1.
Regia Aeronautica
–
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as an independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolished and the Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic, during World War I, the Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare, then still part of the Regio Esercito, operated a mix of French fighters and locally-built bombers, notably the gigantic Caproni aircraft. The Regia Marina had its own air arm, operating locally-built flying boats, the Italian air force became an independent service—the Regia Aeronautica—on March 28,1923. This pioneering achievement was organized and led by General of Aviation Italo Balbo, during the latter half of the 1930s, the Regia Aeronautica participated in the Spanish Civil War, as well as the invasions of Ethiopia and Albania. The first test for the new Italian Royal Air force came in October 1935, during the final stages of the war, Regia Aeronautica deployed up to 386 aircraft, operating from Eritrea and Somalia. The Italian aviators did not have any opposition in the air, as the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force had just 15 transport and liaison aircraft, only nine of which were serviceable. However the Regia Aeronautica lost 72 planes and 122 aircrew members while supporting the operations of the Regio Esercito, and after the end of hostilities, on 5 May 1936, for the following 13 months the Regia Aeronautica had to assist Italian forces in fighting Ethiopian guerrillas. During the Spanish Civil War Italian pilots fought alongside Spanish Nationalist and this deployment took place from July 1936 to March 1939 and complimented an expeditionary force of Italian ground troops titled Corps of Volunteer Troops. In Spain, the Italian pilots were under command of the Spanish Nationalists and took part in training. The Aviazione legionaria achieved approximately 500 air victories, losing 86 aircraft in air combat, the Regia Aeronautica played a limited role during the Italian invasion of Albania. When World War II began in 1939, Italy had the smallest air force among the three major Axis powers, with a paper strength of 3,296 machines, only 2,000 were fit for operations, of which just 166 were modern fighters. The Macchi MC.200 and Fiat G.50 were the best available but were slower than potential Allied fighters. While numerically still a force to be reckoned with, it was hampered by the aircraft industry which was using obsolete production methods. Technical assistance provided by its German ally did little to improve the situation, on 10 June 1940, during the closing days of the Battle of France, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. On 13 June, Fiat CR. 42s attacked French air bases, two days later, CR. 42s from 3° Stormo and 53° Stormo attacked again French Air Force bases and clashed with Dewoitine D. 520s and Bloch MB. 152s, claiming eight kills for five losses. The Regia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions in support of the Italian invasion of France by the Regio Esercito, Italian aircraft dropped a total of 276 tons of bombs. Only about 80 long tons of bombs were dropped on the targets, during this short war, Regia Aeronautica lost 10 aircraft in aerial combat and 24 aircrew personnel, while claiming 10 kills and 40 French planes destroyed on the ground
Regia Aeronautica
–
A Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 during a bombing raid in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The black crosses on the tails are Saint Andrew's Cross, the insignia of the Spanish Nationalist Air Force (Franco side). The smaller planes are FIAT CR.32 of the Italian XVI Gruppo Autonomo Cucaracha.
Regia Aeronautica
–
Insignia applied with a decal on the tail of the Règia Aeronautica aircraft (reconstruction).
Regia Aeronautica
–
Destruction of Muslim graveyard and the Istiklal Mosque by Italian bombers during the bombing of
Haifa, September 1940.
Regia Aeronautica
–
An early
Macchi C.202 (note lack of radio mast) of 81ª Squadriglia, 6° Gruppo, 1° Stormo CT; this photo appears to have been taken in Libya.
2.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal 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
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
3.
