Italy (Triunfa, España!)

The United Duchies of Italy (Italian: Ducati Uniti de' Italia) is a nation on Southern Europe. It got independence from the United Kingdom of Iberia and Italy, dismantelling it, after the Treaty of Florence (October 6, 1946) that ended World War II.

History
Main article: History of Italy 

See also: List of Leaders of Italy

The Renaissance
Italy, more speciffically, Florence, was the center of the European Renaissance. The richness, power, and culture of Italy spread gigantically.

The Republic and Duchy of Florence
The Republic of Florence was the center of the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Aligheri, Galileo Galilei, and many others, were born during the age of the Republic's and Duchy's late age.

Cosimo I de' Medici made his family the de facto ruler of Florence. He started patronizing arts and other, and soon the Florentine Renaissance recieved a boost. However, this was partly stopped with the rebellions occurring under Piero I de' Medici in Florence, led by rich Florentines who thought that Cosimo's death was the best place to re-gain power. The revolts ended when Lorenzo de' Medici convinced Luca Pitti, the leader of the anti-Piero side, to join the Medici side. This effectively ended the rebellion, and Lorenzo started patronizing the arts, and making Florence richer. In 1490, the Florentine Republic became the Duchy of Florence, and the Medici became the de jure rulers of Florence. The following year, the Florentines forced Granada to give them Gibraltar, and Morocco to give them Ceuta. Then, in 1492, a Genoese discoverer under Florentine command named Cristoforo Colombo, trying to go to India, landed in the Antilles. The news soon spilled throughout Europe, and by 1495 there had been several expeditions from many countries to the Americas. During Lorenzo's reign, several laws were passed. The first was called the Equality Law, now the First Equality Law, that stated that all ethnic groups and religions were equal. Lorenzo's Emancipation Act (or Emancipation Law) liberated all slaves of Florence in early 1500. Lorenzo also defended the Duchy in 1505 from a war with Genoa, which had decided that Florence was too dangerous now. Lorenzo, proving to be a military genius besides a diplomatic one, was able to defeat the Genoese in several decisive battles, even within the sea where the Genoese navy was much superior in numbers and armament to the Florentine one. In 1507, Lorenzo conquered the whole Genoese Republic and added it to the Florentine one. Lorenzo continuing improving Italian trade and commerce with everyone. When Lorenzo died, in 1520, he left an advanced and extremely rich state, the most powerful in all Italy and the richest in most of Western Europe. Even today, the New Year's Day is called the "Day of Lorenzo" in Italy, because Lorenzo was born that day.

Florence stagnated during Piero de' Lorenzo de' Medici's eight infamous years. Almost deposed by a revolution led by rich Florentines and the Medici's own advisor, Niccolò Machiavelli, plus other revolts led by the people along his reign. He also was a very devout Catholic, and repealed Lorenzo's Equality and Emancipation Laws, returning slavery and racism to Florence. He was a very unpopular leader and was finally killed. After Piero's death, Lorenzo II de' Medici or Little Lorenzo ascended to power. He began to recuperate the Duchy of Florence during his reign and brought it to Lorenzian standards, where it would stay and even rise through the next fifty years. The union of Urbino's and Florence's crowns during his reign was the next step of North Italian unification, that was the direct cause of the Spanish conquest of Italy. He also led a war against Milan, in which the Medici were victorious, and Milan was added to the Florentine Republic. He is considered one of the best dukes Florence had, but unfortunately he was killed in 1535.

Under Alessandro de' Medici 's reign, Florence was plagued with rumors about the Medici's belief. Alessandro had been born and raised by a Moor servant of Lorenzo II, and rumors ran that he was a Muslim. Be the rumors right or wrong, Alessandro improved relationships with the Muslims, which had been opened under Lorenzo I, which had calified them as equal to us. Alessandro was also calified of as cruel and childish, and was hated by many. Although he tried to change public opinion by many, ways, including conquering Siena and Modena-Ferrara, he was hated and was killed in 1548. Following Alessandro was his son, Giulio de' Medici, was illegitimate, and therefore very unpopular. He also was weak, and was not able to withstand the necessities of Florence, leading to a slight decline during his reign. This decline was soon stopped by Cosimo II. Cosimo II was the last leader of independent Florence. He was a skilled ruler, although not the favorite of the people. After the Papal States were conquered by Spain in a gigantically controversial move that allowed the Pope to stay at Rome, but not as an independent domain, Cosimo II surrendered to the Spanish troops and in reward was given the leadership of the newly-founded Kingdom of Italy.

