122-692: Timeline The Italian colonial empire ( Italian : Impero coloniale italiano ), also known as the Italian Empire ( Impero italiano ) between 1936 and 1941, was founded in Africa in the 19th century. It comprised the colonies , protectorates , concessions and dependencies of the Kingdom of Italy . In Africa, the colonial empire included the territories of present-day Libya , Eritrea , Somalia and Ethiopia (the last three being officially named " Africa Orientale Italiana ", AOI); outside Africa, Italy possessed
244-615: A League of Nations mandate of the former German Cameroon and a free hand in Ethiopia from France in return for Italian support against Germany (see Stresa Front ). This was refused by French Prime Minister Édouard Herriot , who was not yet sufficiently worried about the prospect of a German resurgence. In its second invasion of Ethiopia in 1935–36, Italy was successful and it merged its new conquest with its older east African colonies to create Italian East Africa ( Italian : Africa Orientale Italiana ). On 9 May 1936 Mussolini proclaimed
366-560: A fief to the Empire, which Lothair refused after being pressured by Innocent. At the same period, the army of Lothair revolted. Lothair, who had hoped for the complete conquest of Sicily, then gave Capua and Apulia from the Kingdom of Sicily to Roger's enemies. Innocent protested, claiming that Apulia fell under Papal claims. Lothair turned north, but died while crossing the Alps on 4 December 1137. At
488-454: A chain with Great Britain and to complete the politico-military encirclement of Italy. Thus Greece, Turkey, and Egypt must be considered vital enemies of Italy's expansion ... The aim of Italian policy, which cannot have, and does not have continental objectives of a European territorial nature except Albania, is first of all to break the bars of this prison ... Once the bars are broken, Italian policy can only have one motto – to march to
610-538: A child who would also become Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1220, greatly affected the immediate future of Sicily. For a land so used to centralised royal authority, the king's young age caused a serious power vacuum. His uncle Philip of Swabia moved to secure Frederick's inheritance by appointing Markward von Anweiler , margrave of Ancona , regent in 1198. Meanwhile, Pope Innocent III had reasserted papal authority in Sicily, but recognised Frederick's rights. The pope
732-508: A collection of laws for his realm that was remarkable for its time. The Constitutions of Melfi were created in order to establish a centralized state. For example, citizens were not allowed to carry weapons or wear armour in public unless they were under royal command. As a result, rebellions were reduced. The Constitutions made the Kingdom of Sicily an absolute monarchy , the first centralized state in Europe to emerge from feudalism ; it also set
854-796: A contiguous colonial domain in Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, and when ten million Italians had settled in them. In 1938, Italy demanded a sphere of influence in the Suez Canal in Egypt , specifically demanding that the French-dominated Suez Canal Company accept an Italian representative on its board of directors . Italy opposed the French monopoly over the Suez Canal because, under
976-552: A falling out, and the latter captured the royal palace, where he was besieged and captured by Walter in 1207. After a decade, the wars over the regency and the throne itself had ceased. The reform of the laws began with the Assizes of Ariano in 1140 by Roger II of Sicily. Frederick I continued the reformation with the Assizes of Capua (1220) and the promulgation of the Constitutions of Melfi (1231, also known as Liber Augustalis ),
1098-646: A fascist government under Shefqet Verlaci was established to rule over Albania . Mussolini entered World War II in June 1940 on the side of Adolf Hitler with plans to enlarge Italy's territorial holdings. He had designs on an area of western Yugoslavia , southern France, Corsica, Malta, Tunisia, part of Algeria, an Atlantic port in Morocco, French Somaliland and British-controlled Egypt and Sudan. On 10 June 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France; both countries had been at war with Nazi Germany since September of
1220-671: A precedent for the primacy of written law. With relatively small modifications, the Liber Augustalis remained the basis of Sicilian law until 1819. During this period, he also built the Castel del Monte , and in 1224, he founded the University of Naples , now called University of Naples Federico II . Frederick had to beat off a Papal invasion of Sicily in the War of the Keys (1228–1230). After his death,
1342-558: A promise of colonial compensations made on 7 May 1919 during the partition of Germany's colonies between France and Britain. To satisfy this promise, France and Britain directly or indirectly gave Italy, from 1919 to 1935, a number of territories to expand Libya (Cufra, Sarra, Giarabub, the Aouzou strip, other lands in the Sahara), Somalia (Jubaland), the Dodecanese (Kastellorizo), and Eritrea (Raheita,
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#17328443065521464-623: A protectorate of Italy while Northern Albania was allocated to the states of Serbia and Montenegro . By 31 October 1918, French and Italian forces expelled the Austro-Hungarian Army from Albania. However, in 1920, an Albanian rebellion led the Italians to agree to return the occupied regions to Albania, with the exception of Sazan Island . Dalmatia was a strategic region during World War I that both Italy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of London guaranteed Italy
1586-534: A revival in the 15th century. Various treaties with Genoa secured and strengthened the commercial power of Sicily. The feudalisation of society during the Angevin rule reduced royal wealth and treasury. The dependence of the Angevins on north Italian commerce and financing by Florentine bankers were the main factors which led to the decline of the Kingdom's economy. The continuation of the economic decline combined with