Air force
–
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nations armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy, or a marine corps. Typically, air forces are responsible for gaining control of the air, carrying out strategic and tactical bombing missions, Air forces typically consist of a combination of fighters, bombers, helicopters, transport planes and other aircraft. Many air forces are responsible for operations of the military space, intercontinental ballistic missiles. Some air forces may command and control other air defence assets such as artillery, surface-to-air missiles, or anti-ballistic missile warning networks. In addition to pilots, air forces have ground support staff who support the aircrew, however, some supporting personnel such as airfield defence troops, weapons engineers and air intelligence staff do not have equivalent roles in civilian organizations. Balloon or flying corps are not generally regarded as examples of an air force, however, with the invention of heavier-than-air craft in the early 20th century, armies and navies began to take interest in this new form of aviation as a means to wage war. The first aviation force in the world was the Aviation Militaire of the French Army formed in 1910, in 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War, Italy employed aircraft for the first time ever in the world for reconnaissance and bombing missions against Turkish positions on Libyan Territory. The Italian–Turkish war of 1911–1912 was the first in history that featured air attacks by airplanes, during World War I France, Germany, Italy, the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire all possessed significant forces of bombers and fighters. World War I also saw the appearance of senior commanders who directed aerial warfare, the British Royal Air Force was the first independent air force in the world. The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918 by amalgamation the British Armys Royal Flying Corps, on establishment the RAF comprised over 20,000 aircraft, was commanded by a Chief of the Air Staff who held the rank of major-general and was governed by its own government ministry. Over the following decades most countries with any military capability established their own independent air forces. The Canadian Air Force was formed at the end of World War I and it became the permanent Royal Canadian Air Force when it received the Royal title by royal proclamation on 1 April 1924. It did not however become independent of the Canadian Army until 1938 when its head was designated as Chief of the Air Staff. Similarly, the Royal New Zealand Air Force was established in 1923 as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, other British-influenced countries also established their own independent air forces. For example, the Royal Egyptian Air Force was created in 1937 when Egyptian military aviation was separated from Army command, outside of the British Empire, the Finnish Air Force was established as a separate service on 4 May 1928 and the Brazilian Air Force was created in 1941. Both the United States Air Force and the Philippine Air Force were formed as a separate branches of their armed forces in 1947. The Israeli Air Force came into being with the State of Israel on 18 May 1948, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force was not established until 1954, in World War II Japanese military aviation had been carried out by the Army and Navy
Air force
–
Four
fighters and a
tanker aircraft of the
USAF.
Air force
–
USAF B-2 Spirit stealth
strategic bomber.
Air force
–
Refuelling a
Jaguar GR1 of the
Royal Air Force (1991).
Air force
–
RAF
Supermarine Spitfire played a vital role in British victory during the
Battle of Britain.
4.
Aerial warfare
–
Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Modern aerial warfare includes missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, surface forces are likely to respond to enemy air activity with anti-aircraft warfare. The history of warfare began in ancient times, with the use of man-carrying kites in China. In the third century it progressed to balloon warfare, airplanes were put to use for war starting in 1911, initially for reconnaissance, and then for aerial combat to shoot down the recon planes. The use of planes for strategic bombing emerged during World War II, ballistic missiles became of key importance during the Cold War, were armed with nuclear warheads, and were stockpiled by the superpowers to deter each other from using them. Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft and this role can fulfil a variety of requirements, including the collection of imagery intelligence, observation of enemy maneuvers and artillery spotting. Air combat manoeuvring is the art of moving, turning and situating a fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. It relies on offensive and defensive basic fighter manoeuvring to gain an advantage over an aerial opponent, airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and dropped into battle, typically by parachute. Thus, they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have the capability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning. The formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft, so given enough capacity a huge force can appear out of nowhere in minutes, an airstrike or air strike is an offensive operation carried out by attack aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft. The official definition includes all sorts of targets, including enemy air targets, weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets and missiles to various types of bombs. It is also referred to as an air raid. In close air support, air strikes are controlled by trained observers for coordination with friendly ground troops in a manner derived from artillery tactics. Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, in modern usage, a missile is a self-propelled precision-guided munition system, as opposed to an unguided self-propelled munition, referred to as a rocket
Aerial warfare
–
Prof. Lowe ascending in Intrepid to observe the Battle of Fair Oaks
Aerial warfare
–
Battle of Fair Oaks with one of Lowe's balloons in the background
Aerial warfare
–
A 1910 French experimental design by
Voisin, featuring a
mitrailleuse gun fired by a passenger
Aerial warfare
–
Italian dirigibles bomb Turkish positions on Libyan territory. The Italo-Turkish War was the first in history to feature aerial bombardment by airplanes and airships.
5.
Italian Armed Forces
–
The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the forces, known as the Carabinieri. These five forces have military status and are all organized along military lines, the President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war, the ground force of Italy, the Regio Esercito 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 dissolution of the Soviet Union, it has seen extensive peacekeeping service in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq. On 29 July 2004 it became a professional all-volunteer force when conscription was finally ended, the navy of Italy was created in 1861, following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy, as the Regia Marina. The new navys baptism of fire came during the Third Italian War of Independence against the Austrian Empire, during the First World War, it spent its major efforts in the Adriatic Sea, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In the Second World War, it engaged the Royal Navy in a struggle for the control of the Mediterranean Sea. After the war, the new Marina Militare, being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, has part in many coalition peacekeeping operations. The Guardia Costiera is a component of the navy, the air force of Italy was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923, by King Vittorio Emanuele III as the Regia Aeronautica. During the 1930s, it was involved in its first military operations in Ethiopia in 1935, eventually, Italy entered World War II alongside Germany. 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, when Italy was made a republic by referendum, the air force was given its current name Aeronautica Militare. The Arma dei Carabinieri is the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, the corps was instituted in 1814 by King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy with the aim of providing the Kingdom of Sardinia with a police corps, it is therefore older than Italy itself. The new force was divided into divisions on the scale of one division for each province of Italy, the Italian unification saw the number of divisions increased, and in 1861 the Carabinieri were appointed the First Force of the new national military organization. In recent years Carabinieri units have been dispatched on peacekeeping missions, including Kosovo, Afghanistan, Italy did take part in the 1982 Multinational Force in Lebanon along with US, French and British troops. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Italy contributed to the operation in Afghanistan. Italian forces have contributed to ISAF, the NATO force in Afghanistan, Italian forces also command a multinational engineer task force and have deployed a platoon of Carabinieri military police
Italian Armed Forces
–
Alpini of the
4th Alpini Parachutist Regiment in Afghanistan in 2007.