The Kingdom of Italy (Spaniard)
In 1573, Cosimo II died, and his son Lorenzo III de' Medici ascended to the throne. Lorenzo could be very well confused for a Spaniard. He was raised in Madrid, and his first language was Spanish. This got him the title of Il Spagnolo (the Spanish) by the Florentines. During Lorenzo III's reign, Iberia-Italy entered in war with France. He won many territories up throughout the Rhone and even further. This also caused the last states of the north-west (the Venetian Republic and Tirol) to join Italy during the XVII Century. After Lorenzo III's death in 1600, his son, Piero III ascended to power. Piero was of Italian mother, and therefore, his first language was Italian, and local Italian rule was restored. Piero had always doubted in the Catholic Church, and in 1610, converted to Protestantism. From the moment on, most of Northern Italy and Tuscany would be Protestant, of a version that soon parted from the classic Lutheranism, and became the Church of Italy or Lombard Church. This later partly spread south and into Spain, and later new branches of Protestantism rose in around. Quickly, protestantism eclipsed Roman Catholicism in much of Europe. Piero III's son, Lorenzo IV de' Medici, was a devout practivant of the Lombard Church, and spend most of his time implanting religious politics trying to convert Italians to the Lombard Church and spread it through the world. Although the Catholic Church was tolerated, there were privileges for the Lombard practicants, and therefore, the Protestant ratio of the Italian population rose from a mere 10% at Lorenzo IV's ascent in 1620 to a staggering 60% at his death in 1630. Lorenzo IV left a 8-year old son, Giuliano de' Medici. He was a very weak leader, but still did one great thing: Giuliano returned the constitutional monarchy of what once was the Duchy, instead of leaving it as the Kingdom, which had becomen an absolute monarchy at the ways of the Spanish noblemen.

Giuliano's son, Giovanni de' Medici ascended to power in 1645. He was a strong ruler, but didn't have almost any support. A popular rebellion led by a group of Protestant peasants temporarily deposed the Medici, and declared themselves independent from the Spanish Empire as the Italian Republic.

The Italian Republic
The rebellion that deposed Giovanni de' Medici during his second year of reign was led by a group of Lombard Church peasants, who soon established a merchantile republic. The Republic was not tolerated by Spanish forces, and it's maximum territorial expansion didn't stretch much outside of Central Italy. The Spaniards defeated the Republicans in Rome, later in Pisa, Florence, and finally in Puglia. The Italian Republic was defeated at last and in 1648, the Medici returned to Florence.

The Second Kingdom of Italy
Giovanni de' Medici became the king of Italy again. The ravaging of Central Italy after the Italian Republic had much improved the support for Giovanni de' Medici, and soon, he was a popular leader. In 1650, the United Duchies of Iberia and Italy faced near breakdown when, following the example of the Italians, the governor of the Region of Catalonia in the Kingdom of Spain converted to Lutheranism. The Spaniards decided to end protestantism in the United Kingdom of Iberia and Italy, and sent hundreds of missionaries into Italy. But only on the mostly Catholic south was this accepted, and in the north the missionaries were killed. This made Giovanni get into trouble with the Kings of Spain and Portugal, but Giovanni didn't back down. Later he even sent his own missionaries into Spain and Southern Italy. This event was later named the "Missionary War", and greatly changed the overall religious overview of Europe. Many nations that were Catholic a long time ago became Protestant, and around this time the Spaniards created the German Confederation as a Catholic nation. Within Italy itself, only the areas strictly around Lazio remained Catholic, with the rest of Italy becoming Protestant by 1670.

Italian people wished to become independent more by each day, but the Spaniards didn't want to give Italy independence: So instead, they started contenting the Italian government. After the Second Armada Invencible, the colonies given to the Ibero-Italians by England were placed under Italian jurisdiction, and so was the Viceroyalty of New Granada (renamed New Florence) after the Reorganizing Law of 1679. Italians recieved reduced tax rates and many freedoms of being Protestant. This tolerance made the Italian population boom. Soon, Florence had surpassed all cities in the Spanish Empire and now was one of the most populated among the world's cities.

