Italian Civil War (Principia Moderni III Map Game)

The Italian Civil War was a major conflict and civil rebellion taking place in the Kingdom of Italy within the Roman Empire. The war pitted the Roman Empire and loyalist Italian forces against Italian nationalists who tried to break Italy from Imperial infuence and become an independent kingdom and Italian republicans who tried to abolish all forms of nobility and reform society along the ideas of Communism.

Beginning in 1867, the war is considered to be one of the first industrial wars in the world, beaten only by the Andean Civil War a few years prior. Railways were vital structures crucial for the transport of troops and supplies on the Italian peninsula, fast firing rifles and artillery were used to bloody effect against lines of infantry, and new navy ships like ironclads and submarines were pioneered or perfected during the war.

The war had significant consequences for Italy and the Roman Empire as a whole. The war had shown that the Empire had not yet completed the process of ethnic and political integration started in response to the Serbian War of Independence in 1753. As a result, the Roman Empire passed the Imperial Act of 1872, which was designed to eliminate any remaining traces of ethnic discontent. The war also spelled a significant downturn for the Italian independence movement, which suffered greatly after many of its followers were either killed in battle or had fled abroad following the Roman victory.