to the end of April, over 800,000 German soldiers surrendered on the Eastern Front. In early April, the first Allied-governed Rheinwiesenlagers were established in western Germany to hold hundreds of thousands of captured or surrendered Axis Forces personnel, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force reclassified all prisoners as Disarmed Enemy Forces, not POWs. The legal fiction circumvented provisions under the Geneva Convention of 1929 on the treatment of former combatants, by October, thousands had died in the camps from starvation, exposure and disease. Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps and refugees, Allied forces begin to discover the scale of The Holocaust, the advance into Germany uncovers numerous Nazi concentration camps and forced labor facilities. Up to 60,000 prisoners were at Bergen-Belsen when it was liberated on April 15,1945, Four days later troops from the American 42nd Infantry Division found Dachau. Allied troops force the remaining SS guards to gather up the corpses, due to the prisoners poor physical condition, thousands continue to die after liberation. Captured SS guards are subsequently tried at Allied war crimes tribunals where many are sentenced to death, however, up to 10,000 Nazi war criminals will eventually flee Europe using ratlines such as ODESSA. Germans leave Finland, On 25 April 1945, the last Germans were expelled by the Finnish Army from Finland, Mussolinis death, On 25 April 1945, Italian partisans liberated Milan and Turin. On 27 April 1945, as Allied forces closed in on Milan, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans and it is disputed whether he was trying to flee from Italy to Switzerland, and was traveling with a German anti-aircraft battalion. On 28 April, Mussolini was executed in Giulino, the other Fascists captured with him were taken to Dongo, the bodies were then taken to Milan and hung up on the Piazzale Loreto of the city. On 29 April, Rodolfo Graziani surrendered all Fascist Italian armed forces at Caserta, Graziani was the Minister of Defence for Mussolinis Italian Social Republic. Upper Inn river to the American General Jacob L. Devers, hitler appointed his successors as follows, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz as the new Reichspräsident and Joseph Goebbels as the new Reichskanzler. However, Goebbels committed suicide the day, leaving Dönitz as the sole leader of Germany. In the document, the Germans agreed to a ceasefire and surrender of all the forces under the command of Vietinghoff at 2pm on 2 May, German forces in Berlin surrender, The Battle of Berlin ended on 2 May. On that date, General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defense Area, on the same day the officers commanding the two armies of Army Group Vistula north of Berlin, surrendered to the Western Allies. Lehrter Bahnhof is close to where the remains of Bormann, confirmed as his by a DNA test in 1998, were unearthed on 7 December 1972, the number of German land, sea and air forces involved in this surrender amounted to 1,000,000 men
7.
Italian Fascism
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Italian Fascism, also known simply as Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, as developed in Italy. According to Sternhell “most syndicalist leaders were among the founders of the Fascist movement, ” who, in years, gained key posts in Mussolini’s regime. ”Other historians argued that Fascism billed itself “not only as an alternative. This economic system intended to resolve conflict through collaboration between the classes. It was opposed to Marxist socialism because of its opposition to nationalism. It believed the success of Italian nationalism required respect for tradition, the National Fascist Party founded in 1921, declared that the party was to serve as a revolutionary militia placed at the service of the nation. It follows a policy based on three principles, order, discipline, hierarchy, Mussolini often referred to Fascist Italy during World War II as the proletarian nations that rise up against the plutocrats. It identifies modern Italy as the heir to the Roman Empire and Italy during the Renaissance, Italian Fascism historically sought to forge a strong Italian Empire as a Third Rome, identifying ancient Rome as the First Rome, and Renaissance-era Italy as the Second Rome. Italian Fascism has directly promoted imperialism, such as within the Doctrine of Fascism, ghostwritten by Giovanni Gentile on behalf of Mussolini, The Fascist state is a will to power, the Roman tradition is here a powerful force. According to the Doctrine of Fascism, an empire is not only a territorial or military or mercantile concept, but a spiritual and moral one. One can think of an empire, that is, a nation, Fascism sought the incorporation of claimed unredeemed territories to Italy. Mussolini identified Dalmatia as having strong Italian cultural roots for centuries via the Roman Empire, the Fascist regime imposed mandatory Italianization upon the German and South Slav populations living within Italys borders. This resulted in significant violence against South Slavs deemed to be resisting Italianization, the Fascist regime endorsed Albanian irredentism, directed against the predominantly Albanian-populated Kosovo and Epirus - particularly in Chameria inhabited by a substantial number of Albanians. The Fascist regime claimed the Ionian Islands as Italian territory, on the basis that the islands had belonged to the Venetian Republic from the mid-14th until the 18th century. To the west of Italy, the Fascists claimed that the territories of Corsica, Nice, as a result, Piedmont-Sardinia was pressured to concede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for France accepting the unification of Italy. The Fascist regime produced literature on Corsica that presented evidence of the Italianità of the island, the Fascist regime produced literature on Nice that justified that Nice was an Italian land based on historic, ethnic, and linguistic grounds. The Fascists quoted Medieval Italian scholar Petrarch who said The border of Italy is the Var, to the north of Italy, the Fascist regime in the 1930s had designs on the largely Italian-populated region of Ticino and the Romansch-populated region of Graubünden in Switzerland. In November 1938, Mussolini declared to the Grand Fascist Council, the Fascist regime accused the Swiss government of oppressing the Romansch people in Graubünden. Mussolini argued that Romansch was an Italian dialect and thus Graubünden should be incorporated into Italy, Ticino was also claimed because the region had belonged to the Duchy of Milan from the mid-fourteenth century until 1515
8.
