History of Italy

Prehistoric Italy

Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods

• Human presence in Italy dates back to the Paleolithic era, approximately 200,000 years ago, with evidence of Neanderthal settlements found in caves throughout the peninsula.
• The oldest human remains discovered in Italy are those of "Altamura Man," dating back 130,000 years, found in a cave near Altamura in Puglia.
• During the Neolithic period (6000-3500 BCE), farming communities emerged across Italy, particularly in the fertile Po Valley, introducing agriculture and animal husbandry.
• The Campi Flegrei area near Naples contains evidence of one of Europe's most ancient agricultural settlements, dating to approximately 7000 BCE.

Bronze and Iron Ages

• The Bronze Age (3300-700 BCE) saw the development of metallurgy and more complex societies throughout the peninsula.
• The Nuragic civilisation flourished in Sardinia from 1800 BCE, constructing over 7,000 stone tower-fortresses called "nuraghi," some of which still stand today.
• The Castellieri culture developed in northeastern Italy, building fortified settlements on hills.
• The Terramare culture emerged in the Po Valley around 1700 BCE, creating sophisticated pile-dwelling settlements.
• The Villanovan culture (1100-700 BCE), considered the earliest phase of Etruscan civilisation, introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula.

Ancient Civilisations

The Etruscans

• The Etruscans dominated central Italy from approximately 800-300 BCE, establishing a confederation of city-states known as the Dodecapolis.
• They developed a sophisticated culture with advanced engineering, including complex drainage systems and the arch in architecture, which later influenced Roman building techniques.
• Etruscan women enjoyed unusual freedom for ancient societies, participating in public life and banquets alongside men.
• The Etruscans were skilled metalworkers, creating intricate gold jewellery using granulation techniques that remained unmatched until the 19th century.
• Their religious practices heavily influenced Roman religion, including divination through haruspicy (examining animal entrails) and augury (interpreting bird flight patterns).
• The Etruscan language remains partially undeciphered despite thousands of inscriptions, as it is unrelated to Indo-European languages.

Magna Graecia

• Greek colonisation of southern Italy and Sicily began in the 8th century BCE, establishing important cities such as Syracuse, Tarentum (modern Taranto), Neapolis (Naples), and Cumae.
• Syracuse became one of the most powerful Greek cities, rivalling Athens in size and importance during the 5th century BCE.
• The philosopher Pythagoras established his famous school in Croton around 530 BCE.
• Archimedes, one of history's greatest mathematicians and engineers, lived and worked in Syracuse.
• Greek colonies introduced olive cultivation, viticulture, and advanced pottery techniques to Italy.
• The Temple of Hera at Paestum (550 BCE) remains one of the best-preserved Greek temples in the world.

Early Rome and the Roman Kingdom

• According to legend, Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 BCE after he killed his twin brother Remus.
• Archaeological evidence shows human settlement on the Palatine Hill dating back to at least the 10th century BCE.
• The Roman Kingdom was traditionally ruled by seven kings between 753-509 BCE: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus.
• King Servius Tullius created the first Roman constitution and organised citizens into classes based on wealth.
• The last king, Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown after his son Sextus Tarquinius raped Lucretia, a noblewoman, leading to the establishment of the Roman Republic.

The Roman Republic

• The Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) was governed by a complex system of checks and balances, with power divided between magistrates, the Senate, and popular assemblies.
• Two annually elected consuls served as chief magistrates with executive power and military command.
• The Twelve Tables, Rome's first written legal code, was created around 450 BCE, establishing basic legal principles.
• The Conflict of the Orders (494-287 BCE) was a political struggle between patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (commoners) that gradually expanded plebeian rights.
• Rome expanded throughout Italy through a series of wars, including three Samnite Wars (343-290 BCE) and the Pyrrhic War (280-275 BCE) against the Greek king Pyrrhus.
• The Punic Wars (264-146 BCE) against Carthage established Rome as the dominant Mediterranean power. During the Second Punic War, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with elephants to invade Italy.
• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus attempted land reforms in the late 2nd century BCE but were both assassinated, marking the beginning of political violence in the Republic.
• The Social War (91-88 BCE) resulted in Roman citizenship being extended to all free inhabitants of Italy.
• The Republic's final century was marked by civil wars, including those of Marius and Sulla, Caesar and Pompey, and Octavian against Mark Antony.