1708-567: A rich country of over one million inhabitants and Sardinia a poor country of a few hundred thousand, but he was unable to resist his "allies". Spain was finally defeated in 1720, and the Treaty of the Hague ratified the changeover. Sicily belonged to the Austrian Habsburgs, who already ruled Naples. Victor Amadeus, for his part, continued to protest for three years, and only in 1723 decided to recognize
1830-551: A two-front campaign. German and Italian forces entered Tunisia in late 1942 in response, however, forces in Egypt were soon forced to make a major retreat into Libya. By May 1943, Axis forces in Tunisia were forced to surrender. The East African Campaign started with Italian advances into British-held Kenya , British Somaliland , and Sudan . In the summer of 1940, Italian armed forces successfully invaded all of British Somaliland . But, in
1952-610: A year before returning to his mainland capital, Turin , where his son the Prince of Piedmont had been acting as regent. In Spain, the results of the war had not been truly accepted, and the War of the Quadruple Alliance was the result. Sicily was occupied by Spain in 1718. When it became evident that Savoy had not the strength to defend as remote a country as Sicily, Austria stepped in and exchanged its Kingdom of Sardinia for Sicily. Victor Amadeus protested this exchange, Sicily being
2074-605: Is given British Somaliland, Djibuti, French Equatorial Africa up to Ubangi-Shari , as well as Ciano adding at the meeting that Italy wanted Kenya and Uganda as well. Hitler made no promises. In October 1940, Mussolini ordered the invasion of Greece from Albania , but the operation was unsuccessful. In April 1941, Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and then attacked Greece . Italy and other German allies supported both actions. The German and Italian armies overran Yugoslavia in about two weeks and, despite British support in Greece,
2196-565: Is the period of the Grand Tour , and Sicily with its many natural and historical attractions was visited by a score of intellectuals from all over Europe that brought to the island the winds of the Age of Enlightenment , and spread the fame of its beauty in the continent. In 1799, Napoleon conquered Naples, forcing King Ferdinand and the court to flee to Sicily under the protection of the British fleet under
2318-596: The Aragonese . This situation was continued during the short rule of the Angevins until their overthrowing during the Sicilian Vespers. The Angevins began feudalising the country, increasing the power of the nobility by granting them jurisdiction over high justice. At the same period, the feudalisation of the Kingdom of Sicily was intensified, through the enforcement of feudal bonds and relations among its subjects. The 1669 Etna eruption destroyed Catania . In 1693, 5% of
2440-645: The Balearic Islands and creating a client state in Spain. Italy sought the control of the Balearic Islands due to its strategic position – Italy could use the islands as a base to disrupt the lines of communication between France and its North African colonies and between British Gibraltar and Malta. After the victory by Franco and the Nationalists in the war, Italy pressured Franco to permit an Italian occupation of
2562-651: The Byzantine Empire led to the successful insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers followed by the invitation and intervention by King Peter III of Aragon in 1282. The resulting War of the Sicilian Vespers lasted until the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, dividing the old Kingdom of Sicily in two. The island of Sicily, called the "Kingdom of Sicily beyond the Lighthouse" or the Kingdom of Trinacria, went to Frederick III of
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#17328443065522684-405: The Byzantine Empire , and Egypt . Over the course of the 12th century, Sicily became an important source of raw materials for north Italian cities such as Genoa. As the centuries went on, however, this economic relationship became less advantageous to Sicily, and some modern scholars see the relationship as definitely exploitative. Furthermore, many scholars believe that Sicily went into decline in
2806-567: The Chinea . The Miossi family , a noble family, was commissioned in 1251 by Pope Innocent IV to administer the Kingdom of Sicily. The Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily ended after the 1266 Angevin invasion and the death of Conradin , the last male heir of Hohenstaufen, in 1268. In 1266, conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led to Sicily's conquest by Charles I , Duke of Anjou . With
2928-629: The Dodecanese Islands (following the Italo-Turkish War ), Albania ( 1917–1920 and 1939–1943 ) and also had some concessions in China . The Fascist government that came to power under the leadership of the dictator Benito Mussolini after 1922 sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and it also sought to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists . Systematic " demographic colonization "
3050-503: The Eritrea War . This invasion was halted after the loss of five hundred Italian troops at the Battle of Dogali . Depretis's successor, Prime Minister Francesco Crispi signed the Treaty of Wuchale in 1889 with Menelik II , the new emperor. This treaty ceded Ethiopian territory around Massawa to Italy to form the colony of Italian Eritrea , and – at least, according to the Italian version of
3172-507: The House of Barcelona , who had been ruling it. The peninsular territories (the Mezzogiorno ), contemporaneously called the Kingdom of Sicily but called the Kingdom of Naples by modern scholarship, went to Charles II of the House of Anjou , who had likewise been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy status quo . The division in the kingdom became permanent in 1372, with
3294-597: The Invasion of Sicily , all support for Mussolini evaporated. A meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism was held on 24 July, which managed to impose a vote of no confidence to Mussolini . The "Duce" was subsequently deposed and arrested by the King on the following afternoon. Afterwards, Mussolini remained a prisoner of the King until 12 September, when, on the orders of Hitler , he was rescued by German paratroops and became leader of
