Italy is a country that has a long history , going through the Roman Empire . It has been a conquering territory and creator of an entire empire, but it has also been conquered by various civilizations. At Curio Sfera -Historia.com , we explain the history of Italy , its origin , and also all the periods and stages of its existence.
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- 1Origin of Italy
- 2Prehistory and Antiquity
- 3Roman Empire
- 4Ostrogoths and Lombards
- 5Carolingian stage
- 6Holy Roman Empire
- 7Renaissance in Italy
- 8Italy in the Modern Age
- 9Revival and unification of Italy
- 10Formation of the kingdom of Italy
- 11History of the Italian Republic
- 12Present time
- 13History of the flag of Italy
Origin of Italy
To know the origin of Italy , it is first necessary to understand what its geographical situation is like.
Italy opens to the Mediterranean from the Alpine arch. On both sides, historic seas, the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic, which were once the springboard of rich Renaissance republics, such as Genoa and Venice.
It is bordered to the west by France , to the north by Switzerland and Austria, and to the northeast by Slovenia. It is made up of the Italian peninsula, the Po plain, the southern alignments of the Alps and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
Italy is the heir to the classical tradition, cradle of European art, issuing center of humanist doctrines, which have the human being as the axis of their thought, the whole of Italy is a work of art .
The northern regions are admirable, displaying their sapphire lakes among the mountains, green and white, the central plains, rich in agriculture, the rugged southern Sicilian, where pine and olive trees emerge from the very heart of the rocks.
But even more admirable are the works of man. The Milanese Gothic and the classical Rome , the Doge’s palaces, the art of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Verdi and Puccini. But also popular music , gastronomy and wines , which from a marsala wine, which delighted the Roman Petronio, to a Chianti wine fill the tables of the world with light and flavor.
- Continent: Europe.
- Surface: 301,338 km2.
- Capital: Rome.
- Population: 60,520,214 inhabitants.
- Currency: Euro.
- Official language: Italian.
Prehistory and Antiquity
Populated since the Paleolithic , the Neolithic cultures reached special importance in the south, in relation to the foci of the eastern Mediterranean. During the Bronze Age , the civilization of the Terminres , villages built on artificial soil, stood out in the Po Valley .
Prehistoric building in Italy
At this time the first Indo-European immigration must have taken place, which in successive waves spread across the peninsula.
Iron appeared with the Villanova culture , in the north, which developed in the period immediately preceding the arrival of the Greeks and Etruscans, an essential fact for the development of ancient Italy , which thus came into close contact with cultural forms. of Greece and the East.
The Greeks founded numerous colonies on the southern coasts of the peninsula and eastern Sicily (from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC).
At the same time the Etruscans, probably coming from Asia Minor, settled in Tuscany and later extended their dominions to the Po Valley and Campania (from the 8th century BC to the 5th century BC).
Roman empire
For a millennium (from the 5th century BC to the 5th century ), the history of Italy was confused with that of the history of Rome and its Empire .
In a first phase, and once the Etruscan kings were expelled, the expansionary impulse of the city of Rome achieved, after long struggles with the other Italian peoples, the conquest of the peninsula (from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC). . C.).
Map of the Roman Empire
The intervention in the Adriatic and the conflict with Carthage later launched the Romans to achieve the hegemony of the Mediterranean .
The dominance of this sea made necessary the annexation of all the coastal countries, and its consolidation led to the formation of an empire that ultimately extended from England to the Euphrates and from the Sahara to the Danube (from the 3rd century BC. to the second century).
The capital of the Roman Empire was the city of Rome . In it the power of Caesar and the Senate was established. Great buildings such as the Colosseum in Rome or the majestic Roman Pantheon were built .
From the middle of the second century the Roman Empire entered a period of stagnation , and its foreign policy became defensive, especially along the northern frontier, where the Germanic peoples pressed for new lands. The restoration effort made by Díocleciano by introducing collegiality in power and a new territorial division proved ineffective.
If you want to see more information about the founding of Rome and much more information about the Roman Empire , we recommend that you watch the following short video:
Ostrogoths and Lombards
Aided by these internal difficulties, large masses of Germans infiltrated the Empire and absorbed, as federated or mercenaries, its military force. In 476 Odoacer, head of the Heruli, deposed Romulus Augustulus and, after sending the imperial insignia to Byzantium, founded the Roman-barbarian kingdom.