The Roman Empire

• Augustus (Octavian) became the first Roman Emperor in 27 BCE, establishing the Principate while maintaining a façade of republican institutions.
• The Pax Romana ("Roman Peace") lasted approximately 200 years, bringing unprecedented stability and prosperity to the Mediterranean world.
• At its height under Emperor Trajan (98-117 CE), the Roman Empire encompassed 5 million square kilometres and 70 million inhabitants, approximately 21% of the world's population.
• Emperor Claudius conquered Britain in 43 CE, extending Roman influence to the British Isles.
• Emperor Hadrian built his famous wall in northern Britain, marking the empire's northernmost frontier.
• The Colosseum, completed in 80 CE, could hold 50,000-80,000 spectators for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.
• Emperor Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the empire in 212 CE through the Constitutio Antoniniana.
• Emperor Constantine I legalised Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313 CE and later established Constantinople as a new capital.
• The empire formally split into Western and Eastern halves in 395 CE under Theodosius I.
• The last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 CE by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer, traditionally marking the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Medieval Italy

Ostrogothic and Byzantine Rule

• After the Western Roman Empire's fall, Italy came under Ostrogothic rule under King Theodoric (493-526 CE), who maintained Roman administrative structures.
• The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I reconquered much of Italy during the Gothic War (535-554 CE), devastating the peninsula's economy and population.
• The Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna governed Byzantine territories in Italy from 584 to 751 CE.
• The Lombards, a Germanic people, invaded northern Italy in 568 CE, establishing a kingdom with its capital at Pavia.
• The Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento controlled much of central and southern Italy.

The Papal States and Frankish Influence

• The Donation of Pepin in 756 CE granted territories to the Pope, forming the basis of the Papal States which would last until Italian unification in 1870.
• Charlemagne defeated the Lombards in 774 CE and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800 CE, establishing a precedent for papal coronation of emperors.
• The Constitutio Romana of 824 CE required papal elections to be confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor.

The Maritime Republics

• Venice, Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi emerged as powerful maritime republics during the Middle Ages, controlling Mediterranean trade routes.
• Venice, originally a Byzantine outpost, gradually gained independence and became a major naval power. Its unique location in a lagoon made it virtually impregnable.
• The Venetian Arsenal, established in 1104, could produce nearly one ship per day using assembly-line techniques that predated modern industrial methods by centuries.
• Venetian merchant Marco Polo's travels to China in the 13th century opened European eyes to Eastern civilisations.
• Genoa and Venice fought four major wars between 1256 and 1381 for commercial supremacy in the Mediterranean.
• Pisan maritime law, codified in the Constitutum Usus, influenced maritime codes throughout Europe.
• Amalfi developed the "Tabula Amalphitana," one of the earliest maritime codes, and is credited with perfecting the maritime compass.

Norman Sicily and Southern Italy

• Norman adventurers began conquering parts of southern Italy and Sicily from the Byzantines and Arabs in the 11th century.
• Roger II united Sicily and southern Italy into the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130, creating one of Europe's most advanced states.
• The Norman Kingdom featured remarkable religious tolerance, with Greek, Latin, and Arab cultures coexisting and contributing to a unique cultural synthesis.
• The Assizes of Ariano (1140) established a centralised legal system that influenced later European law.
• Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily (1194-1250), was known as "Stupor Mundi" (Wonder of the World) for his intellectual accomplishments, founding the University of Naples in 1224.

Communes and City-States

• Northern and central Italian cities developed into self-governing communes beginning in the 11th century, gradually gaining independence from imperial control.
• The Battle of Legnano (1176) saw the Lombard League of cities defeat Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, securing their autonomy.
• Florence, Milan, Bologna, and other communes developed republican governments with complex electoral systems to prevent any single family from dominating.
• The rivalry between Guelphs (papal supporters) and Ghibellines (imperial supporters) divided Italian cities for centuries, often leading to violent conflicts.
• The Great Famine (1315-1317) and the Black Death (1347-1351) devastated Italy's population, with some cities losing up to 60% of their inhabitants.