Giovanni I de' Medici died in 1680, and Lorenzo V ascended to the throne of Italy. A devout Protestant, although tolerating with other religions, Lorenzo V sent many missionaries onto the south and east of France and Germany, and the west of the Ottoman Empire and the newly-independent Second Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine-Ottoman War of 1685-1720 faced Lorenzo V and his heir, Giovanni II. In it, they found the Ottomans and the Byzantines fighting for what they considered the Italian sphere of influence. The Italians realized that it would be good to help a nation to keep it in debt, and that helping the Byzantine Empire, Christian, would be better than helping the Muslim (and very dangerous) Ottoman Empire. This war was extremely hard, as the Ottomans also counted with help: The German Confederation, that had joined the year after Iberia-Italy joined. This was the start of the hate between the Germans and the Ibero-Italians.

The war started as a hold-out in all fronts, including the Ibero-German one. In 1690, however, with the northern lines stabilized by a series of fortresses through all crossable passes in the Alps, the Ibero-Italians could distract their forces to the south. Young Giovanni de' Medici, not yet king of Florence, landed a staggering army in Libya, that soon captured much territory. The army continued with no defeats, destroying large Ottoman armies at the battles of Tobruk, Cyrene, Siwa, Alexandria and Cairo. Soon, most of Ottoman North Africa was under Ibero-Italian reign.

The Giovanni de' Medici continued advancing through the south. He took Gaza in January 5, 1692. In January 20, 1692, he took over Jerusalem and the whole Judea fell at Ibero-Italian hands. He conquered Syria and Lebanon with the Siege of Damascus in June 5, 1692. Baghdad fell under Italian forces in 1693. The Italians signed a peace pact with the leaders of the Hedjazi provinces of the Ottoman Empire, making them a Muslim protectorate of Iberia-Italy. Giovanni de' Medici planned a new campaign into the mountains of Anatolia when the news reached him: Lorenzo V had died early the same year in the Battle of Split against Ottoman forces and he had to return to be crowned and to defend Dalmatia.

The war later returned to a stalemate. It looked like if the war had ended, and both sides used the time to lick their wounds and to produce military defenses. In 1708, the war returned, but not for long. A small battle near Constantinople proved the end of the war in 1710, when Byzantine forces captured it.

The peace treaty proved to be devastating to the Ottomans, and very enriching to Ibero-Italians. The Ottomans lost all of their Balkan territory: Istria, Dalmatia and Albania to Italians, the whole territory of Rumelia to the Byzantines, and Hungary was made an independent state. In the south, Iberia-Italy also won all conquered territory, and the Ottomans renounced to all claims to either it or to Hedjaz, which was made into a state for the holy Muslim sites under Ibero-Italian protection.

The sacking of many Muslim cities is one of the darkest episodes of Ibero-Italian history. As a Ibero-Italian historian whose name was lost to memory said:

"For three days, the Muslim cities burned. They were sacked and pillaged, and few cities escaped this destruction. In Cairo were some of the worst scenes seen. Much of Cairo was burnt to the ground by a rebellious corps of [Iberian] troops. [...] In Baghdad, similar scenes were seen. Most Baghdad mosques were destroyed, and many Arabs killed, to a point that for days corpses ran around the city. It was truly a terrific sight [...] And so was Beirut. The tales tell about infantry covered in blood up to their knees. Fortunately the captains could stop their pillaging troops before more damage could be done [...] It is almost sure that the Burning of Cities of 1711 is the darkest episode of our history, and I personally hope it won't happen again".