3416-572: The Late Middle Ages , though they do not agree about when this decline occurred. Clifford Backman argues that it is a mistake to see the economic history of Sicily in terms of victimization, and contends that the decline really began in the second part of the reign of Frederick III, in contrast to earlier scholars who believed that Sicilian decline had set in earlier. Where earlier scholars saw late medieval Sicily in continuous decline, Stephen Epstein argued that Sicilian society experienced something of
3538-602: The Papacy declared the Kingdom escheated because of the disloyalty of the Hohenstaufen. Under this pretext, Manfred came to an agreement with Louis IX , King of France. Louis's brother, Charles of Anjou , would become king of Sicily. In exchange, Charles recognized the overlordship of the Pope in the Kingdom, paid a portion of the Papal debt, and agreed to pay annual tribute to the Papal States,
3660-567: The Second Council of the Lateran in April 1139, Innocent excommunicated Roger for maintaining a schismatic attitude. On 22 March 1139, at Galluccio, Roger's son Roger III, Duke of Apulia , ambushed the Papal troops with a thousand knights and captured the pope. On 25 March 1139, Innocent was forced to acknowledge the kingship and possessions of Roger with the Treaty of Mignano . Roger spent most of
3782-478: The Treaty of Villeneuve . Though the king of Aragon was able to seize both crowns in the 16th century, the administrations of the two halves of the Kingdom of Sicily remained separated until 1816, when they were reunited in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies . Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives or cadet branch of the house of Aragon until 1409 and thence as part of the Crown of Aragon . The Kingdom of Naples
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3904-547: The new unified Kingdom of Italy . By the 11th century, mainland southern Lombard and Byzantine powers were hiring Norman mercenaries, who were descendants of Vikings in northern France ; it was the Normans under Roger I who conquered Sicily, taking it away from the Sicilian Muslims. After taking Apulia and Calabria , Roger occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I of Sicily and his men defeated
4026-458: The 12th century used the tari , which had been used in Sicily from 913 as the basic coin. One tari weighed about one gram and was 16 + 1 ⁄ 3 carats of gold. The Arab dinar was worth four tari, and the Byzantine solidus six tari. In the kingdom, one onza was equivalent to thirty tari or five florins. One tari was worth twenty grani. One grana was equivalent to six denari. After 1140,
4148-547: The 12th century, the Kingdom of Sicily recognized Christianity as the state religion . After the establishment of Hohenstaufen authority, Latin- and Greek-speaking Catholics maintained their privileges, but the Muslim population was increasingly oppressed. The settlements of Italians brought from northern Italy (who wanted Muslim property for their own) led many Muslim communities to revolt or resettle in mountainous areas of Sicily. These revolts resulted in some acts of violence, and
4270-576: The Albanian port of Vlorë in December 1914. In the fall of 1916, Italy started to occupy southern Albania . In 1916, Italian forces recruited Albanian irregulars to serve alongside them. Italy, with permission of the Allied command, occupied Northern Epirus on 23 August 1916, forcing the neutralist Greek Army to withdraw its occupation forces from there. In June 1917, Italy proclaimed central and southern Albania as
4392-571: The Americas: Cristopher Columbus from Genoa served Spain, Amerigo Vespucci from Florence served Portugal, the Cabot brothers from Venice served England, and Giovanni da Verrazzano from Florence served France. However, no Italian power took an active role in the scramble for the Americas, with the notable exception of the Pope who acted as an arbiter between European colonial powers during
4514-554: The Angevins, tried to conquer Naples (see Italian Wars ) but failed. Eventually, the Kingdom of Naples was reunited with the Crown of Aragon. The titles were held by the Aragonese kings of the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Spain until the end of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg in 1700. In 1530, in an effort to protect Rome from Ottoman invasion from the south, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , as king of Spain and Sicily, gave
4636-459: The Axis troops overran that country by the end of April. The Italians gained control over portions of both occupied Yugoslavia and occupied Greece . A member of the House of Savoy , Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta , was appointed king of the newly created Independent State of Croatia . During the height of the Battle of Britain , the Italians launched an invasion of Egypt in the hope of capturing
4758-744: The Balearic Islands but he did not do so. After the United Kingdom signed the Anglo-Italian Easter Accords in 1938, Mussolini and foreign minister Ciano issued demands for concessions in the Mediterranean by France, particularly regarding Djibouti , Tunisia and the French-run Suez Canal . Three weeks later, Mussolini told Ciano that he intended for Italy to demand an Italian takeover of Albania. Mussolini professed that Italy would only be able to "breathe easily" if it had acquired
4880-724: The French-dominated Suez Canal Company, all Italian merchant traffic to its colony of Italian East Africa was forced to pay tolls on entering the canal. In 1939, Italy invaded and captured Albania and made it a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate and separate kingdom in personal union with the Italian crown . The region of modern-day Albania had been an early part of the Roman Empire , which had actually been held before northern parts of Italy had been taken by
5002-512: The Germans occupied Vichy France during Case Anton , Italian-occupied France was expanded with the occupation of Corsica . By the autumn of 1943, the Italian Empire and all dreams of an Imperial Italy effectively came to an end. On 7 May, the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia and other near continuous Italian reversals, led King Victor Emmanuel III to plan the removal of Mussolini. Following