Italian Armed Forces
–
Coat of Arms of the Italian Defence Staff
6.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
7.
Military Order of Italy
–
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
Military Order of Italy
–
Republican Breast star of a Military Knight Grand Cross
Military Order of Italy
–
The insignia of a Military Knight of Italy
8.
Gold Medal of Military Valor
–
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
Gold Medal of Military Valor
–
Italy's Gold Medal of Military Valour
9.
Silver Medal of Military Valor
–
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
Silver Medal of Military Valor
–
Ernest Hemingway as an Italian Front
Red Cross ambulance driver.
10.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians, during his long reign, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 in favour of his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year. He was called by the Italians Il Re soldato for having led his country during both the wars, and, after Italys victory in the First World War Il Re vittorioso. He was also nicknamed Sciaboletta due to his height of 1.53 m, Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the child of Umberto I, King of Italy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa, from birth until his accession, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of the Prince of Naples. On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro, on 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel acceded to the throne upon his fathers assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was Remember, to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms. Though parliamentary rule had been established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, when World War I began, Italy at first remained neutral, despite being part of the Triple Alliance. However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing her to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente, most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. At this juncture, Victor Emmanuel declined Salandras resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war and he was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathering on 16 May 1915 and it was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed the genuine affection of the majority of his people. Still, during the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of social background. The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among Italys sorely tried working classes and this caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Portrait in 1919
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Young Victor Emmanuel with his mother,
Margherita of Savoy, 1876.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel as a teenager, 1886.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel in 1895.
11.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
12.
Republic
–
It is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology, composition, in the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as humanism, is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect, Republics became more common in the Western world starting in the late 18th century, eventually displacing absolute monarchy as the most common form of government in Europe. In modern republics, the executive is legitimized both by a constitution and by popular suffrage, for instance, Article IV of the United States Constitution guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. The term originates as the Latin translation of Greek word politeia, cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic. The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime, and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. And also amongst classical Latin, the term republic can be used in a way to refer to any regime. In medieval Northern Italy, a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments, in the late Middle Ages, writers, such as Giovanni Villani, began writing about the nature of these states and the differences from other types of regime. They used terms such as libertas populi, a free people, the terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states writers, most importantly Leonardo Bruni, adopted the Latin phrase res publica. While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term can quite literally be translated as public matter. It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, in subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica, and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica. Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, likewise, in Polish, the term was translated as rzeczpospolita, although the translation is now only used with respect to Poland. Presently, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the rather than from another basis. After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many cities developed again. The modern type of itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the era that are today still called republics
Republic
–
Vaishali was the
capital of the
Vajjian Confederacy, an early republic.
Republic
–
A map of the
Roman Republic
Republic
–
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of
Venice.
Republic
–
Beginning of the Republic of
Metz. Election of the first Head-Alderman in 1289, by Auguste Migette.
Metz was then a
free imperial city of the
Holy Roman Emperor.
13.
