Later History

A United Italy

The 19th century witnessed the final collapse of the Renaissance city-states, which had existed since the end of the 13th century. These units, eventually coming under the control of a signore (lord), were essentially regional states, with mercenary soldiers, civil rights, and assistance for their friendly neighbors. Some had attained formidable power under such signori as the Estes in Ferrara, the Medicis in Florence, and the Viscontis and Sforzas in Milan.

During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, turmoil continued through a succession of many European dynasties. Napoleon made a bid for power in Italy beginning in 1796, fueling his war machines with what was considered a relatively easy victory. During the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), which followed Napoleon's defeat, Italy was once again divided among many factions: Austria was given Lombardy and Venetia, and the Papal States were returned to the pope. Some duchies were put back into the hands of their hereditary rulers, and southern Italy and Sicily went to a Bourbon dynasty. One historic move, which eventually contributed to the unification of Italy, was the assignment of the former republic of Genoa to Sardinia (which, at the time, was governed by the House of Savoy).

Political unrest became a fact of Italian life, at least some of it encouraged by the rapid industrialization of the north and the almost total lack of industrialization in the south. Despite those barriers, in 1861, thanks to the brilliant efforts of patriots Camillo Cavour (1810-61) and Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed and Victor Emmanuel (Vittorio Emanuele) II of the House of Savoy, king of Sardinia, became the head of the new monarchy.

Garibaldi, the most respected of all Italian heroes, must be singled out for his efforts, which included taking Sicily, returning to the mainland and marching north to meet Victor Emmanuel II at Teano, and finally declaring a unified Italy (with the important exception of Rome itself). It must have seemed especially sweet to a man whose efforts at unity had caused him to flee the country fearing for his life on four occasions. It's a tribute to the tenacity of this red-bearded hero that he never gave up, even in the early 1850s, when he was forced to wait out one of his exiles as a candle maker on Staten Island in New York.

Although the hope, promoted by Europe's theocrats and some of its devout Catholics, of attaining one empire ruled by the pope and the church had long ago faded, there was still a fight, followed by generations of hard feelings, when the Papal States -- a strategically and historically important principality under the pope's temporal jurisdiction -- were confiscated by the new Kingdom of Italy.

The establishment of the kingdom, however, didn't signal a complete unification of Italy because Rome was still under papal control and Venetia was still held by Austria. This was partially resolved in 1866, when Venetia joined the rest of Italy after the Seven Weeks' War between Austria and Prussia; in 1871, Rome became the capital of the newly formed country. The Vatican, however, didn't yield its territory to the new order, despite guarantees of nonintervention proffered by the government, and relations between the pope and the country of Italy remained rocky.

The Rise of Il Duce & World War II

In 1915 Italy entered World War I on the side of the Allies, joining Britain and France to help defeat Germany. Although Italians seemed to have little enthusiasm for this war, they were "bribed" in a secret treaty in London. If an Allied victory could be achieved, Italy would be ceded the Trentino, the south Tyrol (which belonged to Austria), Trieste, and some Dalmatian Islands. These territories, which belonged to other countries, came at a high price for Italy, which suffered heavy casualties on the northern front. At the end of the war, Italians suffered from rising unemployment and horrendous inflation. As in Germany, this political crisis led to the emergence of a dictator.

On October 28, 1922, Benito Mussolini, who had started his Fascist Party in 1919, knew the time was ripe for change. He gathered 50,000 supporters for a march on Rome. Inflation was soaring and workers had just called a general strike, so rather than recognizing a state under siege, King Victor Emmanuel II recognized Mussolini as the new government leader. In 1929, Il Duce defined the divisions between the Italian government and the Vatican by signing a concordat granting political and fiscal autonomy to Vatican City. The agreement also made Roman Catholicism the official state religion -- but that designation was removed in 1978 by a revision of the concordat.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), Mussolini's support of Franco's Fascist party, whose members had staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Spain, helped encourage the formation of the "Axis" alliance between Italy and Nazi Germany. Despite having outdated military equipment, Italy added to the general horror of the era by invading Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. In 1940, Italy invaded Greece through Albania, and, in 1942, it sent thousands of Italian troops to assist Hitler in his disastrous campaign along the Russian front. In 1943, Allied forces, under the command of U.S. Gen. George Patton and British Gen. Bernard Montgomery, landed in Sicily and quickly secured the island as they prepared to move north toward Rome.