Its existence lasted until Theodoric, leader of the Ostrogoths, with the title of magister militum of Italy granted by the Eastern Emperor Zeno, defeated Odoacer (488) and assassinated him (493).
Theodoric proclaimed himself king (493-526) and founded the Ostrogoth kingdom . His internal policy, aimed at merging the two peoples, failed, but he strove to restore Roman civilization ; abroad, he managed to seize Provence, Carinthia, Istria and Tirol.
At his death, Justinian began the imperial reconquest (535-553) and, defeated the last Ostrogoth kings by their generals, Italy fell into the hands of Byzantium . In 568 the Lombards, led by Alboíno, occupied most of the peninsula, and the Byzantine dominions were reduced to the coast (Venice, Genoa).
The atomization of Italy became more acute with the formation of the Duchies of Benevento and of Spoleto and that of the Papal States . The Papacy, threatened by the Lombards, summoned the Franks of Pepin the Short (753) and Charlemagne (773) to their aid.
Carolingian stage
Desiderio’s defeat in 774 marked the beginning of the Carolingian stage , during which the Franks dominated all of Italy except the Lombard duchy of Benevento and the Byzantine possessions.
In the course of the Carolingian domination new invasions ravaged Italy: the Normans, the Hungarians and the Muslims (beginning of the conquest of Sicily in 827, occupation of Barí in 840 and sacking of Rome in 846).
From Lotario, grandson of Charlemagne, the power was fragmented between the cities, the nobles and the bishops, with no other unifying attempt than that of Luis II (855-875); the last two emperors, Charles the Bald and Charles the Fat, no longer tried to defend unity, and Louis the Stutterer ceded the imperial dignity to the Germanic branch of the Carolingians.
Holy Roman German Empire
A series of monarchs of ephemeral historical trace prepared the arrival of the Holy Roman Empire in the person of Otto I of Germany , who went to Italy, where he was crowned by Pope John XII. This renewal of imperial power coincided with a resurgence of great commerce and. consequently, the municipality.
Map of the Roman-Germanic Empire
Pisa, Genoa and Venice tried to monopolize trade with the East. In the interior, Pavia linked with the commercial centers of the North; Ravenna and Milan started a development stage.
From the eleventh century a change took place in the structure of the city government: merchants prevailed, supported by the gentry and bishops. Only Venice retained its aristocratic government.
All these cities erupted with fighting between the Guelphs, supporters of the Pope, and the Ghibellines, supporters of the emperor, and the confrontation of the two powers gave rise to the War of the Investiture.
In the south, the Normans drove out the Byzantines and seized Sicily from the Arabs; in 1130 the Norman monarchy of Sicily was already constituted.
The communal regime , of affirmation of municipal freedoms, collided with the aspirations of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (1152-90), who attacked the Lombard cities and forced them to swear respect for their royalties (1158).
But in 1164 Verona, Venice, Vicenza and Padua, supported by Alexander III, constituted the Lombard League and defeated the emperor at Legnano (1176); the Peace of Constance (1183) sealed the recognition of municipal liberties.
Despite his defeat, Frederick, by marrying his son Henry VI to Constance (heir to the Norman kingdom of the Two Sicilies), enveloped the Papacy and the Italian cities to the north and south and Frederick II (1220-50) resumed fighting against the Papacy and defeating the Lombard League at Cortenuova.
In this third period of struggle between the Papacy and the Empire , the dominion of southern Italy was in fact settled. The death of Frederick II gave a new impetus to the communal movement, but the social upheavals that occurred in various cities led to the appearance of dictators, and true oligarchic dynasties were established:
- Ezzelino, in Padua.
- in Brescia.
- East, in Ferrara.
- Orsini and Colonna, in the Papal States.
The kingdom of Sicily passed into the hands of Conrado IV, who was succeeded by Manfredo (bastard son of Federico II). This intervened in Piedmont, Sardinia, Lombardy, Tuscany and the Duchy of Spoleto in aid of the Ghibellines.
Faced with the danger it represented, Urban IV ceded the dominions of southern Italy and Sicily to Carlos de Anjou . Manfred was defeated and killed at Benevento (1266), and Charles became head of the Guelphs.
Although he managed to dominate much of Italy, his hegemony provoked a reaction throughout the peninsula.