Iberia-Italy continued expanding within the Muslim world throughout the reigns of Giovanni II and his son, Cosimo III. During their reign, the Italian domains expanded to include the rest of the Middle East excepting for Arabia. Most of Central Asia was taken out of Russian hands during the Emperor's Wars of 1720-1722. By then Italy had reached it's almost total territorial expansion, and few expansion was made after this. Under Lorenzo VI, Iberia-Italy started consolidating. The Kingdom of Italy made the Tolerance Decree, that dictated that every culture is equal and that all should be treated equally. Slavery was made illegal too in the same year. Although every culture had the same rights, the Muslims decreased in much of the Ibero-Italian territory. As seen on English historian 's work, The Re-Aramization of the Fertile Crescent and Other Changes in the Demography of Iberia-Italy during the Eighteenth Century, Islam was soon changed in much regions for Christianity: Copts in Egypt and Nestorian Christians in the Fertile Crescent. Zoroastrianism even faced a revival in much of coastal Persia, especially on Tabaristan, in the coast of the Caspian Sea. Lorenzo VI's son, Piero IV, continued Lorenzo's consolidation practices. He started trying to make parts of the Italian Empire more alike to Italy. Italian was made a mandatory second language if you didn't have it as your mother language, and missionaries were sent towards parts of the more heavily-populated empire, especially the areas of Istria and Dalmatia. The Italian treasury had enough money, and a new project of construction was started around the Empire. In the whole world, new schools, buildings, statues, museums and the likes were built. One of the most important project was the construction of a new Uffize, in the outskirts of Florence. Other notable buildings were the expansion of most cathedrals and churches in Florence, making them the largest cathedrals in Christianity through the next years, and the construction of the largest metallic statue of the world: The magnificient bronze and iron statue of Lorenzo I de' Medici that can be found in the center of Florence.

Topography
There are two important mountain ranges in Italy. This are the Alps and the Apennine Mountains.

The Alps
The Alps are the longest and highest mountain ranges in the whole of Europe. The highest point is the Mont Blanc (4850 meters over sea level). The Italian Alps are divided according to the geographical locations into:


 * the Ligurian Alps - the Ligurian Alps are located completely within Italy. They are separated by the nearby Maritime Alps because of the Col de Tende pass. They are also separated from the Apennine Mountains by the Colle di Cadibona pass. The highest point in the Ligurian Alps is the Punta Marguareis (2651 m)


 * the Maritime Alps - the Maritime Alps are also located completely within Italy. They are separated from the Ligurian Alps by the Col de Tende pass, and from the Cottian Alps by the Maddalena Pass. The highest point is Monte Argentera (3297 meters).


 * the Cottian Alps - the Cottian Alps are, again, totally and completely within the United Duchies of Italy. The Col Du Mont Cenis separates them from the Graian Alps, the Col du Galibier separates them from the Dauphiné Alps. The highest point is Monte Viso (3841 m).


 * the Dauphiné Alps - the Dauphiné Alps, again totally within Italy are the next mountain range. The Graian Alps are separated from it by the River Arc, the Cottian Alps by the Col Du Mont Cenis. The highest point is Barre des Écrins (4102 m).


 * the Graian Alps - the Graian Alps are located between the canton of in Switzerland (part of the German Confederation) and the Dauphiné Alps. The Graian Alps are the highest part of the Alps, and it's highest point is no other than Mont Blanc (4810 m).


 * the Chalabis Alps - The Chalabis Alps are located between Switzerland and Italy. It starts just after Mont Blanc and ends in the Rhone River. It's highest point is the Haute Cime (3257 m)


 * the Pennine Alps - The Pennine Alps are located between Switzerland and Italy. It starts just after the Col Ferret and ends before the Dora Baltea. It's highest point is Monte Rosa (4634 m)


 * the Lepontine Alps - the Lepontine Alps are located between Switzerland (part of the German Confederation) and Italy. The Rhone Pass passes between them and the Bernine Alps: The Simplon Pass separates it from the Pennine Alps. The highest point is Monte Leone (3552 m).

The Apennines
The Apennine mountains are a very long chain of mountains crossing through much of the Italian Peninsula. They measure 1,200 km from north to south, and 250 km from west to east. They are composed in several parts:


 * The Ligurian Apennines - the Ligurian Apennines


 * the Tuscan Apennines - the Tuscan Apennines, also known as Tuscan-Emilian Apennines,


 * the Umbrian Apennines - the Umbrian Appenines,


 * the March Apennines - the March Apennines, also known as Umbria-Marche Appenines,

Hidrography
There are several rivers in Italian territory. The most important of these are the Po River, the Rhone River and the Tiber River. Other rivers also exist, like the Arno River in Florence.

the Rhone River
The Rhone River is the westernmost of all of the major Italian rivers. Although 80% of it's territory is in Italy, it doesn't start within this nation. In fact, it starts within the Greater German Confederation, from the Alps and Lake Ginevre in the Swiss part of the confederation. It runs through most of the Italian west riviera until Arles, where it parts in two just before dropping it's water in the Atlantic Ocean. The Rhone counts with the largest Francophone population of the whole United Duchies.