Renaissance Italy

Political Landscape

• By the 15th century, five major powers dominated the Italian political landscape: the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples.
• The Peace of Lodi (1454) established a balance of power among these states that lasted until the French invasion of 1494.
• The Medici family dominated Florence for generations, producing three popes and two queens of France.
• Venice's government featured a complex system of checks and balances, with the Doge (elected for life) having limited powers and major decisions made by various councils.
• The Sforza dynasty ruled Milan after Francesco Sforza, a mercenary captain, seized power in 1450.
• Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) and his son Cesare attempted to create a centralised state in central Italy through military conquest and political machinations.

Cultural and Intellectual Achievements

• The Renaissance began in Florence in the 14th century, fueled by wealth from banking and trade, and the rediscovery of classical texts.
• Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy," written in vernacular Italian rather than Latin, helped establish Tuscan as the literary language of Italy.
• Petrarch, known as the "Father of Humanism," rediscovered many lost classical manuscripts and promoted the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture.
• Leon Battista Alberti's architectural treatises revived classical principles and influenced buildings throughout Europe.
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) exemplified the "Renaissance man" with his achievements in painting, sculpture, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology, and botany.
• Michelangelo Buonarroti's sculptures, paintings, and architectural works, including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, represent the height of Renaissance achievement.
• Raphael's paintings, particularly his Vatican frescoes, synthesised classical harmony with Christian themes.
• Niccolò Machiavelli's "The Prince" (1513) revolutionised political philosophy by analysing power politics realistically rather than idealistically.
• The printing press reached Italy in the 1460s, with Venice becoming a major publishing centre producing nearly one-third of all printed books in Europe by 1500.

Scientific and Technical Innovations

• The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is considered the oldest university in continuous operation in the world.
• The University of Padua became a centre for medical research, where Andreas Vesalius revolutionised anatomy.
• Galileo Galilei's astronomical observations and experimental method laid foundations for modern science, though his heliocentric views led to conflict with the Church.
• Venetian glassmakers on the island of Murano developed cristallo, an exceptionally clear glass that was highly prized throughout Europe.
• Double-entry bookkeeping, developed in medieval Italy, revolutionised commerce and finance.
• Italian bankers pioneered financial instruments such as bills of exchange and insurance contracts.

Early Modern Italy

Italian Wars and Foreign Domination

• The Italian Wars (1494-1559) began when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy to claim the Kingdom of Naples, drawing Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and various Italian states into conflict.
• The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) established Spanish dominance over much of Italy, with direct control over Milan, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia.
• The Republic of Venice remained independent but gradually declined as a major power as Atlantic trade routes diminished the importance of Mediterranean commerce.
• The Duchy of Savoy, strategically located between France and Spanish Milan, gradually expanded its territories and influence.

Counter-Reformation and Religious Developments

• The Council of Trent (1545-1563), held in northern Italy, defined Catholic doctrine in response to the Protestant Reformation.
• New religious orders such as the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius of Loyola and officially recognised in 1540, played a crucial role in the Counter-Reformation.
• The Roman Inquisition, established in 1542, monitored heresy and censored books through the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
• Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600 for heretical views, including support for the Copernican theory.
• The Baroque style in art and architecture emerged partly as a response to the Protestant Reformation, emphasising emotional intensity and grandeur.

Economic and Social Changes

• Italy's economic importance declined as Atlantic trade routes bypassed the Mediterranean and northern European countries industrialised more rapidly.
• Agricultural innovations in northern Italy, including irrigation systems and crop rotation, maintained relatively high productivity.
• The "Little Ice Age" (approximately 1300-1850) affected Italian agriculture, with cooler temperatures reducing growing seasons.
• Social stratification increased, with nobility and wealthy merchants consolidating power and restricting social mobility.
• Academies dedicated to science, literature, and art proliferated, including the Accademia dei Lincei (1603), which counted Galileo among its members.

18th Century Italy

Enlightenment Influence

• Italian Enlightenment thinkers such as Cesare Beccaria, whose "On Crimes and Punishments" (1764) argued against torture and the death penalty, influenced legal reforms throughout Europe.
• Pietro Verri and the "Academy of Fists" in Milan promoted economic and administrative reforms.
• Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany implemented progressive reforms, including abolishing the death penalty and torture.
• The University of Naples became a centre for Enlightenment thought, with scholars like Antonio Genovesi promoting economic development.