The Sicilians (“Sicilian Vespers”) called Pedro III of Aragon (husband of Constanza, granddaughter of Frederick II), who seized the island in 1282. Genova and Montferrato defeated Carlos de Anjou’s troops, while Milan he was rid of his guardianship.
Renaissance in Italy
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the commercial expansion initiated by Italian cities in the 11th century reached its maximum development. Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan, enriched by great commerce, became the banking centers that financed the main courts of Europe.
Map of Italy in the 15th century
Despite this economic and cultural boom, the political fragmentation continued, since, next to the kingdom of Naples, the Papal States, Florence, Genoa, Milan and Venice, an infinity of small States subsisted. This brought about an extraordinary weakness and incapacitated Italy to victoriously oppose the hegemonic projects over it of other European states that had much more solid organizations.
This, together with the displacement of the economic center from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, as a consequence of the great geographical discoveries, favored the desires of France and Spain over the Italian peninsula at the beginning of the 16th century. After half a century of fighting, Spain imposed its full hegemony over Italy.
Italy in the Modern Age
The secular and liberalizing cultural and ideological currents, inherited from the Renaissance, were followed, under Spanish rule, by an epoch of reaction, the beginning of which marked (1542) the reorganization of the Roman Inquisition.
However, the cultural and social brilliance of the previous era was still maintained, although it was no longer established in a solid economy; Venice, faced with competition from the Dutch and English, had lost its maritime hegemony in the Mediterranean, and Genoa its eastern possessions; Florence, Naples and, in general, the entire peninsula were impoverished.
After the War of Spanish Succession and the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastadt (1714), and the cession of Sicily to Victor Amadeus of Savoy and the Milanese, Sardinia and Naples to Austria, the Austrian rule over the peninsula it happened to the Spanish, which was reduced.
After the unsuccessful annexation of Sicily (1720), until the French Revolution , to the duchies of Parma, Plasencia and Guastalla, awarded (1748) to the son of Isabel Farnesio and Felipe V, Felipe, and to the kingdom of Dos Sicilias, that the treaty of Vienna (1735) had yielded to his brother Carlos.
The overthrow of Spanish rule had been seen by the Italians as the beginning of an era of freedom, but the ideal of unity had not yet materialized together. Under the Austrians, throughout the second half of the 18th century , Italy knew the advantages and disadvantages of enlightened despotism .
Material and cultural progress alternated with radical political absolutism . The French Revolution, by colliding, due to its liberal ideology and its desire for expansion, with the Austrian Empire, would change the Italian political picture.
In 1794 the French armies crossed the Alps. A popular and liberal trend of sympathy for the Revolution facilitated the conquest. In 1796 the king of Sardinia gave to France Savoy and Nice; after the treaty of Campoformio (1797) the Republics Cisalpina (Lombardy and Romagna) and Ligur (Genoa) were created; Venice was ceded to Austr in exchange for the Milanese, and the Papal States were converted into the Roman Republic (1798).
The Austrian alliance (1799), which succeeded in driving the French out of Lombardy, was the beginning of the decline of French power in Italy. Despite the peace of Lunéville (1801), which recognized the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics, the creation of the kingdom of Italy (1805) ceded by Napoleon in viceroyalty to his stepson Eugene de Beauharnais , and the expulsion of the Bourbons from Naples (1806), on whose throne Joseph Bonaparte was installed and later (1808) Murat .
Popular discontent, aroused, despite the liberalization introduced, by the brutal adaptation of the Italian administration to French patterns and fostered by Austrian and British ambitions, caused French power in Italy to collapse after the Waterloo disaster (1815). quickly.
Resurgence and unification of Italy
The Congress of Vienna created the new political map of the peninsula. In this way Italy was formed in the north:
- They formed the kingdoms of Piedmont and Sardiniaunder Victor Manuel I .
- Similarly, Lombardy and Venicecame to depend on Austria.
- In the center they established the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Ferdinand III of Lorraine .
- The duchies of Parma and Plasencia, awarded to Archduchess María Luisa.
- The Duchy of Modena, under Francisco IV of Este-Lorena.
- The Papal States, which included Rome, Umbria and the Marches.
- In the south the kingdom of Napleswas returned to Ferdinand IV of Bourbon , who took the name of Ferdinand I as monarch of the United Kingdom of the Two Sicilies .
The restoration of Austrian influence revived the monarchical absolutism and ended the liberalization introduced by the French minority groups and clandestine, as the Neapolitan Carbonari , organized violent agitation campaigns against the new political structure of the country.