Military history of Italy
–
The military history of Italy chronicles a vast time period, lasting from the overthrow of Tarquinius Superbus in 509 BC, through the Roman Empire, Italian unification, and into the modern day. The Etruscans were settled north of Rome in Etruria and they founded cities like Tarquinia, Veii and Volterra and deeply influenced Roman culture, as clearly shown by the Etruscan origin of some of the mythical Roman kings. The origins of the Etruscans are lost in prehistory, historians have no literature, no texts of religion or philosophy, therefore much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods and tomb findings. The Italics were war-like as the Etruscans, the Italics and the Etruscans had a significant military tradition. In addition to marking the rank and power of individuals in their culture, warfare was a considerable economic boon to their civilization. It is also likely individuals taken in battle would be ransomed back to their families, the Greeks had founded many colonies in Southern Italy, such as Cumae, Naples and Taranto, as well as in the eastern two-thirds of Sicily, between 750 and 550 BC. After 650 BC, the Etruscans became dominant in central Italy, the early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states influenced by Greek civilization, a citizen militia which practiced hoplite tactics. It was small and organized in five classes, with three providing hoplites and two providing light infantry, the early Roman army was tactically limited and its stance during this period was essentially defensive. Thirty maniples arranged in three lines with supporting troops constituted a legion, totaling between 4,000 and 5,000 men, with the new organization came a new orientation toward the offensive and a much more aggressive posture toward adjoining city-states. Legions were often significantly understrength from recruitment failures or following periods of service due to accidents, battle casualties, disease. This pattern also held true for auxiliary forces, harris suggests that down to 200 BC, the average rural farmer might participate in six or seven campaigns. Freedmen and slaves and urban citizens did not serve except in rare emergencies, after 200 BC, economic conditions in rural areas deteriorated as manpower needs increased, so that the property qualifications for service were gradually reduced. Terms of service became continuous and long—up to twenty years if emergencies required it although Brunt argues that six or seven years was more typical, cavalry and light infantry attached to a legion were often recruited in the areas where the legion served. Caesar formed a legion, the Fifth Alaudae, from non-citizens in Transalpine Gaul to serve in his campaigns in Gaul, by the time of Caesar Augustus, the ideal of the citizen-soldier had been abandoned and the legions had become fully professional. Legionaries were paid 900 sesterces a year and could expect a payment of 12,000 sesterces on retirement, at the end of the Civil War, Augustus reorganized Roman military forces, discharging soldiers and disbanding legions. He retained 28 legions, distributed through the provinces of the Empire, during the Principate, the tactical organization of the Army continued to evolve. The auxilia remained independent cohorts, and legionary troops often operated as groups of cohorts rather than as full legions and this increase in organizational flexibility over time helped ensure the long-term success of Roman military forces. The Emperor Gallienus began a reorganization that created the military structure of the late Empire
Military history of Italy
–
An Etruscan helmet
Military history of Italy
–
Augustus created the first political/military entity called "Italia" in 27 BC, later expanded to include the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica by
Diocletian in 292 AD
Military history of Italy
–
Early Roman legionaries ("
Oath of the Horatii ")
Military history of Italy
–
Postcard sent from an Italian soldier to his family, c. 1917.
14.
Frecce Tricolori
–
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
Frecce Tricolori
–
Frecce Tricolori 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico
Frecce Tricolori
–
Rivolto
Frecce Tricolori
15.
Italian Royal Army
–
The Royal Italian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Italy from the unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946. In World War II the Royal Army fought first as part of the Axis, after the monarchy ended, the army changed its name to become the Italian Army. The Regio Esercito dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, on 4 May 1861, Manfredo Fanti signed the creation decree, by which the new army was to replace the previous Armata Sarda and the Army of the Two Sicilies. On 20 September 1870, the IV Corps captured Rome, which had remained under Papal control up until then, on 8 February 1885, a corps of fewer than 1,000 soldiers landed at Massaua, Eritrea, starting the creation of an Italian colonial empire. The Italian advance was halted by a defeat at the Battle of Adwa by Ethiopian forces. The following year, as part of the Italian collaboration with the pacification program after the revolt against the Turkish domination in Cyprus. On 14 July 1900, another force was constituted to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China in defense of the European protectorates. On 3 October 1911, Italy invaded Libya as part of the Italo-Turkish War, the war against the Ottoman Empire ended with the signing of the First Treaty of Lausanne in Ouchy, near Lausanne, Switzerland. The Royal Italian Armys first experience with modern warfare was in World War I, the war was fought mostly on the Italian Front in Northern Italy, costing the Italian Army serious casualties, including some 700,000 dead. The Regio Esercito was one of the largest ground forces in World War II, many Italian divisions were reinforced by a MVSN Gruppo di Assalto of two battalions due to the small size of the divisions. In 1943, Italy surrendered and split into the Italian Social Republic, which fielded its own army, the Kingdom was ultimately replaced by the Italian Republic in 1946, and the Royal Army accordingly changed its name to become the Esercito Italiano
Italian Royal Army
–
War Flag of the Regio Esercito
16.
