Difference between revisions 147107854 and 147107856 on dewiki

{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name = ''Regno d'Italia''
|conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Italy
|common_name = Italy
|continent = Europe
|region    = Italy
|country   = Italy
|year_start  = 1861
|year_end    = 1946
|
|event_start = [[Italian unification|Established]]
|date_start  = March 17
|event2      = March on Rome
|date_event2 = [[October 22]], [[, 1922]]
|event3     = Pact of Steel
|date_event3 = [[May 22]], [[, 1939]]
|event_end   = [[Birth of the Italian Republic|Disestablished]]
|date_end    = June 2
|p1          = Kingdom of Sardinia <!-- displays in the Before-after section-->
|flag_p1     = Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg
|p2          = Two Sicilies
|flag_p2     = Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1860).svg
|p3          = Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia
(contracted; show full);''Regno d'Italia'''}}) was a state forged in 1861 by the [[Italian unification|unification of Italy]] under the influence of the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]; it existed until 1946 when the Italians opted for a [[republic]]an [[constitution]]. The Kingdom was the first Italian state to include the entire [[Italian Peninsula]] since the fall of the [[Roman Empire]].

During the time of the regime of the [[National Fascist Party]] under the dictatorship of [[Benito Mussolini]] from 
[[1922]] to his ousting in [[1943]], the name often given by historians to the Kingdom of Italy during this period is '''Fascist Italy'''. Under fascism, the Kingdom allied with [[Nazi Germany]] in World War II until 1943. In the remaining two years of [[World War II]], the Kingdom of Italy switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini as Prime Minister and banned the Fascist party. The remnant fascist state that continued fighting against the Allies was a puppet state of Nazi Germany, the "[[Italian(contracted; show full)ld that the invasion was an effort to protect the [[Roman Catholic Church]] from the anti-clerical secularist nationalist republicans of Garibaldi. Only a small portion of the Papal States around Rome remained in the control of [[Pope Pius IX]].<ref>(Smith (1997), pp23–24)</ref> Despite their differences, Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi's [[Southern Italy]] allowing it to join the union with Piedmont-Sardinia in 1860. Subsequently Cavour declared the creation of the Kingdom of Italy on 
[[February 18]], [[, 1861]], composed of both [[Northern Italy]] and Southern Italy. King [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]] of [[Piedmont-Sardinia]] from the [[House of Savoy]] was then declared [[King of Italy]]. This title had been out of use since the abdication of [[Napoleon I of France]] on [[April 6]], [[, 1814]].

[[Image:VictorEmmanuel2.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|King [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]], the first King of a united Italy.]]
Following the unification of most of Italy, tensions between the monarchists and republicans erupted. In April 1861, Garibaldi entered the Italian parliament and challenged Cavour's leadership of the government, accusing him of dividing Italy and spoke of the threat of civil war between the Kingdom in the north and Garibaldi's forces in the south. On [[June 6]], [[, 1861]], the Kingdom's strongman Cavour died. During the ensuing political instability, Garibaldi and the republicans became increasingly revolutionary in tone. Garibaldi’s arrest in 1862 set off worldwide controversy.<ref>(Smith (1997), p61)</ref>

[[Image:Giuseppe Garibaldi (1866).jpg|thumbnail|150px|left|Giuseppe Garibaldi, leader of the republican unification movement in southern Italy.]]

(contracted; show full)ops and [[Zouave#Papal Zouaves|Zouaves]], relations between Italy and the [[Holy See|Vatican]] remained sour for the next sixty years with the [[Pope]]s declaring themselves to be [[prisoner in the Vatican|prisoners in the Vatican]]. The Catholic Church frequently protested the actions of the secular and anticlerical-influenced Italian governments, refused to meet with envoys from the King and urged Catholics not to vote in Italian elections.<ref>(Smith (1997), p91)</ref> It would not be until 
[[1929]], that positive relations would be restored between the Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican after the signing of the [[Lateran Pacts]].