Fernando I of Naples was forced in the year 1820 to accept a Constitution . But in 1821 he petitioned the Laibach congress for Austrian intervention, which soon restored his absolute powers.
In Piedmont, Víctor Manuel I was forced to abdicate (1821) his brother Carlos Félix , who granted a Constitution; but again the Austrian intervention put an end to the constitutional regime.
Throughout the 1820-30 decade, constant revolts, always violently repressed, agitated the Papal States and the duchies of Parma and Modena.
In 1848 various events crystallized an ideological current in which for the first time the ideals of unification and liberalization were affirmed together, and that would mark the definitive process towards unity.
The advent to the papacy of Pius IX , who introduced liberal reforms in the Papal States, gave rise to a popular trend in various states that demanded the end of absolutism.
Soon armed insurrection broke out in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Femando II , the Pope, the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the King of Sardinia had to grant constitutions. Carlos Alberto of Sardinia undertook the open fight against Austria.
Defeated in Custozza (1848) and Novara (1849), he abdicated in his son, Victor Emmanuel II , with whom the Piedmontese dynasty became the bearer of the ideal of unification, supported from the outside by Napoleon III .
In 1859, a Franco-Montenegrin alliance, led by Cavour , faced Austria. After the battles of Magenta and Solferino , favorable to the allies, Napoleon reduced his support, and the peace of Zurich put an end to the fight.
In 1860, after proclaiming Tuscany, Modena and Parma their annexation to Piedmont, Garibaldi with his body of international volunteers undertook the conquest of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Formation of the kingdom of Italy
In 1861 the first Italian Parliament met and the proclamation of Victor Emmanuel II as King of Italy took place . Following an isolated campaign by Garibaldi (1862), hostilities resumed in 1866.
Victor Emmanuel II as King of Italy in 1861
Defeated at Custozza and Lisa, Italy nevertheless obtained the Veneto, which the Peace of Vienna had granted to France. Only the Papal States, supported by Napoleon III, remained outside the Italian unity.
After the French disaster of Sedan (1870), the Italians occupied Rome . The Law of Guarantees (1875) was proposed to the Pope , which he did not accept, at the same time that it prohibited the intervention in politics of Catholics, which radicalized the secular and anti-clerical character of the new kingdom.
In 1878 Humberto I ascended the throne ; During his reign important laws were passed, which consolidated the institutional base of the new State.
In 1887 Crispí succeeded Depretis as head of government , and with him began the colonial adventure (Eritrea, Abyssinia), which ended with the disaster of Adua (1896).
The national frustration resulting from the failure of the colonial attempt and the fall in agricultural prices, which accentuated misery, caused a deep social crisis in 1898, which affected the entire country. The repressions (particularly in the famine riots in Milan ) were very violent.
In 1900 Víctor Manuel III succeeded Humberto I (assassinated by an anarchist); The outstanding political figure of his reign was Giolitti , who stabilized the country in all orders (economic and social) and achieved important improvements (universal suffrage law, suppression of non expedit by the Papacy, protection of the working class); He ruled, except for some interruptions, until 1914.
At the beginning of the First World War , Italy remained neutral; but the treaty of London of April 21, 1915, by which he was promised some territories claimed by the Italian nationalists, resulted in him entering the conflict.
The end of the war (World War I) left the country impoverished and disappointed, because the birth of the Yugoslav State did not allow all the annexationist aspirations to be realized.
The post-war economic crisis caused social instability that was reflected in the founding of the Communist Party (1921) and in numerous factory occupations by the workers.
Fearful of the new situation and the dynamism of the left, the Italian bourgeoisie decided to rely on a party that would guarantee “order” and reinforce the authority of the State . Mussolini, with the Fascist Party , set out to play this role.
In 1922, after the ” march on Rome “, with the agreement of the monarchy, he established a dictatorial and totalitarian regime . All opposition was severely persecuted, and the most prominent leaders had to go into exile or were imprisoned.
In domestic politics, Mussolini suppressed all constitutional guarantees, supplanted by a Carta del Lavoro (1927), which established a corporate Chamber. The trade union organizations were dissolved, and an economic policy based on autarky was undertaken .
In foreign policy, the imperialist ideals took shape in the invasion of Ethiopia (1935). The timid sanctions imposed by the League of Nations brought Mussolini even closer to Hitler’s Nazi rule.
