In 1957 Mao attended a world conference of communist parties in Moscow celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. He told the delegates that they should not fear nuclear war. "In the worst case, half the people would die, but the other half would survive, and... imperialism would be wiped off the face of the earth, and the whole world would become socialist," Mao said. An Italian communist asked how many Italians would survive.
"None at all," Mao replied. "But why do you think Italians are so important to humanity?" [1]
Italy was a country located in Europe. It was the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd-most populous in the world. Today, the balance of power is divided between the Alpine and ADC-allied Italian Peninsula Alliance and Sicily.
History[]
Pre-Doomsday[]
Italy's capital, Rome, was for centuries the political centre of the Roman Empire - its role was so central to Western antiquity that it was said that "all roads lead to Rome". After its decline, the Italian peninsula would endure numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Normans and later, the East Roman "Byzantines", among others. Centuries later, Italy would become the birthplace of the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
Through much of its post-Roman history, Italy was fragmented into kingdoms and smaller duchies (such as the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Modena, the Papal States, the Granduchy of Tuscany and etc.), but was unified in 1861, following a tumultuous period in history known as the "Risorgimento". In the late 19th century, through World War I, and to World War II, Italy possessed a colonial empire, which extended its rule to Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Albania, the Dodecanese and a concession in Tianjin, China.
From 1920 to 1946, Italy experienced a period of significant political and social upheaval that would forever alter the course of its history. In 1922, Benito Mussolini seized power, leading to a totalitarian regime that would last until 1943. Under Mussolini's rule, Italy pursued an aggressive foreign policy, culminating in its invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and eventual alignment with the Axis Powers. The onset of World War II saw Italy suffer numerous military setbacks and the country eventually became a battleground between Allied and Axis forces. In 1943, Mussolini was deposed and eventually executed, leading to the establishment of a new democratic government, when a referendum led to the dissolution of the monarchy and the establishment of the Italian Republic, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the nation's history.
Doomsday[]
Post-World War II Italy was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and was a member of the United Nations.
Italy played a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as well as being host to the highest number of American military personnel on the continent outside of West Germany. For these reasons, Italy was targeted on Doomsday by Soviet nukes. Milan, Rome, La Spezia, Naples, Taranto, Verona, Cervia, , Camp Darby, Turin were all destroyed, the silo base at Logare, near Vicenza, the nuclear bomber airfield south of Rimini, the Maddalena Base in Sardinia, alongside strikes in the bases of Aviano and Ghedi, among others.
Post-Doomsday[]
For more information on Italy's Post-Doomsday history, please see War of the Alboran Sea and the Second Sicily War.
After Doomsday, the shattered Italian peninsula once again became a patchwork of states, alliances, city-states and confederations in order to stabilize and safeguard themselves wherever it was possible. Before the invasion of the mainland by Sicily there were 34 entities, at least those accounted thanks to the reports of authorities; of those 34 many would join other states, such as the Provisional Government of Lombardy, who decided to join the Alpine Confederation in 1990 after a referendum.
The Alpine Confederation, based in what was once Switzerland and Austria, in the years after Doomsday has annexed a fair portion of northern Italy. The Confederation is a supporter of the Italian Peninsular Alliance, with new states having formed from its area of protection during the decades prior.
The Republic of Genoa, a nation based out of the city of Genoa in Northwestern Italy, is a member of the IPA and one of the wealthiest nations in Italy outside of Italy and the Alpine Confederation, this thanks to their still intact ports and shipyards in Genoa, Savona, Rapallo, Sestri Levante, among others.
The Most Serene Republic of San Marino has expanded into the former province of Forlì since Doomsday, annexing the cities of Ravenna and Cattolica. A founding member of the IPA, from 2004 until 2009 San Marino maintained a militarized border, due to the actions of the new Italian regime, after the war it continued to manage the city of Cattolica and his surrounding territories.
Sicily emerged as one of the strongest states of the Peninsula early on; since his foundation in 1991 it claimed to be the legal and only successor state of the old Italian Republic; from 2000 the situation degenerated with the election of Paolo Di Stefano and with the slowly dismantling of the democratic institutions for the establishment of a dictatorship, it ended in 2011 when the civilian population revolted in the last months of the war and this has lead to the army to ousted him and accepting the demands of the Italian Peninsular Alliance. Although Sicily moves forward, there is significant bad blood in the region lingering from events such as the colonization and subsequent loss of Tripolitania, and their prior incarnation's aims to the Strait of Gibraltar and the island of Majorca in attempts to project their power across the Mediterranian Sea.
The Republic of Tuscany is a survivor state in central Italy, in 1990 it came under Italian attack and from there half of Tuscany was occupied by Italian troops, after the attack the government relocated to Lucca, up until 2014 when it was decided that it was time for returning to Florence. Since Tuscany was divided between a northern independent part and a Italian southern part. One can see the level of wealth, disparity, infrastructures, and economical between the two parts to this day.
The Sardinian Republic is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, it gained independence after Doomsday. Having been part of Sicily for decades following Doomsday, the government agreed to this idea and from 1991 it become part of Sicily until 2010 when revolts broke out in the island after the crackdown of pacific protests. this started the Sarda Rivolutzione, the revolutionaries manage to expell the Italian forces from the island and immediately the new government asked the protection of the ADC, the island was under the military protection of the coalition until 2012. Since then Sardinia is an independent nation and member of the ADC and LoN.
Last but not least is the Federal Republic of Venetia. This republic was created in a similar way to his predecessor; as refugees flocked to the coastal areas of Venetia , the president of the region formed a military alliance with Friuli-Venezia Giulia in order to avoid a total collapse; aIn 2016, the Republic regained total control of the prewar regions of Veneto and Friuli; Rivaled to Genoa for economic importance once again, it finds itself at the beginning of the trade routes towards northern Europe and the Balkans thanks to the port of Trieste.
List of Italian survivor states[]
Nation | Capital | Language(s) | Organisation | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alpine Confederation | Vaduz | German, Italian, French, Romansh | LoN | States of Padania, South Tirol and parts of Savoy formerly Italian | |
Most Serene Republic of Genoa | Genoa | Italian, Ligurian | ADC, IPA, LoN | ||
Monaco | Monaco | Monegasque, French, Italian | LoN | ||
Federal Republic of Venetia | Venice | Italian, Venetian, Slovenian, others | ADC, IPA, LoN | ||
Tuscan Republic | Florence | Italian | ADC, IPA, LoN | Recovered southern Tuscany after the war. | |
Most Serene Republic of San Marino | San Marino | Italian, Romagnol | IPA, LoN | Now a small sea-facing nation from San Marino proper to Cattolica. | |
Sicily |
Palermo | Sicilian, Italian, Arabic | LoN | Become a democratic nation after the deposition of dictator Paolo di Stefano at the end of the Second Sicily War. Neighboring relations remain spotty. | |
Sardinia | Cagliari | Italian, Sardinian, Catalan, others | ADC, LoN | Released from Sicilian rule after war of 2009, final status pending |
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