FERT | |||||
| Anthem | "Marcia Reale" | ||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Rome | ||||
| Language | Italian | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||
| Demonym | Italian | ||||
| Government | Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | ||||
| Currency | Italian Lira | ||||
The Kingdom of Italy is a nation that occupies the majority of the Italian Peninsula, alongside the Vatican City within Rome. In addition, Italy possesses numerous Italian islands, the most notable of which are Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Much of Italy's northern border is dominated by the Alps mountain range.
History[]
Earlier History[]
For more information see main article: History of Italy
Italy is Made[]
Prior to 1815, Italy was comprised of a handful of independent states that had little interest in uniting to form a nation-state. However, following France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, Italian nationalism began to grow, especially in the state of Sardinia-Piedmonte. Over the course of three decades, Sardinia-Piedmonte became the main force of the Risorgimento, or Resurgence, of Italy and in doing so had annexed almost the entirety of Italy, often with broad support from the populations of the previous Italian states. Sardinia-Piedmonte had to reach out to other nations in the world such as France or Prussia in order to gain the territories within Italy that they wished. For example, many of the previous Italian states such as Tuscany had close ties with the Austrian Empire.
By 1867, all of the majority Italian states had been added to the new Kingdom of Italy except for the region of Latium within the Papal States. To make matters even more difficult for the Italians, the Second French Empire under Napoleon III stationed troops in Rome to deter the unification of Latium with Italy. Numerous attempts at compromise failed and the stalemate would continue for another three years. In 1870, the German state of Prussia declared war on France and quickly defeated the French army at the Battle of Sedan. The war and the subsequent defeat and collapse of the Imperial French government led to the withdrawal of troops and support for the remaining Papal States and its pope, Pius IX. The Italian government immediately hoped to resolve the situation diplomatically and obtain the peaceful integration of Latium. Pius IX viciously refused this request, leading the Italian army to storm the city, resulting in nearly two hundred deaths from both sides. Soon afterwards, the Italian government relocated itself from Florence and made Rome its permanent capital.
All is Safe[]
Following Italian unification, the new state began to assert itself on the world stage. Despite uniting Italy, there were several areas such as Istria, Trentino, Nice, Savoy, and Corsica where Italian was a major cultural presence yet remained outside of the Italian government's grasp. In addition, Italy hoped to join the ranks of the great European powers by obtaining colonies in Africa and other places abroad. Over the course of 20 years, Italy gained the colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland as well as the concession city of Tientsin in China. In 1881, the Tunisia Affair between Italy and France over the colonization and economic rights of Tunisia led to an armed standoff and increasingly strained relations between the two powers. As a result of the standoff, Italy signed alliances with Germany and Austria-Hungary, creating the Triple Alliance.
Finally, Italy instigated a war with the Ottoman Empire, the crumbling "Sick Man of Europe", in order to gain further territories. The war exposed several key deficiencies in Italian military capability, but the Ottomans were even worse. As a result of the conflict in 1912 Italy gained the vast territory of Libya, which became Italy's primary African colony, as well as the Dodecanese island chain off the coast of Anatolia. Not long afterwards, the Italian government began trying to gain other Italian territories and colonies from other powers, most notably Austria-Hungary and France.