In the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the assistance of the Italian Government to General Franco’s forces was considerable.
After signing a tripartite pact with Germany and Japan (1940), Italy declared war on the Western powers ( World War II ). The lack of military preparation and the unpopularity of the conflict turned the war situation into a national disaster.
The general degradation of the regime and the action of the resisters forced the king to order the arrest of Mussolini on July 25, 1943. Marshal Badoglio formed a new government and called for an armistice, unconditionally, on September 3.
Mussolini was liberated by German commandos and established a republican government, supported by German forces, in the north. After the liberation of Rome by the allies on June 4, 1944 , a provisional government was formed, with the participation of all the anti-fascist parties.
Mussolini and his most direct collaborators were executed on April 28, 1945. At the end of the war, the preponderance of the Christian Democrats allowed De Gasperi to assume the leadership of the country.
History of the Italian Republic
From 1945 to 1947, the Christian Democrats continued to hold political hegemony .
In the referendum of June 2, 1946, the Italian people were in favor of a republican regime . In the legislative elections of April 18, 1948, the Christian Democrats obtained an absolute majority.
Luigi Einaudi was elected President of the Republic on May 11, 1948 . De Gasperi carried out a series of economic and agrarian reforms, made possible by the American credits of the Marshall plan.
The gravitation of the United States in Italian political life was evidenced in the successive eliminations of socialists and communists from the government team. In 1949 Italy joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The frequent splits and the rupture in 1956 of the unity of action between communists and socialists ( Popular Democratic Front ) considerably favored the political work of the Christian Democrats, which monopolized the successive governments and elevated in 1955 and 1962 two Christian Democrats, Gronchi and Segni. , to the presidency of the Republic.
The result of the 1963 elections forced the Christian Democrats to count on the collaboration of the socialists in the government, thus beginning the so-called center-left experience. But despite the new presence of socialists in the government, the Christian Democrats continued their conservative policy.
The Social Democrat Saragat , in 1964, was elected President of the Republic with the support of the Communists. In the years 1968 and 1969 there were serious strike movements in the factories, coordinated with continuous university agitation.
In the 1968 elections the Socialists experienced a serious setback, while the Communists made considerable progress. The center-left solution seemed to have exhausted his possibilities.
After the regional elections of 1970, a new government was formed in August of the same year, headed by the Christian Democrat Colombo . At the end of 1971, the Christian Democrat Giovanni Leone was elected President of the Republic .
Later the withdrawal of the Republicans from the center-left coalition opened a new period of crisis and political instability, latent already after the success of the petition, promoted by conservative opinion and the right-wing sectors of the Christian Democrats, of a referendum Constitutional law on the divorce law passed in 1970.
The period 1970-74 was characterized by constant degradation. Both the economic situation and the social order (labor conflicts, attacks by the extreme left and fascist groups), and the failure and rupture of center-left politics.
Notable milestones of these years were: the general elections, brought forward to the month of May 1972, in which the Christian Democrats and the communists registered slight losses and the fascists of the MSI and the National Right, on the other hand, sensible gains in votes.
The withdrawal of the republicans from the Andreotti government (jumo 1973). the great general strike (February 27, 1974), which led to the resignation of the Rumor cabinet , which had succeeded Andreotti’s and was followed by a new Rumor government (March 1974), and the triumph of the supporters of divorce in the referendum May 1974, which represented a serious defeat for the Christian Democrats.
Rumor had to resign in October 1974 and a long crisis began, resolved the following November with the formation by Aldo Moro of a coalition government of Christian Democrats and Republicans that lasted until January 1976.
Moro again formed a government of simple communism (February 1976), composed only of Christian Democrats. In the legislative elections of June 1976 the Christian Democrats maintained their positions and the Communist Party obtained a great advance.
After a new period of uncertainty, in June 1977 the six major constitutional parties reached a political compromise. In this context, G. Andreotti succeeded A. Moro at the head of a one-color Christian Democratic government (July 30, 1977).
The terrorist escalation culminated in the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, president of the Christian Democrats, who was assassinated on May 9, 1978 by the Red Brigades. After his death, the Communist Party was included in the parliamentary majority.
President Leone involved in corruption scandals, resigned (June 1978) and was replaced by the socialist Sandro Pertini . The early elections of June 1979 meant a setback for the Communist Party, which passed into the parliamentary opposition.