In the face of likely defeat and humiliation, Mussolini was overthrown by his cabinet (Grand Council). The Allies made a separate deal with Victor Emmanuel III, who had collaborated with the Fascists during the previous 2 decades and now easily shifted allegiances. A politically divided Italy watched as battalions of fanatical German Nazis released Mussolini from his Italian jail cell to establish the short-lived Republic of Salò, headquartered on the edge of Lake Garda. Mussolini had hoped for a groundswell of popular opinion in favor of Italian Fascism, but events quickly proved this to be nothing more than a futile dream.

In April 1945, with almost a half million Italians rising in a mass demonstration against him and the German war machine, Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans as he fled to Switzerland. Along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, and several other of his intimates, he was shot and strung upside-down from the roof of a Milan gas station.

The Postwar Years

Disaffected with the monarchy and its identification with the fallen Fascist dictatorship, Italy's citizens voted in 1946 for the establishment of a republic. The major political party that emerged following World War II was the Christian Democratic Party, a right-of-center group whose leader, Alcide De Gasperi (1881-1954), served as premier until 1953. The second-largest party was the Communist Party; however, by the mid-1970s, it had abandoned its revolutionary program in favor of a democratic form of "Eurocommunism." (In 1991, the Communists even changed their name to the Democratic Party of the Left.)

Even though after the war Italy had been stripped of all its overseas colonies, it quickly succeeded in rebuilding its economy, in part because of U.S. aid under the Marshall Plan (1948-52). By the 1960s, as a member of the European Community (founded in Rome in 1957), Italy had become one of the world's leading industrialized nations, prominent in the manufacture of automobiles and office equipment.

But the country continued to be plagued by economic inequities between the prosperous industrialized north and the economically depressed south. It suffered an unprecedented flight of capital (frequently aided by Swiss banks only too willing to accept discreet deposits from wealthy Italians) and an increase in bankruptcies, inflation (almost 20% during much of the 1970s), and unemployment.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Italy was rocked by the rise of terrorism, instigated both by neo-Fascists and by left-wing intellectuals from the Socialist-controlled universities of the north.

The 1990s & Into the New Millennium

By the late 19th century, the Mafia had become a kind of shadow government in the south; even to this day, it still controls a number of politicians, national officials, and even judges, although the influence of the Cosa Nostra is declining. In the early 1990s, the Italians reeled as many leading politicians were accused of wholesale corruption. As a result, a newly formed right-wing group, led by media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, swept to victory in 1994's general elections. Berlusconi became prime minister at the head of a coalition government. However, in December 1994, he resigned as prime minister after the federalist Northern League Party defected from his coalition and he lost his parliamentary majority. Treasury Minister Lamberto Dini, a nonpolitical banker with international financial credentials, was named to replace Berlusconi.

Dini signed on merely as a transitional player in the topsy-turvy political game. His austere measures enacted to balance Italy's budget, including cuts in pensions and healthcare, weren't popular among the mostly blue-collar workers or the influential labor unions. Aware of a predicted defeat in a no-confidence vote, Dini stepped down. His resignation in January 1996 left beleaguered Italians shouting "Basta!" (Enough!). This reshuffling in Italy's political deck prompted President Oscar Scalfaro to dissolve both houses of parliament.

Once again the Italians were faced with forming a new government. The elections of April 1996 proved a shocker, not only for the defeated politicians but also for the victors. The center-left coalition known as the Olive Tree, led by Romano Prodi, swept both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Olive Tree, whose roots stem from the old Communist Party, achieved victory by shifting toward the center and focusing its campaign on a strong platform protecting social benefits and supporting Italy's bid to become a solid member of the European Union.

Prodi carried through on his commitment when he announced a stringent budget for 1997, in a bid to be among the first countries to enter the monetary union. That year saw further upheavals in the Prodi government as he continued to push ahead with cuts to the country's generous social-security system. By autumn, though, Prodi was forced to submit his resignation when he lost critical support in Parliament from the Communist Refounding Party, which balked at pension and welfare cuts in the 1998 budget. The party eventually backed off with its demands, and Prodi was returned to office, where he pledged to see legislation for a 35-hour workweek passed by 2001.