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
–
Prior to World War I, Italy had pioneered military aviation in the Italo-Turkish War during 1911–1912. Italy also had the advantage of an entry into World War I, not starting the fight until 24 May 1915. Italy entered World War I with an air force technologically comparable to a force on the Western Front in 1914, lacking fighter aircraft, throughout the war the Italians resorted to airplanes supplied by the French either directly or built under license. The early air force was also woefully tactically deficient, basically, however, the Caproni bombers developed to operational status, flying their first sorties on 20 August 1915. After the war the Corpo Aeronautico Militare became the basis of the Regia Aeronautica, Italy was a pioneer in pre-World War I military aviation, using aircraft in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. It also had one of military aviations prophets within its armys ranks, in June 1911, even before the fighting began in Libya, Douhet predicted that the most effective opponent of military aircraft would be other aircraft. He also predicted the greater vulnerability to enemy action of lighter-than-air machines, the naval air unit was dubbed the Sezioni Idrovolanti. The armys Battaglione Aviatori for heavier-than-air craft was established on 27 June, on 28 November 1912, the two new units were collectively dubbed the Servizio Aeronautico Militare. By September 1913, Douhet foresaw the future need for designing a single-seat plane with a forward-firing gun, also in 1913, he ignored his superior officers wishes and collaborated with Giovanni Battista Caproni in the design of Capronis huge three-engined bomber. Douhets superiors, unhappy with this, exiled him to an infantry assignment, on 28 July 1914, as part of the chain reaction of events opening World War I, Austria declared war on Serbia and requested Italian help. Italy maintained its neutrality due to the Triple Alliance being a defensive pact, on 24 May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria to join World War I. As of May 1915, Italy still had no single-seat scouts with a forward-firing gun and it did have 86 airplanes and 70 pilots organized into 14 squadrons to start its war. Meanwhile, the Regia Marina still had its own air arm, italys aerial operations during World War I were split into three geographic areas. Although aircraft of the time were short-ranged enough to make flights over the central Adriatic Sea difficult, as a unique result, both the Italians and their opposing Austro-Hungarian aviation developed the only theater of war that featured seaplane bombers and fighters. The second area, a one, was that covered by home defense aviation units to protect Italian cities from aerial bombing. These home defense squadrons would prove to be of military value. The climatic actions in this theater were the Battle of Caporetto, see also List of Italian World War I flying aces First attempts to organize and use Italian aircraft to fight the Austro-Hungarian aerial invaders were dismal. Italian pilots were equipped with Nieuport 10s and deployed in a mode instead of standing patrols
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
–
Italian dirigibles bomb Turkish positions on Libyan territory. The
Italo-Turkish War was the first in history to feature aerial bombardment by airplanes and airships.
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
–
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
–
Francesco Baracca, Italy's top ace of
WWI with 34 confirmed victories - posing in front of his
SPAD S.XIII
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
–
A Macchi/Hanriot HD.1; a hybrid French-Italian aircraft of
WWI; the specimen on display was operated by the fighter ace Flavio Baracchini
17.
Italo-Turkish War
–
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
Italo-Turkish War
–
Italian artillery battery near
Tripoli
Italo-Turkish War
–
Italian dirigibles bomb Turkish positions on Libyan territory. The Italo-Turkish War was the first in history to feature aerial bombardment by airplanes and airships.
Italo-Turkish War
–
Italian troops firing on the Turks in Tripoli, 1911.
Italo-Turkish War
–
Italian cruiser bombarding Ottoman vessels in Beirut harbor.
18.
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
–
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
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
–
Italian unification process.
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
–
Flag
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
–
Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the first Prime Minister of the unified Italy.
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
–
Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of the united Italy.
19.
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
–
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
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
–
Italian artillery in Tembien, Ethiopia, in 1936.
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
–
Medical supplies for the front in Addis Ababa.
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935 in
Montevarchi to fight the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
–
Emperor of
Ethiopia Haile Selassie I
20.
Spanish Civil War
–
Ultimately, the Nationalists won, and Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975. Sanjurjo was killed in an accident while attempting to return from exile in Portugal. The coup was supported by units in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba. However, rebelling units in some important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Málaga—did not gain control, Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country, the Nationalist forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republican side received support from the Communist Soviet Union and leftist populist Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated a policy of non-intervention. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west and they also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists, with the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, organized purges occurred in territory captured by Francos forces to consolidate the future regime. A significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, the extent to which Republican authorities took part in killings in Republican territory varied. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain and those in favour of reforming Spains government vied for political power with conservatives, who tried to prevent reforms from taking place. Some liberals, in a tradition that had started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812, sought to limit the power of the monarchy of Spain, the reforms of 1812 did not last after King Ferdinand VII dissolved the Constitution and ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874, until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture. There was little development of an industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful, a number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all the important government positions. In 1868 popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon, two distinct factors led to the uprisings, a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military concerned with the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873 Isabellas replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated owing to increasing pressure. After the restoration of the Bourbons in December 1874, Carlists and Anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy, alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia, where poverty was particularly acute
Spanish Civil War
–
Republican International Brigadiers at the
Battle of Belchite ride on a
T-26 tank
Spanish Civil War
–
King
Amadeo I of Spain
Spanish Civil War
–
Republican volunteers at
Teruel, 1936.