In a prolonged political crisis, the governments of the Christian Democrats Francesco Cossiga (August 1979) and Arnaldo Forlani (October 1980), who presided over a coalition government formed by the Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats and Republicans.
During this stage the terrorist escalation of the extreme right and extreme left continued, with attacks such as the one at the Bologna railway station (August 2, 1980), in which there were 84 deaths and 150 wounded.
Current era
After 36 years, the Christian Democrats lost the presidency of the Government, due to corruption and the growing influence of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). The republican G. Spadolim (1981-82), and later the socialist Craxi (1983-87), succeeded in the post of Head of Government .
Giulio Andreotti, one of the most popular president of the Italian democracy
Craxi’s cabinet led to economic progress that allowed the country to join the Group of Seven (G-7) in 1986 .
The resignation of Craxi, in March of 1987, forced to summon elections. As a result of these, various coalition governments were formed, led among others by the demo-Christians Giovanni Goria (1987-88), Ciriaco de Mita ( 1988-89 ) and Giulio Andreotti (1989-92).
Faced with the changes in the USSR and Eastern Europe, the communists decided in congress (1991) the disappearance of the PCI, which became the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), and at the same time, the judicial operation Maní pulite (Clean Hands) Directed by judge A. di Pietro , who revealed the corruption of the Italian political class and business sectors through the commissions, it caused the crisis of the system of alternation of parties.
The Mafia challenged the state with the assassinations of prominent legal and political personalities, but its top boss , Salvatore Totó Riina , was arrested. Between 1992 and 1996, crises and changes of government followed: the coalition government led by the socialist G. Amato promoted the reform of the Senate and the electoral system, approved in a referendum (April 18, 1993).
But it was overwhelmed by various corruption scandals, including the trial and conviction of the socialist B. Craxi and the prosecution of G. Andreotti, the latter also for his alleged relations with the Mafia.
The government of national concentration led by the independent C. A, Ciampi approved a law of political reform. The traditional parties disintegrated or changed their names, and new ones emerged, such as the Northern League (conservative and federalist).
Meanwhile, the anti-mafia judicial campaign opened more than a thousand indictments. In the legislative elections of 1994, the right-wing and ultra-liberal Forza Italia party , led by businessman Silvio Berlusconi , was the winner and governed in coalition with the neo-fascist National Alliance and Umberto Bossi’s Northern League , but nine months later the Northern League left the coalition and Berlusconi had to resign.
In 1996 the political situation took a turn to the left, and in the elections of that year the El Olivo coalition , led by the independent Romano Prodi , prevailed . The Prodi government in 1998 managed to meet the requirements of the Maastricht treaty and the incorporation from the first moment to the single currency (euro), but fell in Parliament when the deputies of the Communist Refoundation withdraw their trust.
Massimo D ‘Alema , secretary general of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), formed a coalition government, the first chaired by a former communist (October 21), which included a Christian Democratic sector.
The institutional reform process that began in 1994, which provides for the election of the head of state based on universal suffrage, remained stagnant, requiring a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
With the support of the government coalition and the opposition, the Treasury Minister, CA Ciampi , was elected President of the Republic (May 13, 1999).
In the regional elections of 2000, the right-wing parties prevailed, and in the legislative elections of 2001 the Casa de las Libertés coalition , of S. Berlusconi, made up of the National Alliance and the Northern League, obtained an absolute majority, after which Berlusconi appointed head of government .
The government backed the US strategy that led to the Iraq war (March 2003) and deployed 3,000 soldiers in the south of the country.
History of the flag of Italy
The tricolor flag proudly flies over the Italian territory. The Italian flag was inspired by the French in its three vertical stripes.
Its colors are those of the uniforms of the Lombard legion , allied with the invader: green , white and red .
In 1796, the young French General Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed that he was coming to “liberate” the peoples of the Italian peninsula and to return the republic to the Italians.
Once the territory was controlled, Napoleon arranged the flag bands horizontally, and placed his coat of arms in the center.
In 1815, after the fall of the emperor, Italy fell under the Austrian yoke; but, paradoxically, the Italian people had discovered with the French invasion what emancipation and freedoms meant.
The revolts of 1848 revived the old flag with vertical bands against the Austrian occupation. In 1861, once the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, the flag was adorned with the arms of the House of Savoy .
In 1946, just after World War II, a new republic was founded. The old tricolor of 1796 was raised again, but this time without the monarchical emblem, too committed to the fascist insignia.