Cosimo de' Medici
The City States
As prosperity increased in Europe, the wealthy northern cities of Italy
found themselves threatened by rival claims from imperial Germany to the
north and the papal states to the south. It was this vulnerability that
led some of the larger cities to surround themselves with high,
fortified walls, and for the leading citizens to take control into their
own hands. These 'communes' were highly effective and included cities
such as: Venice, Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Siena and many others.
Starting out as democratic republics, these city states soon found
themselves manipulated by the rich and the powerful, and eventually
reverted to princely rule, governed by a series of immensely rich and
all-powerful ruling dynasties. Florence has come to symbolise such rule,
with the powerful and manipulative Medici family ruling for many years.
Given their murderous antics, it is even more remarkable that Florence
should have produced such wonderful works of art and established itself
at the centre of the Renaissance.
Genovese Ship
Two of the most powerful city states were Venice and Genoa. Venice
developed trading interests to the east, in particular with the
Byzantine Empire, and Genoa used its fleet to defend trade in the
western Mediterranean, becoming rich in the process. During the 15th
century the Italian mainland became increasingly dominated by five great
powers - Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. As none
of them had the capacity to defeat the others, they maintained a balance
of power in the interests of all.
A period of political turmoil and realignment, often at the instigation
of the pope, led to the various parts of Italy changing hands throughout
the middle ages. By 1738, the situation had been settled with Spain
governing Sicily and the south of Italy, while Austria ruled the north.
This cosy arrangment seemed to suit everyone until the arrival of
Napoleon in 1796.
Napoleon Bonaperte
Napoleon Bonaparte
After a whirlwind campaign, Napoleon had relieved Austria of most of
northern Italy. In fact, he was only two days march from Vienna itself
when the Austrian Emperor agreed an armistice. Two years later, the
Austrian and Russian armies recaptured the territory while Napolean was
away in Syria. On his return, he set about the task again and by 1809
every part of the peninsula was under French control.
Following Napolean's defeat at Leipzig in 1813, Italy was returned
almost exactly to its status before Napolean's arrival. The northern
states were returned to Austria with the addition of Venezia; Rome
regained all of the Papal States and the whole of southern Italy,
previously consisting of the two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, reverted
to its Bourbon monarch, Ferdinand. His realm was merged into a single
kingdom of the Two Sicilies, of which he became Ferdinand I. However,
not everyone was happy with the re-alignment. Many had been exposed to
modern French ideas and started to have a few of their own. Rebellion
was in the air and the Austrians were kept busy policing the fragile
situation.
Guiseppe Garibaldi
Garibaldi & Risorgimento
Against this volatile and oppressive situation was born a movement to
unify Italy. Its main protaganists were Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe
Garibaldi. Both were under sentence of death for revolutionary
activites, and both spent fourteen years in exile before returning to
Italy on the brink of uprising.
In May 1860, an uprising in Sicily gave Garibaldi his chance. With about
1000 men, known as i Mille (the thousand), he sailed from Genoa.
Landing at Marsala on May 11, he proclaimed himself dictator of Sicily -
liberating the island from Neapolitan rule in the name of Victor
Emmanuel. Garribaldi then moved onto the mainland and finally defeated
the Neapolitan army at Gaeta in 1861. He rode into Naples alongside
Victor Emmanuel II who was proclaimed king of Italy on 17 March 1861.
However, the true unification of the whole of Italy would not be
achieved until after the end of the first world war.
Benito Mussolini
Mussolini
Mussolini first appeared in Italian politics during the years leading up
to world war 1. At this time he was an active revolutionary socialist,
becoming in 1912 the editor of Avanti, the official publication of the
Italian Socialist party. Growing ever more distant from his original
allies, he formed the 'Fasci di Combattimento' or 'league for combat' in
March 1919. Although the word 'Fascism' would eventually become
associated with Mussolini's extreme right wing politics, the Italian
word Fasci, means a tight political group.
As his politics grew ever more extreme, Mussolini's armed thugs,
instantly recognizable in their black shirts, became much feared. Their
violence at this stage was mainly directed against socialists of all
kinds and the authorities, obsessively concerned with the supposed
threat from the extreme left wing, turn a blind eye to the illegal
activities of these right-wing blackshirts.
Like Hitler, Mussolini's rise to power had a superficial legitimacy. He
and thirty-five of his colleagues were elected to parliament in May
1921. In November of that year they formally established the Partito
Nazionale Fascista. Mussolini's democratic credentials were shown in
their true light in 1922 when he declared to his followers: "Either they
give us the government or we shall take it, by marching on Rome". With
the threat of civil war increasing, the king, Victor Emmanuel III,
invited Mussolini to form a government. Supporters were treated to the
sight of their leader, standing side by side with the king, as thousands
of 'Black Shirts' paraded in Rome. Mussolini had been known to
Fascists by a simple and effective title. Now the whole of Italy learned
to call him by this name: 'il Duce', the Leader.
Allied invasion of Italy 1943
World War II
Mussolini did not take long to establish himself as a dictator and his
dreams of imperial grandeur lead him to invade and conquer Ethiopia and
Albania is close succession. In 1936, Mussolini signed a pact with
Hitler, setting Italy on a disastrous course as nazi allies in the
second world war. Italy's disastrous campaign in Africa led to the loss
of all of her colonies there as the Allies advanced. Even worse was to
come. Italy itself was the next allied target.
When American and British troops landed in Sicily in July 1943, Italy
became the first of the axis powers to be invaded. With the Allies
moving up the peninsula, and the Germans in retreat, the Fascist party
ousted Mussolini, surrendered to the Allies and declared war on their
former allies, the Germans. After a long, ferocious and highly
destructive battle in the central area of the country, the Allies moved
steadily north. Although rescued by the Germans and held under
protection in a palace on Lake Garda, Mussolini and his mistress, Clara
Petacci, were captured by the partisans and shot.
After the war, a referendum abolished the monarchy and established the First Italian Republic.
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