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Formation of an Independent Italy
National Parliament declared the various states of the Italian Peninsula as Italy, a kingdom under one ruler, King Victor Emmanuel II. (Venice and Rome did not join the kingdom initially but joined in 1870 when the French army left the region during the Franco-Prussian War.) -
Papal States taken over by New Nation of Italy
Influenced by the aftermath of the Franco-Austrian War.
States voted to join Piedmont-Sardinia with the ultimate goal of unifying the entire Italian peninsula. While also valuing the fact that Piedmont-Sardinia was one of the most powerful states in the Italian Peninsula, due partly to Garibaldi's "Kingdom of Two Sicilies"(1860) which fostered the inclusion of the Italian Southern Peninsula. -
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Failure of First Italo-Ethiopian War with the Battle of Adwa
Between Italy and Ethiopia (with France + Russia) (Part of the Scramble for Africa)
Ethiopians: vastly numerically superior, well-armed with modern firearms and aided by Russia and France with volunteers, military advisers, army training, and the sale of weapons.
Italy: young and mostly poor nation and equipped with antiquated weapons -
Battle of Adwa (part of First Italo-Ethiopian War)
Ethiopia has 97,000 soldiers, while Italy had only 17,700 soldiers. Outcome: Menelik (Ethiopia) secured the Treaty of Addis Ababa in October, which delineated the borders of Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize the independence of Ethiopia. It provided a metaphorical ‘head’ for the nation. It became a permanent location for the entire country to look upon for support and for guidance. -
Battle for Grain
Incentivized farmers to grow so we can increase our supply so we can have more food so we don’t have to rely on other countries for food.
Resulted in an increase in available land for farming and grain supply. But also resulted in a misallocation of resources that messed up the industry of these markets. Fruit and wine exports decreased. They had to import olive oil which they known for as well as fruit, etc. because they were encouraged to not produce anything else but grain. -
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Italy invades and takes over Libya
The Italian press: campaign for the invasion of Libya (end of March 1911). Depicted as rich of minerals, full of water, the population was considered hostile to the Ottoman Empire and friendly to the Italians. and defended by only 4,000 Ottoman troops. Socialists (strong influence over public opinion): opposed, ineffective opposition
Ultimatum (09.26-27) to Ottomans, replied that they'd give rule to Italy but keep influence on f. policy (like in Egypt) and Giolitti refused, war was started. -
Mussolini begins work as Editor for the Socialist Party newspaper Avanti
Mussolini begins work as Editor for Avanti, the Socialist Party newspaper, in Milan. He advocated for revolutionary violence against the liberals. -
Matteotti Crisis
A political confrontation between liberals and the Fascist government of Italy.
Sparked by the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti, a Socialist opposition deputy, by Fascist thugs in June 1924.
The crisis had threatened to bring about the downfall of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini but instead ended with Mussolini as the absolute dictator of Italy. -
Mussolini kicked out of Socialist Party
Mussolini kicked out of Socialist Party for pro-nationalistic sentiments regarding WWI. He slowly dropped the socialist idea of class struggle and advocated for the involvement of Italians in the war, He showed support for World War I, attacked opponents to the war, and began criticizing the entire party for being weak. The socialists tired of this quickly and expelled him. -
Treaty of London
Secret treaty between neutral Italy and the Triple Entente ( the Allied forces of France, Britain, and Russia) to bring Italy into World War I.
Allies: wanted Italy’s participation because of its border with Austria.
Italy was promised Trieste, southern Tyrol, northern Dalmatia, and other territories in return for a pledge to enter the war within a month. Despite the opposition of most Italians, who favored neutrality,
Italy joined the war against Austria-Hungary in May. -
Fascio di Combattimento formed in Milan
New fascist group formed from multiple interventionalist groups.
mishmash of radical nationalist ideas, with strong doses of anticlericalism and republicanism. Proposals included the confiscation of war profits, the eight-hour day, and the vote for women. -
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Beginning of Biennio Rosso ("Two Red Years"): Time of intense social conflict in Italy, following WW1.