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5124-530: The Hanish islands). In April 1920, it was agreed between the British and Italian foreign ministers that Jubaland would be Italy's first compensation from Britain, but London held back on the deal for several years, aiming to use it as leverage to force Italy to cede the Dodecanese to Greece. In 1922, the leader of the Italian fascist movement, Benito Mussolini , became Prime Minister and dictator. Mussolini resolved
5246-480: The Italian government, as a matter of national prestige and to assert Italy's great power status, demanded the cession of Sanmen Bay to serve as a coaling station. Aware that Italy did not have sufficient naval power in Asian waters to back up its demand, the Chinese imperial government rejected the ultimatum and all subsequent requests, arguing that Italy had no real political or economic interests in China. This national humiliation, which for Italy's main newspaper made
5368-420: The King to ratify a Constitution modeled after the British system. The island was under British occupation from 1806 to 1814. The main feature of the new system was that a two-chamber parliament was formed (instead of the three of the existing one). The formation of the parliament brought the end of feudalism in the Kingdom. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Ferdinand repealed all reforms and even erased
5490-441: The Kingdom had 3 towns with a population of over 20,000 each. After the loss of the northern provinces in 1282 during the Sicilian Vespers and several natural disasters like the 1669 Etna eruption , the population of the Kingdom of Sicily was reduced. In 1803, the population of the Kingdom was 1,656,000. The main cities of the Kingdom at that time were Palermo , Catania , Messina , Modica , Syracuse . The high fertility of
5612-438: The Kingdom of Sicily from the map (after a history of 800 years) by creating the brand-new Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with Naples as its capital in 1816. The people of Sicily rebelled to this violation of its centuries-old statutes (which every king, including Ferdinand, had sworn to respect) but were defeated by the Neapolitan and Austrian forces in 1820. In 1848–49, another Sicilian revolution of independence occurred, which
5734-457: The Kingdom of Sicily with help from the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus . Two main armies, one led by Lothair, the other by Henry X, Duke of Bavaria , invaded Sicily. On the River Tronto , William of Loritello surrendered to Lothair and opened the gates of Termoli to him. This was followed by Count Hugh II of Molise. The two armies were united at Bari , from where in 1137 they continued their campaign. Roger offered to give Apulia as
5856-483: The Kingdom's population was killed because of earthquakes . During that period, there were also plague outbreaks. The 17th and 18th century were an era of decline of the kingdom. Corruption was prevalent among the upper and middle classes of the society. Widespread corruption and mistreatment of the lower classes by the feudal lords led to the creation of groups of brigands, attacking the nobility and destroying their fiefs . These groups, which were self-named "mafia", were
5978-422: The Muslims at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the Siege of Palermo , which led to Sicily being completely under Norman control by 1091. The Norman Kingdom was created on Christmas Day, 1130, by Roger II of Sicily , with the agreement of Pope Innocent II . Roger II united the lands he had inherited from his father, Roger I of Sicily . These areas included the Maltese Archipelago , which
6100-420: The Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War requested Italian support against the ruling Republican faction, and guaranteed that, if Italy supported the Nationalists, "future relations would be more than friendly" and that Italian support "would have permitted the influence of Rome to prevail over that of Berlin in the future politics of Spain". Italy intervened in the civil war with the intention of occupying
6222-509: The Nicobar Islands from Denmark in 1864 and 1865, the genesis of the Italian colonial empire was the purchase in 1869 of Assab Bay on the Red Sea by an Italian navigation company which intended to establish a coaling station at the time the Suez Canal was being opened to navigation. This was taken over by the Italian government in 1882, becoming modern Italy's first overseas territory. Italy's search for colonies continued until February 1885 , when, by secret agreement with Britain, it annexed
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#17328443065526344-422: The Renaissance. The geographical position of Italy, located in the center of an internal sea, without an open free access to the ocean, contributed to this purely Mediterranean policy. Ferdinand I , Grand Duke of Tuscany, made the only Italian attempt to create a colony in the Americas, in what is now French Guiana , organizing in 1608 an expedition to explore the north of Brazil and the Amazon river in 1608 under
6466-415: The Romans, but had long since been populated by Albanians , even though Italy had retained strong links with the Albanian leadership and considered it firmly within its sphere of influence . It is possible that Mussolini simply wanted a spectacular success over a smaller neighbour to match Germany's absorption of Austria and Czechoslovakia . Italian King Victor Emmanuel III took the Albanian crown , and
6588-421: The Spanish kingdom. During the war of the Spanish succession (1700–1714), the island was taken over by the House of Savoy . In 1720, Savoy gave it to Austria in exchange for Sardinia. Later, the island was ruled by a branch of the Bourbons. Following the Napoleonic period, the Kingdom of Sicily was formally merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , which in 1861 became part of
6710-399: The Spanish throne as Charles III of Spain in 1759, the Treaty of Vienna (1738) with Austria forbidding a union of the Italian domains with the Crown of Spain. Charles III abdicated in favour of Ferdinand , his third son, who acceded to the thrones with the names of Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily. Still a minor, Ferdinand grew up amongst pleasures and leisure while the real power