Prime Minister of Italy
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The office of Prime Minister is established by Articles 92 through to 96 of the Constitution of Italy. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic after each general election, prior to the establishment of the Italian Republic, the position was called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel III removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and the position was restored with Marshal Pietro Badoglio becoming Prime Minister in 1943, Alcide De Gasperi became the first Prime Minister of the Italian Republic in 1946. The Prime Minister is the President of the Council of Ministers—which holds executive power, the position is similar to those in most other parliamentary systems. The formal Italian order of precedence lists the office as being ceremonially the fourth most important Italian state office, as the President of the Council of Ministers the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet. In addition the Prime Minister leads a political party and generally commands the majority in the Parliament. Article 95 of the Italian constitution provides that the Prime Minister directs, the Prime Ministers activity has often consisted of mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. The office was first established in 1848 in Italys predecessor state, the Kingdom of Sardinia—although it was not mentioned in its constitution, from 1848 to 1861 ten Prime Ministers governed the Kingdom, most of them being right-wing politicians. After the Unification of Italy and the establishment of the kingdom, in fact the candidate for office was appointed by the king, and presided over a very unstable political system. The first Prime Minister was Camillo Benso di Cavour, who was appointed on 23 March 1861, from 1861 to 1911 Historical Right and Left Prime Ministers alternatively governed the country. One of the most famous and influential Prime Ministers of this period was Francesco Crispi, a patriot and statesman. He led the country for six years, from 1887 until 1891, Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury. Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, he went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally, and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure due to becoming involved in a banking scandal. He is often seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1892 Giovanni Giolitti, a young leftist politician, was elected Prime Minister by king Umberto I, but after less than a year he was forced to resign and Crispi returned to power. In 1903 after a period of instability he was appointed head of the government. Giolitti was the Prime Minister five times between 1892 and 1921 and the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history, after Mussolini, under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were instead a series of informal personal groupings with no links to political constituencies
9.
Statuto Albertino
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The Statuto Albertino, was the constitution that Charles Albert of Sardinia conceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy on 4 March 1848. The Statute later became the constitution of the unified Kingdom of Italy and remained in force, with changes, the Statute was proclaimed only because of concern at the revolutionary insurrection then agitating Italy. Charles Albert was only following the example of other Italian rulers, the Statute remained the basis of the legal system even after Italian unification was achieved in 1861 and the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy. Even though it suffered deep modifications, especially during the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, freedom of religion was granted for all existing forms of worship, in conformity with the law. The Kingdom of Italy was a monarchy, with an hereditary crown, in accordance with the Salic law. Legislative power was exercised collectively by the King, the Senate, executive power was vested in the King alone, who was declared to be sacred and inviolable. Among the powers of the King were the capacity to declare war, conclude treaties of peace, of alliance, of commerce and others. He was required to notify the Chambers of these treaties except in circumstances where vital state interests, however, treaties entailing either a financial burden or changes in the territories of the State had to be ratified by the Chambers. Sign bills into law and promulgate them, as well as issue the decrees, propose new legislation, a power shared with the Chambers. However, taxation and appropriations bills were required to originate in the Chamber of Deputies, annually convene the Chambers, prorogue them and dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, with the proviso that a new Chamber must be convened within four months of its dissolution. The King reached majority at the age of eighteen, if that prince was younger than 21, these duties passed to the next in line, until the King reached majority. In the absence of relatives, the Queen Mother served as regent. If there was no Queen Mother, the ministers were required to convene the Chambers within ten days to name a regent. The same procedures applied in the event of incapacity of the reigning King. Of these assets the Statute mandated an inventory to be compiled, during the coronation, the King was required to swear before both Chambers to act in accordance with the Statute, while the regent was required to swear loyalty to the King and the Statute. All citizens were required to pay taxes in proportion to their possessions, the Statute granted the rights of habeas corpus, guaranteeing personal liberty and inviolability of the residence. Nobody could be arrested or brought to trial, or have his home searched, except in those cases, however, if public interest mandated it, citizens could be required to give up all or part of their property with due compensation and in accordance with the law. Freedom of the press was granted, but the government was empowered to punish abuses of this freedom, moreover the Statute granted the Bishops the sole authority to grant permission to print bibles, catechisms, liturgical and prayer books
10.
Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
11.
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
12.
NATO
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