In September 1997, twin earthquakes (5.7 and 5.6 on the Richter scale), with an epicenter just outside Assisi, struck within hours of each other. Umbria sustained considerable damage, especially in Acciano and Assisi, where 11 people were killed and another 13,000 were forced to take refuge in tents. The following 11 days of aftershocks and tremors hindered the recovery effort by the Italian government and relief organizations, and poured salt on the wounds of those left wondering what to do. One of the victims of these quakes was the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, where vaults collapsed and magnificent frescoes were reduced to dust.

On the political front, Massimo D'Alema became the first former Communist to lead a western European government in October 1998, when he formed Italy's 56th postwar government. He replaced departing prime minister Romano Prodi.

As 1999 neared its end, Italy rushed to complete its myriad renovation and restoration projects so that everything would be perfect for the 2000 Jubilee. The big financial news of 1999 was Italy's entrance under the euro umbrella.

Italy spent all of 2000 welcoming Jubilee Year visitors from around the world, but everything wasn't a celebration. At the time, there was popular disillusionment with the costs of E.U. membership, and the predicted weakness of the euro against the U.S. dollar and the British pound.

In the spring of 2000, Giuliano Amato, former prime minister and one-time Socialist, returned to power as the leader of Italy's 58th government since the war. For a year, he presided over an unwieldy coalition of a dozen political parties, ranging from former Communists to former Christian Democrats.

The richest man in Italy, billionaire media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, swept to victory in May 2001 in his second stint as the country's prime minister, winning with right-wing support. Calling for a "revolution" in Italy, Berlusconi promised 1.5 million new jobs, pension hikes, epic tax cuts, anticrime bills, and beefed-up public works projects.

In 2002, Italians officially abandoned their long-beloved lire and began trading in euros along with their neighbors to the north, including France and Germany. As the new currency went into effect, counterfeiters and swindlers had a field day. But in general, especially among businesses, the transition went relatively smoothly.

In 2003, Italy was often propelled into world headlines. Italy assumed the presidency of the European Union. At the same time Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi triggered an uproar in the European Parliament. Responding to a heckling German member of Parliament, Martin Schulz, Berlusconi suggested he might be perfect as a Nazi concentration camp guard in a forthcoming film. This insensitive remark touched off a "cultural war" between Italy and Germany.

On other fronts, the Italian Parliament sent troops to Iraq after Baghdad was occupied by American forces, an event ending in tragedy when 18 service personnel were killed, Italy's highest military deaths since World War II.

In other developments in 2003, Gianni Angelli, the FIAT executive, died in Turin at the age of 81. He was the most famous Italian in the world. The House of Savoia, the former rulers of the kingdom of Italy, were allowed to return after 57 years of exile in Switzerland.

Right before Christmas in 2004, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi received a present from judges in Milan. In a corruption trial that had dragged on for 4 years, he was absolved of all alleged crimes, including such serious charges as buying off judges. Berlusconi blamed the charges on "vindictive left-wing prosecutors." Judges ruled that there was "some substance to one of the allegations -- that is, funneling $434,404 into the private bank account of a judge -- but noted that the statute of limitations had run out.

As much of the world watched and prayed, Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, at the age of 84, ending a reign of 26 years as pope. Worldwide mourning was proclaimed among Catholics. On April 20, a new pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was elected by his fellow cardinals. The Vatican's hardliner on church doctrine took the papal throne as Benedict XVI. In the past, he has ordered books destroyed, and has opposed women priests, birth control, gay rights, and "other modernisms." Since he was born in 1927, he is viewed as a "transitional pope."

Through 2006 Italy continued to make headlines around the world, beginning in January when the country announced that it was withdrawing nearly 3,000 troops from Iraq, a defeat for President George Bush. Italy's defense minister, Antonio Martino, disliked calling it a "retreat," preferring to use the word "return."

In May, Italy elected a new president, 80-year-old Giorgio Napolitano, a leader of the Italian Communist Party. The position is largely ceremonial; the actual ruler is Romano Prodi, who took the office of prime minister after narrowly defeating the controversial Silvio Berlusconi.