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permanent ambassadors. Diplomacy became much more important as a result of the constant warfare between Italian city-states. A new style of diplomacy was developed in response to the competitive, power seeking, and self-conscious governments of the Italian city-states (Mattingly 1955). The governments of the Italian city- states saw the effectiveness of permanent ambassadors in their ability to receive information quickly. Second, wars are costly and winning negotiations through diplomacy was preferred. The establishment of permanent ambassadors interrupted Italian consolidation because their occasional success prevented continual warfare. Without continual warfare, a successful hegemon never emerged.
In addition to the establishment of peacekeeping mechanisms, the domestic organization and politics of the Italian city-states also interrupted consolidation. The Italian city-states experienced many stages of political transition. Upon newly attained autonomy, the Italian entities had to establish a new form of government. The uncertainty of who was to run the newly emerged city-state or commune led to great troubles and exposed the commune’s gravest deficiencies (Martines 1978). Social groups and leading families, each strived to devise a political arrangement by which they would rule over the commune (Martines 1978). This power struggle led to violent conflicts and great political instability. During a period when many modern European states were in the process of being united into roughly their present shape, the Italian peninsula remained divided among competing actors focused on ruling the city-states (Pullan 1975).
In addition to the power struggle during the formation of the communes or city-states, class conflict also de...

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...ror Maximilian I, King Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, King Ferdinand V of Aragón, against the republic of Venice to check its territorial expansion (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2013). Throughout the Italian wars, various Italian city-states opposed or assisted either the French armies or the Hapsburgs. The Battle of Pavia ultimately resulted in a victorious Hapsburg empire and the end of French dominance over the Italian peninsula (Konstam 1996). The Italian city-states contained power-seeking and insecure elites whom saw an alliance with a foreign power as beneficial. The Italian city-states divided amongst the French and the Hapsburgs, instead of uniting against foreign invaders. The division of the city-states and alliances with foreign powers interrupted Italian’s process of unification.
The many mechanism Italian city-states, faced in consolidating

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