Spanish Civil War
–
Republican troops at
Guadalajara, 1937
21.
Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
–
It was signed at a conference of generals from both sides in an Allied military camp at Cassibile in Sicily, which had recently been occupied by the Allies. The armistice was approved by both King Victor Emmanuel III and Italian Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio, the armistice stipulated the surrender of Italy to the Allies. After its publication, Germany retaliated against Italy, attacking Italian forces in Italy, South of France, Italian forces were quickly defeated and most of Italy was occupied by German troops, while the King, the government and most of the navy reached territories occupied by the Allies. Following the surrender of the Axis powers in North Africa on 13 May 1943 and these moves by Mussolini were described as slightly hostile acts to the king, who had been growing increasingly critical of the war. To help carry out his plan, the King asked for the assistance of Dino Grandi. Grandi was one of the members of the Fascist hierarchy and, in his younger years. The King was also motivated by the suspicion that Grandis ideas about Fascism might be changed abruptly, various ambassadors, including Pietro Badoglio himself, proposed to him the vague possibility of succeeding Mussolini as dictator. The conspirators devised an Order of the Day for the reunion of the Grand Council of Fascism which contained a proposal to restore direct control of politics to the king. Following the Council, held on 23 July 1943, where the order of the day was adopted by majority vote, Mussolini was summoned to meet the King, upon leaving the meeting, Mussolini was arrested by carabinieri and spirited off to the island of Ponza. Badoglio took the position of Prime Minister and this went against what had been promised to Grandi, who had been told that another general of greater personal and professional qualities would have taken the place of Mussolini. The appointment of Badoglio apparently did not change the position of Italy as Germanys ally in the war, however, many channels were being probed to seek a peace treaty with the Allies. Meanwhile, Hitler sent several divisions south of the Alps, officially to help defend Italy from allied landings, three Italian generals were separately sent to Lisbon in order to contact Allied diplomats. In the end, Castellano was admitted to speak with the Allied diplomats in order to set the conditions for the surrender of Italy. To ease communication between the Allies and the Italian Government, a captured British SOE agent, Dick Mallaby, was released from Verona prison and secretly moved to the Quirinale. It was vital that the Germans remained ignorant of any suggestion of Italian surrender, Badoglio still considered it possible to gain favourable conditions in exchange for the surrender. He ordered Castellano to insist that any surrender of Italy was subordinate to a landing of Allied troops on the Italian mainland. On 31 August General Castellano reached Termini Imerese, in Sicily, by plane and was transferred to Cassibile. It soon became obvious that the two sides in the negotiations had adopted rather distant positions, Castellano pressed the request that the Italian territory be defended from the inevitable reaction of the German Wehrmacht against Italy after the signing
Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
–
King Victor Emanuel III in his uniform as
Marshal of Italy.
Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
–
General
Giuseppe Castellano
22.
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
–
The Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, or Air Force of the South, was the air force of the Royalist Badoglio government in southern Italy during the last years of World War II. The ACI was formed in southern Italy in October 1943 after the Italian Armistice in September, as by this point the Italians had defected from the Axis and had declared war on Germany, the ACI pilots flew for the Allies. A small part of the Italian Royal Air Force remained under German control and this was known as the National Republican Air Force, ostensibly part of the forces of the Benito Mussolinis Fascist state in northern Italy, the Italian Social Republic. The ANR pilots flew with the Axis, by the end of 1943,281 Italian warplanes had landed at Allied airfields, but most were no longer useful for combat. The ACI never operated over Italian territory, its objectives being always in the Balkans and this was to avoid any possible encounter between Italian-manned aircraft fighting on opposite sides. During the entire history of ACI, no encounter, let alone combat, was reported between ACI and ANR aircraft
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
–
A
Reggiane Re.2002 of the 293ª Squadriglia of the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
–
Identification symbol of ACI, similar to World War I and the modern
Aeronautica Militare
23.
