Greeks settled in the southern tip of the Italian Peninsula in the eighth and seventh
centuries B.C.; Etruscans, Romans, and others inhabited the central and northern mainland. The peninsula
subsequently was unified under the Roman Republic. The neighboring islands also came under Roman control
by the third century B.C.; by the first century A.D., the Roman Empire effectively dominated the
Mediterranean world.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in the fifth century A.D., the
peninsula and islands were subjected to a series of invasions, and political unity was lost. Italy became
an oft-changing succession of small states, principalities, and kingdoms, which fought among themselves
and were subject to ambitions of foreign powers. Popes of Rome ruled central Italy; rivalries between the
popes and the Holy Roman Emperors, who claimed Italy as their domain, often made the peninsula a
battleground.
The commercial prosperity of northern and central Italian cities, beginning in the 11th century, and the
influence of the Renaissance mitigated somewhat the effects of these medieval political rivalries.
Although Italy declined after the 16th century, the Renaissance had strengthened the idea of a single
Italian nationality.
By the early 19th century, a nationalist movement developed and led to the
reunification of Italy--except for Rome--in the 1860s. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of
Savoy was proclaimed King of Italy. Rome was incorporated in 1870. From 1870 until 1922, Italy was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament elected under limited suffrage.
During World War I, Italy renounced its standing alliance with Germany
and Austria-Hungary and, in 1915, entered the war on the side of the Allies. Under the postwar settlement,
Italy received some former Austrian territory along the northeast frontier. In 1922, Benito Mussolini came
to power and, over the next few years, eliminated political parties, curtailed personal liberties, and
installed a fascist dictatorship termed the Corporate State. The king, with little or no effective power,
remained titular head of state.
Italy allied with Germany and declared war on the United Kingdom and France in 1940. In 1941, Italy -
with the other Axis powers, Germany and Japan - declared war on the
United States and the Soviet Union. Following the Allied invasion of
Sicily in 1943, the King dismissed Mussolini and appointed Marshal
Pietro Badoglio as Premier. The Badoglio government declared war on Germany, which quickly occupied
most of the country and freed Mussolini, who led a brief-lived regime in the north. An anti-fascist
popular resistance movement grew during the last 2 years of the war, harassing German forces before they
were driven out in April 1945. A 1946 plebiscite ended the monarchy, and a constituent assembly was
elected to draw up plans for the republic.
Under the 1947 peace treaty, minor adjustments were made in Italy's frontier with France, the eastern
border area was transferred to Yugoslavia, and the area around the city of Trieste was designated a free
territory. In 1954, the free territory, which had remained under the administration of US-UK forces
(Zone A, including the city of Trieste) and Yugoslav forces (Zone B), was divided between Italy and
Yugoslavia, principally along the zonal boundary. This arrangement was made permanent by the
Italian-Yugoslav Treaty of Osimo, ratified in 1977 (currently being discussed by Italy,
Slovenia, and Croatia).
Under the 1947 peace treaty, Italy also relinquished its overseas territories and certain Mediterranean
islands.
The Roman Catholic Church's status in Italy has been determined, since its temporal powers ended in 1870,
by a series of accords with the Italian Government. Under the Lateran Pacts of 1929, which were confirmed
by the present constitution, the state of Vatican City is
recognized by Italy as an independent, sovereign entity. While preserving that recognition, in 1984,
Italy and the Vatican updated several provisions of the 1929 accords; included was the end of Roman
Catholicism as Italy's formal state religion.
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