The Kingdom of Italy was an Italian state that existed from the early 1800s until 1948, when it officially merged with Naples to form the Republic of Italy. For the entirety of its existence, the Kingdom of Italy existed as a French client state, often with French nobles serving as its king (including Eugene de Beauharnais). By the end of the 19th century Italy established a modicum of self-rule, and its cities of Milan, Verona and Ravenna became fledgling industrial centers. The Kingdom of Italy was devastated as the leading member of the Italian Alliance during the French Civil War, and its capital of Milan was nearly leveled. Today, the former Kingdom of Italy forms much of the industrial and commercial base of the reunited Italy, formed also from Naples, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Papal State, with all of modern Italy peacefully reunited by 1970.