The population was confronted with high unemployment, rising inflation, and a significant increase in the price of basic goods, and further aggravated by mass demobilization of the Royal Italian Army at the end of the war. characterized by mass strikes, worker manifestations, self-management experiments through land and factories occupations. Tension was rising since the final years of the war. Some contemporary observers considered Italy to be on the brink of a revolution by the end of 1918. -
D’Annunzio takes Fiume
He did so in opposition to the decisions of the Great Powers on the fate of the mixed Italian-Croatian city, and the Italian government in Rome.
Although the secret Treaty of London (April 26, 1915) had assigned Fiume to Yugoslavia, the Italians claimed it at the Paris Peace Conference on the principle of self-determination. -
Mussolini forms alliance with Giolitti
Mussolini forms National Bloc electoral alliance with Giolitti; The National Bloc was a right-wing coalition of political parties in Italy formed for the 1921 general election. -
Mussolini founds the Facist Party (PNF)
The National Fascist Party was rooted in Italian nationalism and the desire to restore and expand Italian territories, which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay.
They claimed that modern Italy is the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy and historically supported the creation of an Italian Empire to provide living space for colonization by Italian settlers and to establish control over the Mediterranean Sea. -
March on Rome and Mussolini becomes Prime Minister
organized mass demonstration where Fascists used militia squads, the Squadrismo, also known as the "Blackshirts" due to their uniform.
resulted in Mussolini and the Fascist Party's ascension to power. -
Corfu Incident
A battle between Greece and Italy
Triggered when an Italian general heading a commission to resolve a border dispute between Albania and Greece was murdered in Greek territory.
This caused Mussolini to order a naval bombardment on Corfu, Greece. After the Greeks appealed to the League of Nations, the Italians were ordered to evacuate but Greece was forced to pay Italy an indemnity.
This boosted Mussolini's homefront domestic power. -
Acerbo Law passed
Gave 2/3 of the seats in Parliament to the party that received the largest number of votes.
The purpose of it was to give Mussolini's fascist party a majority of deputies. Although Mussolini insisted that he wanted to save Parliament rather than undermine it, the Acerbo Law enabled the Fascists to take control of Parliament the following year and impose a dictatorship. -
Aventine Secession
the withdrawal of at least 150 left and center deputies from the Italian Chamber of Deputies to show their opposition to the rule of the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
But their opposition was ineffective: it failed to keep public opinion aroused against the crimes of Fascist rule, while the lack of critics in the Chamber made it easier for Mussolini to become an absolute dictator. -
Locarno Treaty signed
seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland.
the Allied powers and new states of Central and Eastern Europe wanted to secure the post-war territorial settlement and return normalizing relations with the defeated the Weimar Republic.
It also stated that Germany would never go to war with other countries.
Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by Locarno treaties, and eastern borders of Germany with Poland, which were open for revision. -
Battle for Lira and Land
an attempt to raise the claims of Italy becoming a great power, with strong currency, sustainability and stability although it was originally aimed to reduce inflation,
Land: Mussolini drained marshes and swamps which was significant as it allowed the establishment of small farms and work for the unemployed.
Lira: Mussolini artificially raised the value of the lira resulting in a later recession that worsened when the Great Depression hit. -
Battle for Births
The Battle for Births was one of four economic battles that took place in Fascist Italy, the others being the Battle for Grain, the Battle for the Lira, and the Battle for Land, which ended in 1950.
A fascist regulation that incentivized women to have more kids by saying that if a family has more than 6 kids, they don't have to pay taxes. Mussolini wanted more members of the younger generation so they could join the army, so it can grow stronger as part of his developing foreign policy. -
Kellogg-Briand Treaty signed
Agreement to outlaw war as a instrument of national policy and promote peace, one of many international efforts to prevent another World War, but it had little effect in stopping the rising militarism of the 1930s or preventing World War II. Nearly all nations signed.