6832-534: The Suez Canal. By 16 September 1940, the Italians advanced 100 kilometres (60 mi) across the border. However, in December, the British launched Operation Compass and, by February 1941, the British had cut off and captured the Italian 10th Army and had driven deep into Libya. A German intervention prevented the fall of Libya and the combined Axis attacks drove the British back into Egypt until summer 1942, before being stopped at El Alamein . Allied intervention against Vichy French-held Morocco and Algeria created
6954-450: The Treaty of London and by 17 November had seized Fiume as well. In 1918, Admiral Enrico Millo declared himself Italy's Governor of Dalmatia. Famous Italian nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio supported the seizure of Dalmatia, and proceeded to Zara (today's Zadar) in an Italian warship in December 1918. At the concluding Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Italy received less in Europe than had been promised and none overseas mandate except for
7076-473: The armistice was made public. In Albania , Yugoslavia , the Dodecanese , and other territories still held by the Italians, German military forces successfully attacked their former Italian allies and ended Italy's rule. During the Dodecanese Campaign , an Allied attempt to take the Dodecanese with the cooperation of the Italian troops ended in total German victory. In China, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Italy's concession in Tientsin after getting news of
7198-459: The armistice. Later in 1943 the Italian Social Republic formally ceded control of the concession to Japan's puppet regime in China, the Reorganized National Government of China under Wang Jingwei . In 1947, the Treaty of Peace with Italy formally ended the empire that was now totally defunct. There were discussions to maintain Tripolitania (a province of Italian Libya ) as the last Italian colony, but these were not successful. In November 1949
7320-471: The average reign of a Roman Emperor was just 18 months, down from average just over 9 years during the first centuries of the Empire. Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( Latin : Regnum Siciliae ; Sicilian : Regnu di Sicilia ; Italian : Regno di Sicilia ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the south of the Italian Peninsula plus, for a time, in Northern Africa from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It
7442-426: The basis for Italian imperialism, especially during the fascist era. During the Middle Ages and the modern period, the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa controlled networks of "colonies" in the Mediterranean region known as the Venetian Empire and the Genoese Empire respectively. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian explorers contributed to the colonial enterprises of other European countries in
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#17328443065527564-435: The chroniclers, who supported the baronial revolts which William suppressed. In the mid-1150s, William lost the majority of his African possessions to a series of revolts by local North African lords. Then, in 1160, the final Norman African stronghold of Mahdia was taken by the Almohads . His reign ended in peace in 1166. His elder son Roger IV, Duke of Apulia had been killed in previous revolts, and his son, William II ,
7686-426: The circulation of the copper coin romesina stopped and it was replaced by the follaris. Twenty-four follari were equivalent to one Byzantine miliaresion . After defeating the Tunisians in 1231, King Frederick I minted the augustalis . It was minted in 21 + 1 ⁄ 2 carats and weighed 5.28 grams. In 1490, the triumphi were minted in Sicily. They were equivalent to the Venetian ducat . One triumpho
7808-615: The colonial race and its status as the least of the Great Powers , a position of relative weakness in international affairs, meant that it was dependent on the acquiescence of Britain, France and Germany towards its empire-building. Italy had long considered the Ottoman province of Tunisia , where a large community of Tunisian Italians lived, within its economic sphere of influence. It did not consider annexing it until 1879, when it became apparent that Britain and Germany were encouraging France to add it to its colonial holdings in North Africa . A last-minute offer by Italy to share Tunisia between
7930-453: The command of Horatio Nelson. While Naples was formed into the Parthenopean Republic with French support and later again a kingdom under French protection and influence, Sicily became the British base of operation in the Mediterranean in the long struggle against Napoleon. Under British guidance, especially from Lord William Bentinck who was commander of British troops in Sicily, Sicily tried to modernise its constitutional apparatus, forcing
8052-568: The command of the English captain Robert Thornton . However, Thornton, on his return from the preparatory expedition in 1609, found Ferdinand I dead and his successor, Cosimo II , was not interested in the project. In 1651, Giovanni Paolo Lascaris , Italian nobleman and Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller of Malta (at the time a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily ), possessed four Caribbean islands: Saint Christopher , Saint Martin , Saint Barthélemy , and Saint Croix , which were colonized from 1651 until 1665. No other colonial attempt in
8174-471: The country appear "like a third or fourth-rate power", provoked the fall of the Italian government. This prompted Italy to take part in the international expedition in Beijing at the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion the following year, and resulted in the acquisition of a concession in Tianjin in 1901, the only example of Italian colonialism in Asia. The concession was administered by the Italian consul in Tianjin. A wave of nationalism that swept Italy at