War of Spanish Succession and Territorial Changes

• The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) resulted in Austria gaining control of Milan, Mantua, Naples, and Sardinia.
• The Kingdom of Sardinia (actually centred in Piedmont) emerged as an important regional power under the House of Savoy.
• The Republic of Venice continued its long decline, losing territories in the Eastern Mediterranean to the Ottoman Empire.

Napoleonic Era

• Napoleon Bonaparte's Italian Campaign (1796-1797) defeated Austrian and Sardinian forces and established French control over northern Italy.
• The Cisalpine Republic, later renamed the Italian Republic (1802) and then the Kingdom of Italy (1805), was established in northern Italy under French control.
• Napoleon's reforms modernised administration, legal codes, and education systems throughout Italy.
• The Continental System damaged Italian trade with Britain but stimulated some domestic industries.
• Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law, ruled the Kingdom of Naples from 1808 to 1815 and briefly supported Italian unification before his execution.

The Risorgimento and Unification

Early Nationalist Movements

• The Congress of Vienna (1815) restored pre-Napoleonic states but could not erase the nationalist ideas spread during French occupation.
• Secret societies such as the Carbonari organised uprisings against Austrian rule in 1820-1821 and 1831, though these were suppressed.
• Giuseppe Mazzini founded Young Italy in 1831, advocating for a unified, democratic Italian republic.
• The revolutions of 1848 briefly established republics in Venice and Rome, though these were eventually crushed by Austrian and French forces.
• Pope Pius IX initially supported liberal reforms but became increasingly conservative after the 1848 revolutions.

Cavour and Diplomatic Unification

• Count Camillo di Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia from 1852, modernised the state's economy and military.
• Piedmont-Sardinia joined Britain and France in the Crimean War (1853-1856), gaining diplomatic recognition as a European power.
• The Plombières Agreement (1858) secured French support for war against Austria in exchange for Nice and Savoy.
• The Second Italian War of Independence (1859) resulted in Lombardy joining Piedmont-Sardinia.
• Plebiscites in central Italian states (Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and Romagna) approved annexation to Piedmont-Sardinia in 1860.

Garibaldi and the Expedition of the Thousand

• Giuseppe Garibaldi, a republican who had fought in South America and defended the Roman Republic in 1849, led the Expedition of the Thousand (Mille) to Sicily in May 1860.
• With minimal resources, Garibaldi's volunteers defeated Bourbon forces and conquered Sicily and southern Italy within months.
• Rather than establishing a republic, Garibaldi handed his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel II, prioritising national unity over his republican ideals.
• The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on 17 March 1861, with Turin as its first capital.

Completing Unification

• Venetia was acquired in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War, in which Italy allied with Prussia.
• Rome remained under papal control, protected by French troops until they withdrew during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
• Italian troops entered Rome on 20 September 1870 through the breach of Porta Pia, completing territorial unification.
• The Law of Papal Guarantees (1871) attempted to regulate relations between Italy and the Papacy, but Pope Pius IX rejected it, beginning the "Roman Question" that would remain unresolved until the Lateran Treaties of 1929.

Liberal Italy (1861-1922)

Political and Social Challenges

• The new Italian state faced enormous challenges, including regional disparities, widespread illiteracy (around 78%), and poor infrastructure.
• The parliamentary system was based on a limited franchise, with only 2% of the population eligible to vote initially.
• The Historical Right (Destra Storica) governed from 1861 to 1876, focusing on financial stability and administrative unification.
• The Historical Left (Sinistra Storica) took power in 1876 under Agostino Depretis, who introduced the practice of trasformismo, incorporating opposition members into governing coalitions.
• Francesco Crispi, Prime Minister for much of the 1880s and 1890s, expanded social legislation but also pursued aggressive foreign policies.
• Giovanni Giolitti dominated Italian politics from 1901 to 1914, introducing universal male suffrage and social reforms while managing a delicate balance between various political forces.

Economic Development

• Italy remained predominantly agricultural, with industrialisation concentrated in the "industrial triangle" of Milan, Turin, and Genoa.
• The Banca d'Italia was established in 1893 as the national bank.
• Major industrial enterprises emerged, including Fiat (founded 1899), Pirelli (1872), and Olivetti (1908).
• The north-south economic divide widened despite government efforts at southern development.
• Massive emigration, particularly from southern Italy, saw approximately 9 million Italians leave between 1861 and 1914, primarily to the Americas.