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
–
The National Republican Air Force was the air force of the Italian Social Republic during World War II, closely linked with the German Air Force in northern Italy. Later during the war various units served with German forces based at Spilve, near Riga, on the northern Russian Front, amongst others in the central and south area on the front. The ANR, after the 1943 armistice that divided Italy, received numbers of Italian aircraft, later augmented with their own local production and this force was opposed to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, the Italian pro-Allied air force, though they never actually met in combat. Starting from June 1944, ANR started to receive Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6s for its fighter force, from mid-1944, the casualty ratio started to outbalance the victories of the Italian pilots. The last interception missions were carried on 19 April 1945, the unit, using old Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, performed several raids against the Allied bridgehead of Anzio. Its only two victories were the sinking of a British transport ship north of Benghazi, and a cargo vessel off Rimini on 5 February 1945. Gruppo Aerosiluranti Buscaglia Faggioni 1° Gruppo Aerotrasporti Trabucchi. Fiat G.8 Fiat BR. 20M Cicogna Fiat G. 18V Fiat G. 50bis Freccia Fiat RS. 14B Fiat CR. 42AS Falco Fiat G. 12T Fiat G. 55/I Centauro Junkers Ju 87B-1 Bertha Junkers Ju 87B-2/Trop, Junkers Ju 87R-2 Richard Junkers Ju 87R-5/Trop. Regia Aeronautica Vol.2, Pictorial History of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, carrollton, Texas, Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc.1986. Italian Aircraft of World War II, warren, Michigan, Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc.1979
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
–
A
Fiat G.55 Centauro in ANR livery, exhibited at the
Aeronautica Militare Vigna di Valle museum.
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
–
Wing emblem of the A.N.R. from 1943 to 1944.
24.
Kingdom of Italy
–
The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
Kingdom of Italy
–
Italian unification process.
Kingdom of Italy
–
Flag
Kingdom of Italy
–
Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the first Prime Minister of the unified Italy.
Kingdom of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of the united Italy.
25.
Italian Republic
–
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 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
Italian Republic
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italian Republic
–
Flag
Italian Republic
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italian Republic
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
26.
Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947
–
The Treaty of Peace with Italy was signed on 10 February 1947 between Italy and the victorious powers of World War II, formally ending hostilities. It came into effect on 15 September 1947. On 24 December 1951 Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, as provided by Annex XI of the Treaty, upon the recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 390 of 2 December 1950, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia on 11 September 1952. Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia de facto on 24 May 1991, Italian Somaliland was under British administration until 1949 when it became a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration. Italian Somaliland combined with British Somaliland on 1 July 1960 and together became the Somali Republic. The reparations were to be paid in goods and services over a seven-year period, articles 47 and 48 called for the demolition of all permanent fortifications along the Franco-Italian and Yugoslav-Italian frontier. Italy was banned from possessing, building or experimenting with atomic weapons, guided missiles, guns with a range of over 30 km, the military of Italy was limited in size. Italy was allowed a maximum of 200 heavy and medium tanks, former officers and non-commissioned officers of the Blackshirts and the National Republican Army were barred from becoming officers or non-commissioned officers in the Italian military. Some warships were awarded to the governments of the Soviet Union, the United States, Italy was ordered to scuttle all its submarines and was banned from acquiring new battleships, submarines and aircraft carriers. The navy was limited to a force of 25,000 personnel. The Italian army was limited to a size of 185,000 personnel plus 65,000 Carabinieri for a total of 250,000 personnel. The Italian air force was limited to 200 fighters and reconnaissance aircraft plus 150 transport, air-rescue, training, the number of air force personnel was limited to 25,000. Article 17 of the treaty banned Fascist organizations in Italy, a subsequent annex to the treaty provided for the cultural autonomy of the German minority in South Tyrol. Paris Peace Treaties,1947 Full text of the treaty
Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947
–
A frontier marker on the 1947 - settled Franco-Italian border in the
Col de la Lombarde
27.
NATO
–
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
NATO
–
The
North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949 and was ratified by the United States that August.
NATO
–
Flag
NATO
–
The German Bundeswehr provided the largest element of the allied land forces guarding the frontier in Central Europe.
NATO
–
Reforms made under
Mikhail Gorbachev led to the end of the
Warsaw Pact.
28.
P-47 Thunderbolt
–
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller
P-47 Thunderbolt
–
P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
–
American pre-war fighter Republic P-43 Lancer
P-47 Thunderbolt
–
P-47 firing its
M2 machine guns during night gunnery
P-47 Thunderbolt
–
A P-47 engine with the cowling removed. Uncompressed air enters through an intake under the engine, and is carried to the turbosupercharger behind the pilot via the silver duct at the bottom. The olive-green pipe returns the compressed air to the engine
29.