8296-593: The death toll was 6,889, including 4,133 Italians. The Ethiopians suffered at least 4,000 dead and 10,000 wounded. Italy also fought in the Mahdist War , and since 1890 it defeated Mahdist troops in the Battle of Serobeti and the First Battle of Agordat . In December 1893, Italian colonial troops and Mahdists fought again in the Second Battle of Agordat ; Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Italian forces in eastern Sudan and led about 10–12,000 men east from Kassala, encountering 2,400 Italians and their Eritrean Ascaris commanded by Colonel Arimondi. The Italians won again, and
8418-420: The decade, beginning with his coronation and ending with the Assizes of Ariano , enacting a series of laws with which Roger intended to centralise the government. He also fended off several invasions and quelled rebellions by his premier vassals: Grimoald of Bari , Robert II of Capua , Ranulf of Alife , Sergius VII of Naples and others. It was through his admiral George of Antioch that Roger then conquered
8540-435: The establishment of the Italian Empire in East Africa ("l'Impero"), with King Victor Emmanuel III as Emperor of Ethiopia. In 1939, Italy invaded Albania and incorporated it into the Fascist state . During the Second World War (1939–1945), Italy occupied British Somaliland , parts of south-eastern France , western Egypt and most of Greece , but then lost those conquests and its African colonies, including Ethiopia, to
8662-454: The eventual deportation of Muslims, which began under Frederick II . Eventually, the government removed the entire Muslim population to Lucera in Apulia and Girifalco in Calabria , where they paid taxes and served as agricultural laborers, craftsmen, and crossbowmen for the benefit of the king. The colony at Lucera was finally disbanded in 1300 under Charles II of Naples , and many of its inhabitants sold into slavery. The Jewish community
8784-577: The exchange and desist from using the Sicilian royal title and its subsidiary titles (such as King of Cyprus and Jerusalem). In 1734, in the aftermath of the War of the Polish Succession , Naples was reconquered by King Philip V of Spain , a Bourbon, who installed his younger son, Duke Charles of Parma, as King Charles VII of Naples , starting a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon . Adding to his Neapolitan possessions, he became also King of Sicily with
8906-1065: The fact that Latin Catholics were in power tended to favor Latin Catholicism (Roman Catholicism). Bishops of the Greek rite were obliged to recognize the claims of the Latin Church in Sicily, while Muslim communities were no longer ruled by local emirs . Greek-speaking Christians, Latin Christians, and Muslims interacted on a regular basis, and were involved in each other's lives, economically, linguistically, and culturally. Some intermarried. Catholics living in an Arabic-speaking area might adopt Arabic or even Muslim names. In many cities, each religious community had its own administrative and judicial order. In Palermo , Muslims were allowed to publicly call for prayer in mosques, and their legal issues were settled by qadis , judges who ruled in accordance with Islamic law. Since
9028-459: The first use of an armoured fighting vehicle in military history and marked the first significant employment of air power in warfare. In 1914 Italy remained neutral and did not join its ally Germany in World War I. The Allies made promises and in 1915 Italy joined them . It was promised territorial spoils mainly from Austria and Turkey. Prior to direct intervention in World War I, Italy occupied
9150-609: The former Italian Somaliland then under British military administration, was made a 10-year United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration ( Trust Territory of Somaliland ). On 1 July 1960, Somalia merged with British Somaliland to form the independent Somali Republic . Timeline of Italian history Timeline This is a timeline of Italian history , comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Italy and its predecessor states, including Ancient Rome and Prehistoric Italy . Date of
9272-474: The foundation of the modern Sicilian Mafia . The escalation of revolts against the monarchy eventually led to the unification with Italy. The kingdom had a parliament from 1097, which continued to sit throughout the realm's history until the Sicilian Constitution of 1812. During the reign of Frederick II (1198-1250), the kingdom had a population of about 2.5 million. During the Hohenstaufen era,
9394-420: The increased population and urbanization led to decrease of agrarian production. In 1800, one-third of the available crops was cultivated with obsolete methods, exacerbating the problem. In the later period of Spanish rule, the trading system was also inefficient compared with previous periods because of high taxes on exports and monopolising corporations which had total control of prices. The Norman kings in
9516-662: The invading allied forces by 1943. It was forced in the peace treaty of 1947 to relinquish sovereignty over all its colonies. It was granted a trust to administer former Italian Somaliland under United Nations supervision in 1950. When Somalia became independent in 1960, Italy's eight-decade experiment with colonialism had ended. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War cost Italy 4,359 killed in action—2,313 Italians, 1,086 Eritreans, 507 Somalis and Libyans, and 453 Italian laborers. Ethiopian military and civilian dead, many of them from Italian bomb and mustard gas attacks, were estimated as high as 275,000. In July 1936, Francisco Franco of
9638-586: The invading Allied forces by 1943. In 1947, Italy officially relinquished claims on its former colonies. In 1950, former Italian Somaliland, then under British administration, was turned into the Trust Territory of Somaliland until it became independent in 1960. Imperialism in Italy dates back to ancient Rome , and the Latin notion of mare nostrum ("Our Sea", referring to the Mediterranean) has historically been
9760-497: The invasion of the Greek island of Corfu after the Corfu incident . The Italian press supported the move, noting that Corfu had been a Venetian possession for four hundred years. The matter was taken by Greece to the League of Nations , where Mussolini was convinced by Britain to evacuate Italian troops, in return for reparations from Greece. The confrontation led Britain and Italy to resolve