The Po River
The Po River is the northernmost major Italian river. It starts within the northern Alps of Italy. It crosses through most of Northern Italy from west to east, finally dropping it's waters in the Adriatic Sea within the province of Veneto.

the Tiber River
The Tiber River is the southernmost of all major rivers in Italy. Starting within the Apenine mountains, it stretches around the southernmost Central Italy until it lands, within the Greater Rome comune. In the Tiber River's shores, there's the highest amount of Roman Catholic agglomerations. Along all of it's way, the Catholic levels are over 52%, rising to nearly 100% in Rome, close to the Vatican City.

Religion
Italy has no official religion and all religions are treated equally, and so has it been since 1490-1522, and then again since 1725. 66% of the population believe there is a god. Of these believers, approximately 78% follows the Lombard Church or Church of Italy. 10% of it is Roman Catholic. 5% follows another way of Protestantism (mainly Lutheranism). 2.5% of the population follows the East Orthodox Church. Islam is followed by a .5% of the population. The rest of the religious population (4%) is of other religions. The main of these are (in order): Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Neo-Paganism. The non-religious population (34%) is divided in a much simpler way. About 60% of the population is Agnostic. 30% is Atheist, 7% is Deist and 3% is other ways of irreligion.

Ethnic Makeup
Most of the population (over 70%) is of Italian ethnicity. This group is followed by the Iberian ethnic group, which composes about 10% of the population. Another 10% is of French or German origins. 5% is of Arabic origin, and the last 5% is divided into many other ethnic groups, mostly Greeks, Turks, and Aramaic.

Languages
Italy's official language is Italian, most specifically the Toscano dialect (which 52% of the country can speak fluently and is the vernacular language of at least 20%), and Italian is also the vernacular language of about 75% of the Italian population, with almost 100% being able to speak it fluently. The next language most Italians can speak is English (35% can speak fluently, vernacular tongue of under 1% of the population) and then French (some 40% are able to speak it, while it is the vernacular tongue of an approximate 15%). The rest of the population is mostly Germanophone (30% of the population may speak it and a 5% has it as vernacular tongue). Other languages, like Romanian, Greek, Croatian, Arabic, Occitan, Sicilian, Spanish, Catalan, Venetian and South Italian are the remaining 5% vernacular tongue. 25% of the population can speak Spanish, and 15% can speak Portuguese.

Administrative Divisions
See main article: Duchies of Italy

The Italians are divided in several duchies (ducati). These are:

Tuscany

Trentino

Lombardy

Veneto

Sardinia-Piedmont

Rome

Ancona

Sicily

Military
The Italian Armed Forces are divided into three sections: The Ducal Army (Italian: ), the Ducal Navy (Italian: ) and the Ducal Air Force (Italian: ).

Trade
Italy is a major partner in trade, especially over Europe. Italy's main trading partners are, in order: The rest of the Italian Commonwealth, Germany, Iberia, France, Ireland and Greece, with minor trade coming mostly from Bohemia, the Ottoman Empire, Zaporizhie, Russia, Denmark, England and the Tawantin Suyu. Italy's main exports are

Agriculture
Agriculture is the most important way of economy only in Southern Italy, while the others have been developed and industrialized. However, agriculture is still important within Italian economy.

Industry
Industrialized territories have marked the territory of northern Italy for the last century and half. Especially surrounding the Arno and Po Rivers, but relatively general in most of the Italian territory north of the Tiber, Italian industry is divided into two ways: Light industry and heavy industry. Light industry is the industry that. Heavy industry is the industry that. Light industry occurs mostly within Tuscany, Liguria, Veneto and Tirol, between others, while heavy industry occurs mostly within Lombardy, Piedmont, Aosta and the Rhone river Valley,