== Liberal period ==
===Government===
[[Image:Sommer, Giorgio (1834-1914) - n. 3931 - Galleria V. E. (Milano).jpg|thumb|200px|[[Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II]] in [[Milan]]. An architectural masterpiece created in the 1880s and named after the first King of Italy, [[Victor Emmanuel II]].]]
(contracted; show full)Italy first attempted to gain colonies through negotiations with other world powers to make colonial concessions. These negotiations failed. Italy also sent missionaries to uncolonized lands to investigate the potential for Italian colonization. The most promising and realistic of these were parts of Africa. Italian missionaries had already established a foothold at [[Massawa]] (in present day [[Eritrea]]) in the 1830s and had entered deep into Ethiopia.<ref>(Smith (1997), pp115–117)</ref>

On 
[[5 February]] [[  1885]], shortly after the fall of Egyptian rule in Khartoum, Italy took advantage of Egypt's conflict with Britain by landing soldiers at Massawa. In 1888, Italy annexed Massawa by force, creating the colony of Italian Eritrea.

(contracted; show full)emanding action against the high cost of living and demanding an end to the war.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 470</ref> In [[Milan]] in May 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries organized and engaged in rioting calling for an end to the war, and managed to close down factories and stop public transportation.<ref name="Seton_6">Seton-Watson, Pp. 471</ref>  The Italian army was forced to enter Milan with tanks and machine guns to face Bolsheviks and anarchists who fought violently until 
[[May 23]] when the army gained control of the city with almost fifty people killed (three of which were Italian soldiers) and over 800 people arrested.<ref name="Seton_6"/>

(contracted; show full)

At Piave the Italian army managed to hold off the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The opposing armies repeatedly failed afterwards in major battles such as [[Battle of Asiago]] and the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]]. The Italian Army crushed the Austrian offensive in the latter battle. Austria-Hungary ended the fighting against Italy with the armistice on 
[[11 November]] [[  1918]] which ended World War I.

[[Image:Battle of Vittorio Veneto.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Map of the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]], in which the Italian Army decisively beat the invading Austro-Hungarian army]]
[[Image:Carabineri in Palestine - cockhats.jpg|thumbnail|300px|right|Italian [[Carabinieri]] (seen in cocked hats) served in [[Palestine]] during the [[First World War]].]]

(contracted; show full)illes, in 1919, Mussolini created the ''[[Fasci di Combattimento]]'' or Combat League. It was originally dominated by patriotic socialist and [[syndicalist]] veterans who opposed the [[pacifism|pacifist]] nature of the Italian Socialist Party. The Fascists initially had a platform far more inclined to the left, promising social revolution, proportional representation, women's suffrage, and dividing private property held by estates.<ref>Smith (1997), pp284–286)</ref> On 
[[15 April]] [[  1919]], the Fascists made their debut in political violence, when a group of members from the ''Fasci di Combattimento'' attacked the offices of ''Avanti!'' Recognizing the failures of the Fascists' initial revolutionary and left-leaning policy, Mussolini moved the organization away from the left and turned the revolutionary movement into an electoral movement in 1921 named the ''Partito Nazionale Fascista'' ([[National Fascist Party]]). The party c(contracted; show full)

[[Image:Benito Mussolini Roman Salute.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Mussolini was initially a highly popular leader in Italy until Italy's military failures in World War II. Here Mussolini salutes to crowds of thousands of people.]]

On 
[[October 28]], [[, 1922]], Victor Emmanuel III selected Mussolini to become Italian Prime Minister, allowing Mussolini and the Fascist Party to pursue their political ambitions as long as they supported the monarchy and its interests. Mussolini was a very young political leader (at the age of 39) compared to other Italian prime ministers and world leaders at the time. Mussolini was called ''Il Duce'', or "The Leader" by his supporters, an unofficial title that was commonly used to describe Mussolini&#x(contracted; show full)

=== Security ===
For security of the regime, Mussolini advocated complete state authority, and created the ''[[Blackshirts|Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale]]'' or National Security Volunteer Militia in 
[[1923]], which are commonly referred to as the Blackshirts for the colour of their uniforms. Most of the Blackshirts were members from the ''Fasci di Combattimento''. A secret police force called the [[OVRA|''Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo'']] (Organisation for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism) or OVRA was created in 1927. It was led by [[Arturo Bocchini]] to crack down on opponents of the regime and Mussolini (there had been several n(contracted; show full)

[[Image:Italian empire 1940.PNG|thumb|left|The Italian Empire in 1939]]