9882-510: The islands of Malta and Gozo to the Knights Hospitaller in perpetual fiefdom , in exchange for an annual fee of two Maltese falcons , which they were to send on All Souls' Day to the Viceroy of Sicily. The Maltese Islands had formed part of the county, and later the Kingdom of Sicily, since 1091. The feudal relationship between Malta and the Kingdom of Sicily was continued throughout
10004-506: The kingdom was ruled by Conrad IV of Germany . The next legitimate heir was Conradin , who was too young at the period to rule. Manfred of Sicily , the illegitimate son of Frederick, took power and ruled the kingdom for fifteen years while other Hohenstaufen heirs were ruling various areas in Germany. After long wars against the Papal States , the Kingdom managed to defend its possessions, but
10126-495: The land led the Norman kings to bring settlers from neighbouring regions or to resettle farmers to areas where cultivation of land was needed. This led to an increase in agricultural production. The main sources of wealth for the Kingdom of Sicily in that time were its maritime cities, most important of which were the ancient port cities of Naples and its nearby counterpart Amalfi , from which local products were exported. The main export
10248-675: The littoral of Ifriqiya from the Zirids , taking the unofficial title " King of Africa " and marking the foundation of the Norman Kingdom of Africa. At the same time, Roger's fleet also attacked the Byzantine Empire , making Sicily a leading maritime power in the Mediterranean Sea for almost a century. Roger's son and successor was William I of Sicily , known as "William the Bad", though his nickname derived primarily from his lack of popularity with
10370-411: The local communities maintained their privileges. The rulers of the Hohenstaufen kingdom replaced the local nobility with lords from northern Italy, leading to clashes and rebellions against the new nobility in many cities and rural communities. These revolts resulted in the destruction of many agrarian areas and the rise of middle class nationalism, which eventually led to urban dwellers becoming allies of
10492-408: The mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled Kingdom of Sicily , although it is retroactively referred to as the Kingdom of Naples , after its capital. From 1282 to 1409, the island was ruled by the Crown of Aragon as an independent kingdom, and was then added permanently to the Crown. Following the dynastic union of Castile and Aragon in 1479, it was a viceroyalty of
10614-516: The name of Charles V of Sicily the next year after Austria gave up Sicily and her pretensions to Naples in exchange for the Duchy of Parma and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . This change of hands opened up a period of economic flourishing and social and political reforms, with many public projects and cultural initiatives directly started or inspired by the king. He remained King of Sicily until his accession to
10736-518: The newly established Italian Social Republic . After 25 July, the new Italian government under the King and Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio remained outwardly part of the Axis. But, secretly, it started negotiations with the Allies. On the eve of the Allied landings at Salerno , which started the Allied invasion of Italy , the new Italian government secretly signed an armistice with the Allies . On 8 September,
10858-520: The ocean was made and, by 1797, the Venetian and Genoese possessions in the Mediterranean were lost. Once unified as a nation-state in the late 19th century, Italy intended to compete with the other European powers for the new age of European colonial expansion. It saw its interests in the Mediterranean and in the Horn of Africa , a region yet to be colonized and with access to the ocean. Italy had arrived late to
10980-732: The oceans. In the Balkans , the Fascist regime claimed Dalmatia and held ambitions over Albania , Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Vardar Macedonia , and Greece based on the precedent of previous Roman dominance in these regions. Dalmatia and Slovenia were to be directly annexed into Italy while the remainder of the Balkans was to be transformed into Italian client states. The regime also sought to establish protective patron-client relationships with Austria , Hungary , Yugoslavia , Romania , and Bulgaria . In both 1932 and 1935, Italy demanded
11102-640: The officials did not want to be ruled by a German, so the death of William in 1189 led the kingdom to decline. With the support of the officials, Tancred of Lecce seized the throne. In the same year, he had to contend with the revolt of his distant cousin Roger of Andria , a former contender who supported Henry and Constance but was tricked to execution in 1190, as well as the invasion of Henry, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor since 1191, who invaded on behalf of his wife. Henry had to retreat after his attack failed, with Empress Constance captured and only released under
11224-490: The outcome of the battle constituted "the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries". A year later, Italian colonial forces seized Kassala after the successful Battle of Kassala ; Italy returned the city to the British at the end of the war three years later. In 1898, in the wake of the acquisition of leased territories by Germany , Russia , Britain and France in China earlier that year,
11346-608: The port of Massawa in Eritrea on the Red Sea from the crumbling Egyptian Empire . Italian annexation of Massawa denied the Ethiopian Empire of Yohannes IV an outlet to the sea. At the same time, Italy occupied territory on the south side of the horn of Africa , forming what would become Italian Somaliland . However, Italy coveted Ethiopia itself and, in 1887 , Italian Prime Minister Agostino Depretis ordered an invasion, leading to
11468-418: The prehistoric era are approximate. For further background, see history of Italy and list of prime ministers of Italy . Lucius Sicinius Vellutus , the plebs abandoned Rome for the nearby Monte Sacro . Marius was elected consul for the first of three years in a row. Civil wars would follow with the first breaking out in 238, another in 249 followed by a third in 253. From 235 through 284