self-defense or obligatory war arose from postwar treaties of alliance (Monroe Doctrine). These conditions, plus the treaty’s failure to establish means of enforcement, rendered it completely ineffective. -
Lateran Treaty with Pope
one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 between Italy and the Vatican (Holy See) that made the Church more internationally recognized defying homefront expectations that Pope power would be diminished. It was the birth of the independence of the Vatican as a modern, sovereign state with the pope as its leader, who recognized the state of Italy with Rome as its capital. The status of the two states changed with each recognizing its territory and responsibilities. -
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Abyssinian Crisis: diplomatic crisis between Italy and Ethiopia over Italy's policy of aggression against Ethiopia
Italy: vengeful for defeat in Adowa + result of Welwel Incident (1934) marked an acceleration of the ongoing conflict.
significantly undermined the credibility of the LON and encouraging fascist Italy to ally itself with Nazi Germany and contributed to the lack of peace in Europe through the progressive constitution of two opposing sides.
2nd Italian-Ethiopian War: part of Italy’s second attempt to seize the East African country.
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Stresa Front
agreement between B+ F+I that formalized opposition to German rearmament and committed them to work together against Germany. It was negotiated at the same time as the Abyssinian Crisis but didn't mention Abyssinia. So Mussolini felt comfortable invading it without intervention from B or F.
aim: reaffirm Locarno Treaties + resist any future attempt by Germany to change the Treaty of Versailles
began to collapse after UK signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement -
Rome-Berlin Axis Treaty signed
Coalition formed between Italy and Germany promising to support each other in the event of a war (which they both knew was coming) and was formalized by the Pact of Steel in 1939.
Italian invasion and annexation of Abyssinia ruptured Rome’s relations with B + F and prompted a re-relationship with Nazi Germany
Origin of Axis Powers, followed by a series of agreements between Germany and Italy that developed a mutual relationship between Mussolini and Hilter (Spanish Civ. War: their opportunity) -
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Italian involvement with Spanish Civil War
When Benito Mussolini gained power in Italy he began to develop contacts with right-wing forces in Spain. On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War Mussolini failed to keep his promise of immediate aid.
prominent role in the offensive at Guadalajara.
sent 80,000 men: 6,000-Italian Air Force, 45,000- Army 29,000: Fascist Militia 1,800 cannon 1,400 mortars 3,400 machine-guns 6,800 motor vehicles 157 tanks, 213 bombers, 44 planes. 414 fighters. -
Munich Conference (General Sirovy Czech premier: ‘I am fulfilling the most painful duty which can ever have fallen upon me, a duty which is worse than dying ... the forces arrayed against us oblige us to recognize their superiority and act accordingly.’
Britain, France, and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex Sudetenland (Czech)
Hitler previously started rearming Germany in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, and annexed Austria in 1938. Wanted for its substantial German population and important industrial resources -
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Italy invades Albania
Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were linked through ethnic heritage to Italians used to be in the Roman Empire
Albania: important culturally and historically to Fascist nationalist aims Italy: 100,000 men supported by 600 airplanes, only 22,000 participated. Albania: 15,000 troops.
Overall, the Italian invasion was poorly planned, it only succeeded because Albanian resistance was worse. 1939: Albania withdrew from the LON following Italy in 1937, consistent with Italy's aims. -
Italy enters WWII on side of Germany
entered on the Axis side as the defeat of France became apparent. Italy's war declaration had homefront support. They also switched sides because Italy decided that they weren't going to get the territorial spoils that they were promised before.
Axis Alliance -
Mussolini brought down by coup during WWII
Despite initial Axis military successes, the Italian military position quickly spun out of control, especially in North Africa. As the Italian situation worsened, Mussolini lost the confidence of his own party and in his own reign. Mussolini seemed drained at the end
some argued: dictatorship brought Italy to the brink of disaster elevated incompetents to levels of power, and alienated large portions of the population.
King Victor Emmanuel and Grand Council voted him out of power and arrested. -
Mussolini killed
As the Allies fought their way up the Italian peninsula, Axis power defeat was certain. Didn't want to get caught by B or US and knowing that the communist partisans, who had been fighting some Italian fascist soldiers, would try him as a war criminal, he settled on escape to a neutral country, Switzerland, where he was shot by Italian partisans.