Colonial efforts in Africa began in the 1920s, as civil war plagued [[Italian North Africa]] (''Africa Settentrionale Italiana'', or ASI) as the Arab population there refused to accept Italian colonial rule. Mussolini sent [[Marshal]] [[Rodolfo Graziani]] to lead a [[punitive pacification]] campaign against the Arab nationalists. [[Omar Mukhtar]], led the Arab resistance movement. After a much-disputed truce on 
[[3 January]] [[  1928]], the Fascist policy in Libya increased in brutality. A [[Frontier Wire (Libya)|barbed wire fence]] was built from the [[Mediterranean]] to the oasis of [[Al-Jaghbub]] to sever lines critical to the resistance. Soon afterwards, the colonial administration began the wholesale deportation of the people of the [[Jebel Akhdar]] to deny the rebels the support of the local population. The forced migration of more than 100,000 people ended in concentration camps in [[Suluq]] and [[Al-'Aghela]] where tens of t(contracted; show full)r Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]] was soon proclaimed [[Rulers and heads of state of Ethiopia|Emperor of Abyssinia]]. The international consequences for Italy's belligerence resulted in its isolation at the [[League of Nations]]. France and Britain quickly abandoned their trust of Mussolini. The only nation to back Italy's aggression was Nazi Germany. After being condemned by the League of Nations, the [[Grand Council of Fascism]] declared Italy's decision to leave the League on 
[[December 11]], [[, 1937]] and Mussolini denounced the League as a mere "tottering temple".<ref>Gilbert, Martin (introduction). 1989. The Illustrated London News: Marching to War, 1933-1939. Toronto, Canada: Doubleday Canada Ltd. Pp 137</ref> 

(contracted; show full)their homes being burned to the ground.<ref>Sarti, p191.</ref> After the occupation of [[Ethiopia]], the Fascist regime endorsed [[racial segregation]] to reduce the number of mixed offspring in Italian colonies which they claimed would "pollute" the Italian race.<ref name="Sarti">Sarti, p190.</ref> Marital and sexual relationships between Italians and Africans in its colonies were made a criminal offense when the Fascist regime implemented decree-law No. 880 of 
[[April 19]], [[, 1937]] which gave sentences of one to five years imprisonment to Italians caught in such relationships.<ref name="Sarti"/>  The law did not give any sentences to native Africans, as the Fascist government claimed that only those Italians were to blame for damaging the prestige of their race.<ref name="Sarti"/> Despite racist language used in some propaganda, the Fascist regime accepted recruitment of native Africans who wanted to join Italy's colonial armed forces and native African colonial recruits were displayed in propaganda.[http://www.germaniainternational.com/images/bookgijuinit13.jpg][http://www.germaniainternational.com/images/bookgijuinit14.jpg] In [[Italian Libya]], Mussolini downplayed racist policies as he attempted to earn the trust of Arab leaders there. Individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue a career or employment were guaranteed to [[Libyans]] by December 1934.<ref name="Sarti"/> In famous trip to Libya in 1937, a propaganda event was created when on [[March 18]] Mussolini posed with [[Arab]] dignitaries who gave him an honourary "[[Sword of Islam]]" (that had actually been made in [[Florence]]) which was to symbolize Mussolini as a protector of the [[Muslim]] Arab peoples there.<ref>Sarti, p194.</ref> In 1939, laws were passed that allowed Muslims to be permitted to join the [[National Fascist Party]] and in particular the [[Muslim Association of the Lictor]] (''Associazione Musulmana del Littorio'') for Muslim Libya, and (contracted; show full)

[[Image:Chamberlain, Mussolini, Halifax, Ciano.png|right|thumb|240px|Mussolini and foreign minister Count [[Galeazzo Ciano]] meeting with British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] and [[E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Viscount Halifax]] at the [[Rome Opera House]] in 1939.]]
After Germany annexed [[Czechoslovakia]], Mussolini decided to capture [[Albania]] to avoid becoming second-rate member of Axis. On 
[[April 7]], [[Italian invasion of Albania|Italy invaded Albania]]. After short campaign Albania was occupied,  and its parliament crowned Victor Emmanuel III [[King of Albania]]. The historical justification for the annexation of Albania laid in the ancient history of the [[Roman Empire]] in which the region of Albania had been an early conquest for the Romans, even before northern Italy had been taken by Roman forces. But obviously by the time of annexation, little connection to Italy remained amongst [[Albanians]].(contracted; show full)

