The Italian Peninsula is one of the three main peninsulas of the Southern part of Europe (and the other two peninsulas are the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula), each spread apart 1,000 km from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula has always been bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west, the Ionian Sea on the south, and the Adriatic Sea on the east. The inner part of the Apennine Peninsula contains the Apennine Mountains, from which it takes its own name, the northern part has very large plains and the coasts are all lined with cliffs.
Diggings all over Italy reveal a modern human occurrence held back to what they called, the “Paleolithic period”, about 200,000 years ago. Back in about the 8th and 7th centuries BC Greek colonies were made all along the coast of Sicily and along the southern part of the peninsula of Italy. The Romans used to call this place the "Magna Graecia" this place was severely inhabited by the Greeks. At the start, Rome was a very small agricultural town founded circa the 8th century that formed over the course over the centuries into a big colossal empire surrounding the entire Mediterranean Sea. In this case the Ancient Greeks and Roman cultures all combined into one big civilization. Both of them started working together to complete things.
20th Century History
During World War I Italy combined its alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and in 1915 entered the war on the side with all their Allies. Under all the postwar settlements, Italy received a little bit of the former Austrian territory along the northeast border. In about 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power and, the next couple years, removed governmental parties and insta...
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.... The peninsula again becomes a political individual, as in 1861, it becomes the modern nation of Italy. In all other periods of prehistory and history his most desirable of countries has been shared and fought over by several rival groups.
At about 700 B.C. the majority of the nations in Italy are relatively recent appearances, either by the land from the north or by sea across the Adriatic. They are called, like before, Indo-Europeans, speaking the subgroup of languages known as Italic. But the main group at this time, the Etruscans, are of another different beginning. Where they have come from remains an issue of a much educated discussion, but about 500 B.C. they control most of central Italy.
At this time the southern part of the peninsula together with Sicily, is dominated by Greek colonies - mostly developed in coastal regions from about 700 B.C. onwards.
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC), London and New York: Routledge, 1995
country. The Italians did not take help or aid from anyone for any reason. They brought
However, Hitler came to power constitutionally while Mussolini staged a coup d'etat, i.e... ... middle of paper ... ... ifist and anti-Nazi. Seeing the fragility of the Stresa Front, Mussolini joined Hitler subsequently in territorial expansion. There saw Italian invasion of Abyssinia and Albania.
Imperial Rome, during the first century A.D. was expanding it's boundaries by adding new territories. They expanded into northern Europe and Britain and conquered or attempted to conquer various types of people. Based on my reading of Tacitus' The Agricola and The Germania, I have knowledge of the life and customs of the Britons, subject of the Agricola, and the Germans, subject of the Germania. This of course being the Romans, and more specifically Tacitus,' observation and view of these groups of people.
First of all, this is determined by Italy's weak and foreign expansion policy. Secondly, this is also determined by Italy's national interests. Third, after the outbreak of World War I, the Allied Powers all met the requirements of the Italian territory.
Italy embarked on a long rebuilding journey. No matter how hard Italy tries to forget Fascism, it will always leave an everlasting mark on society there, and it will go down in history as the
Only thirty years after the Piedmontese army marched into Rome to unite Italy under one government, the country suddenly found itself on the brink of the twentieth century and a rapidly changing world. The twentieth century would mark the beginning of great changes throughout Europe, and Italy would not be left untouched. What set the stage for these changes, though, were the years just prior to, and directly after 1900.
West and Russia, Scandanavia, and the Ottomans in the East. As Italy defends against France
Italy in World War II World War II, which only lasted about five years, changed the course of history forever, and affected millions of lives. Among the major nations that were involved in the war, Benito Mussolini and his Italian army sought to settle their differences with many nations. Benito’s fascist views, his idea of a nation built by one race, and his relationship with Adolf Hitler ultimately led to his involvement in the war. His responsibility, in essence, was to ally himself with the superpowers of the world, and lead his people into a war that they could not fight. " Il Duce", (the leader), was the name that Benito Mussolini gave himself as his rise to power in Italy continued.
"Rome, History of Ancient Rome From Its Founding To Collapse." World History International: World History Essays From Prehistory To The Present. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .
Between these years, the States of Italy were invaded on a number occasions by armies from France, Spain and other countries. At this time, the Italian States were very vulnerable; there were conflicts in Italy itself, they had out of date military equipment and Italy had insecure frontiers and unreliable allies – “That Italy failed to organise herself against invaders was due to the selfish policies.” This gave outside powers reason to use Italy as their battleground. Italy was a very wealthy country, showing this wealth, a Florentine Historian, Guicciardini said “Italy has never enjoyed such prosperity or known so favourable a situation” Also, because the Pope lived in Italy, it gave enemies more incentive to fight in Italy as opposed to any other country.
The allied powers promised Italy land in exchange for joining them against the central powers during WWI. But, Italy was mostly ignored during the Treaty of Versailles and received very little land. This can be seen as one of the reasons Mussolini aligned with the Axis powers in WWII. He knew that the allies did not treated Italy fairly so he went against them in the next war. He also began invading countries in Africa such as Ethiopia so that Italy could establish itself as the rightful leading power of the Mediterranean. While the invasion of other countries may seem bad, Mussolini did it to increase the power of his own country. He fought for Italy first, proving himself a true nationalist. Another example of this can be found when Hitler came to power and it became apparent to Mussolini that Austria was threatened. He wanted Italy to have influence in Austria, so he threatened to go to war with Germany in the event of an invasion of
In 1882 Italy, angry at France chiefly because France had forestalled an Italian advance by occupying Tunis, signed another secret treaty, which bound it with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Thus was the Triple Alliance formed. It was periodically renewed until 1913. In 1882 Serbia joined the alliance, in effect, through a treaty with Austria-Hungary. Romania joined the group in 1883, and a powerful Central European bloc was created. Italy was from the first not so solidly bound to either of its allies as Germany and Austria-Hungary were to each other. Italy was in fact a rival of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans and particularly for control of the Adriatic; moreover, there remained unsettled territorial problems (see irredentism). The Triple Alliance, however, turned diplomatic history into new channels. 4
In the early years of the twentieth century, Italy has created a new system of government, however suffered social and economic conditions. Improvements were made however, poverty and literacy were still problems that have not been solved well. While entering World War I, the nation was neutral up until joining the British and French in exchange for certain advantages. However, it was unsuccessful as Italy failed to take control of the territories that it claimed at the Versailles Peace Conference, and suffered significant losses. The ideology of fascism occurred when the power of Italy was shrinking and the idea of being a pacifist became weak.