Colonial Expansion

• Italy sought to establish a colonial empire in Africa, beginning with the acquisition of Eritrea and part of Somalia in the 1880s.
• The First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895-1896) ended in a humiliating defeat for Italy at the Battle of Adwa.
• Italy acquired Libya from the Ottoman Empire in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912).

World War I (1915-1918)

• Italy initially remained neutral at the start of World War I but joined the Allied Powers in 1915, enticed by promises of territorial gains.
• The Italian front against Austria-Hungary was one of the war's most brutal, with trench warfare along the Isonzo River.
• The Battle of Caporetto (1917) resulted in a major Italian defeat, requiring Allied assistance to stabilise the front.
• Italy emerged victorious after the war, gaining territories such as Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, and Istria.
• However, Italian nationalists felt cheated by the Treaty of Versailles, which did not grant all the territories promised.
• The war left Italy economically exhausted and socially divided, creating fertile ground for extremist movements.

The Fascist Era (1922-1943)

Rise of Fascism

• Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist movement in 1919, capitalising on post-war disillusionment and social unrest.
• Fascism combined nationalism, authoritarianism, and corporatism, rejecting both communism and liberal democracy.
• Mussolini's Blackshirts used violence and intimidation to suppress political opponents and gain power.
• The March on Rome in October 1922 forced King Victor Emmanuel III to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister.

Consolidation of Power

• Mussolini gradually consolidated power, suppressing opposition parties, controlling the press, and establishing a one-party state.
• The Acerbo Law of 1923 guaranteed the Fascist party a majority in parliament.
• The Matteotti Crisis in 1924, following the assassination of socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti, temporarily weakened Mussolini but ultimately strengthened his grip on power.
• The Lateran Treaties of 1929 resolved the "Roman Question," recognising Vatican City as an independent state and establishing concordat with the Catholic Church.

Fascist Policies

• The Fascist regime implemented corporatism, organising the economy into state-controlled syndicates of workers and employers.
• The regime promoted autarky (economic self-sufficiency) through import substitution and agricultural campaigns such as the "Battle for Grain."
• Massive public works projects, including road construction and land reclamation, reduced unemployment and boosted the regime's popularity.
• Fascist propaganda glorified Mussolini as "Il Duce" and promoted a cult of personality.
• Education was heavily indoctrinated with Fascist ideology, and youth organisations such as the Balilla prepared young people for military service.

Alliance with Nazi Germany

• Mussolini initially distanced himself from Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany but gradually aligned with them in the late 1930s.
• Italy intervened in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) on the side of the Nationalist rebels.
• Racial laws were introduced in 1938, discriminating against Italian Jews.
• Italy annexed Albania in 1939.

World War II (1940-1943)

• Italy entered World War II in June 1940, hoping to gain territorial concessions from France and Britain.
• The Italian military performed poorly in Greece, North Africa, and the Soviet Union, requiring German assistance.
• The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 led to Mussolini's ouster and arrest.

Italian Republic (1946-Present)

Post-War Reconstruction

• Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, but German forces occupied much of the country.
• The Italian Social Republic, a puppet state led by Mussolini under German protection, was established in northern Italy.
• The Italian resistance movement fought against German occupation and the Fascist regime.
• Mussolini was captured and executed by partisans in April 1945.
• A referendum in 1946 abolished the monarchy, and Italy became a republic.
• The Italian Constitution was adopted in 1948, establishing a parliamentary democracy.

Economic Miracle

• Italy experienced rapid economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s, known as the "Economic Miracle."
• Industrial production soared, and living standards rose dramatically.
• Italy became a founding member of the European Economic Community (later the European Union) in 1957.

Political Instability and Terrorism

• The post-war period was marked by political instability, with frequent changes of government.
• The "Years of Lead" (Anni di Piombo) in the 1970s saw political violence and terrorism from both far-left and far-right groups.
• The Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse), a far-left terrorist organisation, kidnapped and murdered former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978.

Contemporary Italy

• Italy continues to be a major European power, playing a significant role in the European Union and NATO.
• The country faces economic challenges, including high public debt and regional disparities.
• Italy has made significant contributions to culture, fashion, design, and cuisine.
• The country is grappling with issues such as immigration, organised crime, and political corruption.