After Italy became isolated in 1936, the government had little choice but to work with Germany to regain a stable bargaining position in international affairs and reluctantly abandoned its support of Austrian independence from Germany. On 
[[October 28]], [[, 1937]], Mussolini declared Italy's support of Germany regaining its colonies lost in [[World War I]], declaring"
{{Quotation|"A great people such as the German people must regain the place which is due to it, and which it used to have beneath the sun of Africa." ''Benito Mussolini, October 28, 1937.''<ref>Gilbert. 1989. Pp 137</ref>}} 

(contracted; show full)gt;Smith, 1997. p401</ref> Mussolini was repulsed by the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] agreement where Germany and the [[Soviet Union]] agreed to partition the [[Second Polish Republic]] into German and Soviet zones for an impending invasion. The Fascist government saw this as a betrayal of the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]], but decided to remain officially silent.<ref>Smith, 1997. 401</ref>

== World War II and the fall of Fascism ==

When Germany [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|invaded Poland]] on 
[[1 September]] [[  1939]] beginning [[World war II]], Italy did not initially join the German side. Italy waited until the threat of [[French Third Republic|France]] was dealt with during the [[Battle of France]] before declaring war on Britain and France on [[10 June]] [[  1940]]. Neither Germany nor Italy had expected war to break out so soon. This was especially damaging to Italy which required more time to fully re-arm and organize its industries for war. From the start, Italy was largely a subordinate partner to Germany during the war.

(contracted; show full)llace"/> These actions left Rome's citizens to live in the harsh cold and were on the verge of starvation.<ref>Wallace, 1979. Pp. 41-42</ref> German authorities began arresting able-bodied Roman men to be conscripted into forced labour.<ref>Wallace, 1979. Pp. 45</ref> On June 4, 1944, the German occupation of Rome came to an end as German forces retreated as the Allies advanced.

Mussolini was captured by communist [[Italian partisans]] while trying to escape Italy. On 
[[28 April]] [[  1945]], the communist partisans executed him.  Afterwards, the bodies of Mussolini, his mistress, and about fifteen other Fascists were taken to [[Milan]] where they were brutally abused and disfigured by mobs of angry Italians. The mauled bodies were then hung up on meat hooks for public display. Days later on [[2 May]] [[  1945]], the German Army (''[[Wehrmacht Heer]]'') in Italy surrendered.

== Dissolution of the Kingdom of Italy ==
[[Image:Umberto II de savoie 1920ca .JPG.jpg|right|thumb|200px|left|[[Umberto II of Italy]], the Kingdom's last King in 1946.]]
The aftermath of World War II left Italy with a destroyed economy, a divided society, and anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime for the previous twenty years. Anger flourished as well over Italy's embarrassment of being occupied by the Germans and then by the Allies.

Even prior to the rise of the Fascists, the monarchy was seen to have performed poorly, with society extremely divided between the wealthy north and poor south. World War I resulted in Italy making few gains and was seen as what fostered the rise of Fascism. These frustrations compacted into a revival of the Italian republican movement.

Following Victor Emmanuel III's abdication as king in 1946, his son, the new king [[Umberto II of Italy|Umberto II]], was pressured by the threat of civil war to call a referendum to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. On [[2 June]] [[  1946]], the republican side won 54% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic. Umberto II abdicated the Italian throne, and a [[Birth of the Italian Republic|new republic]] was born with bitter resentment against the [[House of Savoy]]. All male members of the Savoy family were barred from entering Italy in 1948. This ban was only repealed in 2002.

== Military structure ==
(contracted; show full)[[pt:Reino de Itália]]
[[ro:Regatul Italiei (1861-1946)]]
[[ru:Королевство Италия (1861—1946)]]
[[sl:Kraljevina Italija]]
[[fi:Italian kuningaskunta (1861–1946)]]
[[th:ราชอาณาจักรอิตาลี]]
[[vec:Reino d'Itałia (1861-1946)]]
[[zh:意大利王国]]