P-51 Mustang
–
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, the Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force. Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design, the prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940,102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine and it was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustangs performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, the P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft, despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbird and air racing aircraft, in April 1940 the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given responsibility for Royal Air Force production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman. Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was limited, as no U. S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply, North American Aviation was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President Dutch Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have an aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. In March 1940,320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The NA-73X, which was designed by a led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and these airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, the other feature was a new cooling arrangement that reduced the cooling drag. It was later discovered that, after lot of development, the assembly could take advantage of the Meredith Effect
P-51 Mustang
–
P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
–
North American NA-73X; note the short carburetor air intake scoop and the frameless, rounded windscreen. On the production Mustang Mk Is the latter was replaced with a three-piece unit incorporating a bullet resistant windscreen
P-51 Mustang
–
XP-51 41-039, one of two Mustang Mk Is handed over to the USAAC for testing
P-51 Mustang
–
P-51D 374th Fighter Squadron. This is an early D-model, without the fin strake; 75 gallon (284-litre) drop tanks are on the wing racks.
30.
Fighter plane
–
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are designed as dual-purpose fighter-bombers, often aircraft that do not fulfill the standard definition are called fighters. This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, a fighters main purpose is to establish air superiority over a battlefield. Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare, the word fighter did not become the official English-language term for such aircraft until after World War I. In the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force these aircraft were referred to as scouts into the early 1920s, the U. S. Army called their fighters pursuit aircraft from 1916 until the late 1940s. In most languages a fighter aircraft is known as a hunter, exceptions include Russian, where a fighter is an истребитель, meaning exterminator, and Hebrew where it is matose krav. As a part of nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use. In Russia I was used, while the French continue to use C and this has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other fighting scouts of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations but had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons, the F-111B variant was originally intended for a fighter role with the U. S. Navy, but it was cancelled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for attack or strike operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs, versatile multirole fighter-bombers such as the F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having a range of specialized aircraft types. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate, fighters were developed in World War I to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles the ability to gather information by reconnaissance. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were built with a wooden frame, covered with fabric. As control of the airspace over armies became increasingly important all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations, between the wars, wood was largely replaced by steel tubing, then aluminium tubing, and finally aluminium stressed skin structures began to predominate. By World War II, most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of guns or cannons. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the engine was so less than on piston engined fighters. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, in the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for any opposition. Since then, radar capabilities have grown enormously and are now the method of target acquisition
Fighter plane
–
A fly by of an
F-22 Raptor, a pair of
F-86 Sabres, and a
P-38 Lightning during Heritage Flight training at
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base
Fighter plane
–
Landing on
HMS Furious in a
Sopwith Pup scout
Fighter plane
–
Hawker Sea Hurricanes in formation
Fighter plane
–
MiG-17 underside
Italy
Italian Armed Forces
Eurofighter Typhoon 
Panavia Tornado 
F-35A Lightning II
AMX 
MB-339 
other flying units
313º Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico (313th Acrobatic Training Squadron – Frecce Tricolori) operating 20 × MB-339PAN at Rivolto Air Base
2º Stormo Mario d'Agostini (2nd Wing) at Rivolto Air Base
4º Stormo Amedeo d'Aosta (4th Wing) at Grosseto Air Base
6º Stormo Alfredo Fusco (6th Wing) at Ghedi Air Base
32º Stormo Armando Boetto (32nd Wing) at Amendola Air Base
36º Stormo Riccardo Helmut Seidl (36th Wing) at Gioia del Colle Air Base
37º Stormo Cesare Toschi (37th Wing) at Trapani Air Base
51º Stormo Ferruccio Serafini (51st Wing) at Istrana Air Base
1ª Brigata Aerea Operazioni Speciali Vezio Mezzetti (1st Special Operations Air Brigade) at Cervia Air Base
9º Stormo Francesco Baracca (9th CSAR Wing) at Grazzanise Air Base
15º Stormo Stefano Cagna (15th Wing) at Cervia Air Base[10]
16º Stormo (16th Force Protection Wing) at Martina Franca Air Base
46ª Brigata Aerea Silvio Angelucci (46th Air Brigade) at Pisa Air Base
14º Stormo Sergio Sartoff (14th Wing) at Pratica di Mare Air Base
31º Stormo Carmelo Raiti (31st Wing) at Rome Ciampino Airport
41º Stormo Athos Ammannato (41st Wing) at Sigonella Air Base
Reparto Sperimentale Volo (Test Flight Department)
60º Stormo - Centro di Volo a Vela (60th Wing - Glider Centre) in Guidonia Montecelio
61º Stormo (61st (Jet Training) Wing) at Galatina Air Base
70º Stormo Giulio Cesare Graziani (70th (Basic Training) Wing) at Latina Air Base
72º Stormo (72nd (Helicopter Training) Wing) at Frosinone Air Base
Esercito Italiano (Army) 
Marina Militare (Navy) 
Arma dei Carabinieri (Gendarmerie)
