Empire · since 1861 · Europe
Kingdom of Italy and Italian Republic
Also known as Kingdom of Italy, Italy, Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia-Piedmont, Libya (IT), Italian Somaliland, Eritrea (Italy), Ethiopia (Italy)
For centuries Italy was divided among rival states and foreign powers. In the Risorgimento, or resurgence, the Kingdom of Sardinia, ruled by the House of Savoy from Turin, led unification: its prime minister Cavour allied with France against Austria in 1859, Garibaldi's volunteers conquered the south in 1860, and Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of Italy in 1861.
Venice followed in 1866 and Rome in 1870, becoming the capital. Italy took colonies in Eritrea, Somalia and Libya and gained Trieste and South Tyrol after the First World War. Benito Mussolini's Fascists ruled from 1922, conquered Ethiopia in 1936 and joined Hitler in the Second World War, which ended in defeat and the loss of all colonies. A referendum in 1946 abolished the monarchy and created the Italian Republic.
- Years
- since 1861
- Capital
- Turin, then Florence (1865), then Rome (1871)
- Greatest extent
- 1940, about 3.80 million km²
- Region
- Europe
c. 3.8M km² in 1938 (Harrison 2000), including Libya and Italian East Africa; Albania, annexed in 1939, added c. 29,000 km²
Legacy
Italy became a founding member of the European Community and one of the world's largest economies, though the gap between its industrial north and poorer south dates back to unification.
Rulers
- Victor Emmanuel II 1861–1878
King of Sardinia who became the first King of Italy
- Camillo di Cavour 1852–1861
Sardinian prime minister who masterminded unification
- Umberto I 1878–1900
Reign saw the first colonies in Eritrea and Somalia; assassinated
- Victor Emmanuel III 1900–1946
Appointed Mussolini in 1922
- Benito Mussolini 1922–1943
Fascist dictator who conquered Ethiopia and allied with Hitler
- Alcide De Gasperi 1945–1953
Prime minister who rebuilt Italy as a democratic republic
Realms on the map
- Kingdom of Italy 587–1946
- House of Savoy 1564–1720
- Kingdom of Sardinia 1721–1861
- Italian Republic 1803–1804
- Italian Nationalists 1848
- Italian Africa 1890–1943
- Republic of Italy since 1946
Wars
- Napoleonic Wars 18 May 1803 – 20 November 1815
- First Italo-Ethiopian War January 1895 – 26 October 1896
- First World War 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
- Second World War 1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945