Why Italy

What are some of the high points and low points in Italian history?

i need some help on a project! please help?

Public Comments

1. There are no low points in Italian history!!!
2. According to later Roman historians, the city of ROME, founded c.753 BC -probably by local LATINS and SABINES- was ruled by Etruscan kings from 616 BC. After the expulsion of the last of these kings, the power of the Etruscans declined as the Romans began the unification of Italy. This process reached its final stage when the right of Roman citizenship was extended throughout Italy in 89 BC, and with the subsequent diffusion of Roman institutions and culture from the Alps to Sicily, and Latin as the general language. http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/RomanEmpire.htm Holy Roman Empire The (second) medieval revival of the Western Roman Empire was referred to as The Holy Roman Empire which lasted from 962 AD to 1806. By the year 1250, much of its power had vanished and by ca. 1650 the empire had lost virtually all power. Nevertheless, the Empire endured until 1806, when it was abolished by Emperor Francis II. Francis II ruled thereafter as Francis I of the Austrian Empire (established in 1804). Usually, the king of Germany became emperor -considered by Europeans the title of most prestige- as soon as he was crowned by the pope. Given the many successes of the dukes of Saxony in fighting the Hungarians during the 10th century, most were chosen kings of Germany. The first Saxonian to become king was Henry the Fowler (919-936). He was followed by his son Otto who became King Otto I in 936 and the first Holy Roman Emperor from 962 to 973. http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/RomanEmpire.htm The Rise of the Italian City-States In this theatre of political fragmentation, many Italian cities began to assert their autonomy. During the 11th century an elaborate pattern of communal government began to evolve under the leadership of a burgher class grown wealthy in trade, banking, and such industries as woolen textiles. Many cities, especially Milan, Genoa, Venice, Florence, and Pisa, became powerful and independent City-States. Resisting the efforts of both the old nobles and the emperors to control them, these "Comuni" promoted the end of feudalism in northern Italy replacing it with deeply rooted identification with the city as opposed to the larger region or country. The cities were often troubled by violent and divisive rivalries among their citizens, the most famous being the papal-imperial struggle between the Guelphs (the supporters of the popes) and the Ghibellines (the supporters of the emperors). Despite such divisions, however, the cities contributed significantly to the economic, social, and rising cultural energy of Italy. An intellectual revival, stimulated in part by the freer atmosphere of the cities and in part by the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Latin writings, gave rise to the humanist attitudes and ideas that formed the basis of the Renaissance. About the same time, many of the communal governments of the city-states fell under the rule of dictators called "signori", who curbed their factionalism and became hereditary rulers. In Milan the Visconti family rose to power in the 13th century, to be succeeded by the Sforza family in the mid-15th century, a few decades after the Medici family had seized control of Florence. Meanwhile the Este family ruled Ferrara from the 13th through the 16th century. Although they subverted the political institutions of the communes, the signori (who became known as principi, with royal titles) were instrumental in advancing the cultural and civic life of Renaissance Italy. Under the patronage of the Medici, for example, Florence became the most magnificent and prestigious center of the arts in Italy. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Italian ideas and style influenced all of Europe. http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/ItalianRenaissance.htm Italy was plunged into deep social and political crisis by the war. Veterans, unemployed workers, desperate peasants, and a frightened middle class demanded changes, and the 1919 elections suddenly made the Socialist and the new Popular (Catholic) parties the largest in parliament. While extreme nationalists agitated for territorial expansion, strikes and threats of revolution unsettled the nation. http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/FascistPeriod.htm Postwar Italy Between 1945 and 1948 a new Italian nation emerged from the disaster of Fascism and war. On June 2nd, 1946 a popular election abolished the monarchy in favor of a republic; a new constitution was adopted the next year. The Christian Democrats, the Communists, and the Socialists became the leading political parties in the country. The largest of these parties, the Christian Democrats, first under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi, dominated the Italian government after 1948. De Gasperi stressed industrial growth, agricultural reform, and close cooperation with the United States and the Vatican. With massive U.S. aid, Italy underwent a remarkable economic recovery that saw rapid industrial expansion and a sharp increase in the standard of living. Italy joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949, the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, and the European Common Market (European Community) in 1958. The 1960s were marked by continued prosperity and a lessening of tensions between right and left. In the early 1970s the Italian Communists, led by Enrico Berlinguer, became prominent advocates of Euro communism, a doctrine stressing independence of the USSR. http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/PostwarItaly.htm More here: http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/ItalyHistory.html Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean area, deeply influencing European culture as well. Important cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times. After Magna Graecia, the Etruscan civilization and especially the Roman Republic and Empire that dominated this part of the world for many centuries came an Italy whose people would make immeasurable contributions to the development of European philosophy, science, and art during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Dominated by city-states for much of the medieval and Renaissance period, the Italian peninsula was eventually unified amidst much struggle in the 19th and 20th centuries. source and lots more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Italy