11590-458: The pressure of the Pope. Tancred died in 1194, and Constance and Henry prevailed: the kingdom fell in 1194 to the House of Hohenstaufen . William III of Sicily , the young son of Tancred, was deposed, and Henry and Constance were crowned as king and queen. Through Constance, the Hauteville blood was passed to Frederick , who reigned in Sicily as Frederick I. In 1197, the accession of Frederick,
11712-653: The previous year. In July 1940, Italian foreign minister Count Ciano presented Hitler with a list of Italy's goals that included: the annexation of Corsica, Nice, and Malta; protectorate in Tunisia and a buffer zone in Eastern Algeria; independence with Italian military presence and bases in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Transjordan as well as expropriation of oil companies in those territories; military occupation of Aden , Perim and Sokotra ; Cyprus given to Greece in exchange for Ionian islands and Ciamuria given to Italy; Italy
11834-614: The problems of Southern Italy 's population growth. Fearful of being excluded altogether from North Africa by Britain and France, and mindful of public opinion, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti ordered the declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire , of which Libya was part, in October 1911. As a result of the Italo-Turkish War , Italy gained Libya and the Dodecanese Islands from the Ottoman Empire. The 1912 Libya desert war featured
11956-556: The question of Jubaland in 1924, which was merged into Italian Somaliland . During the late 1920s, imperial expansion became an increasingly favoured theme in Mussolini's speeches. Amongst Mussolini's aims were that Italy had to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean that would be able to challenge France or Britain, as well as attain access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . Mussolini alleged that Italy required uncontested access to
12078-523: The question of sovereignty over the Dodecanese at the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , which formalized Italian administration of both Libya and the Dodecanese Islands, in return for a payment to Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, though he failed in an attempt to extract a mandate of a portion of Iraq from Britain. The month following the ratification of the Lausanne treaty, Mussolini ordered
12200-508: The right to annex a large portion of Dalmatia in exchange for Italy's participation on the Allied side. From 5–6 November 1918, Italian forces were reported to have reached Lissa , Lagosta , Sebenico , and other localities on the Dalmatian coast. By the end of hostilities in November 1918, the Italian military had seized control of the entire portion of Dalmatia that had been guaranteed to Italy by
12322-654: The rule of the Knights, until the French occupation of Malta in 1798. From 1713 until 1720, the Kingdom of Sicily was ruled briefly by the House of Savoy , which had received it by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht , which brought an end to the War of the Spanish Succession . The kingdom was a reward to the Savoyards, who were thus elevated to royal rank. The new king, Victor Amadeus II , travelled to Sicily in 1713 and remained
12444-409: The scheme of disseising the Hohenstaufen from the kingdom, and offered the crown to Charles of Anjou again. With Papal and Guelph support Charles descended into Italy and defeated Manfred at the Battle of Benevento in 1266 and in 1268 Conradin at the Battle of Tagliacozzo . Opposition to French officialdom and taxation combined with incitement of rebellion by agents from the Crown of Aragon and
12566-423: The spring of 1941, the British had counter-attacked and pushed deep into Italian East Africa . By 5 May, Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia had returned to Addis Ababa to reclaim his throne. In November, the last organised Italian resistance ended with the fall of Gondar . However, following the surrender of East Africa, some Italians conducted a guerrilla war which lasted for two more years. In November 1942, when
12688-416: The throne as the daughter of Roger II, was long confined in a monastery as a nun, with her marriage beyond consideration due to a prediction that "her marriage would destroy Sicily". Nevertheless, in 1184, she was betrothed to Henry, the eldest son of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and the future Emperor Henry VI . William named Constance and Henry the heirs to the throne and had the noblemen swear oath, but
12810-469: The treaty – made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate . Relations between Italy and Menelik deteriorated over the next few years until the First Italo-Ethiopian War broke out in 1895, when Crispi ordered Italian troops into the country. Vastly outnumbered and poorly equipped, the result was a decisive defeat for Italy at the hands of Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. On Italy's side,
12932-522: The turn of the 20th century led to the founding of the Italian Nationalist Association , which pressed for the expansion of Italy's empire. Newspapers were filled with talk of revenge for the humiliations suffered in Ethiopia at the end of the previous century, and of nostalgia for the Roman era. Libya , it was suggested, as an ex-Roman colony, should be "taken back" to provide a solution to
13054-592: The two countries was refused, and France, confident in German support, ordered its troops in from French Algeria , imposing a protectorate over Tunisia in May 1881 under the Treaty of Bardo . The shock of the " Slap of Tunis ", as it was referred to in the Italian press, and the sense of Italy's isolation in Europe, led it into signing the Triple Alliance in 1882 with Germany and Austria-Hungary . While attempts were made to buy
13176-503: The usurpation of the Sicilian throne from Conradin by Manfred of Sicily in 1258, the relationship between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen had changed again. Instead of the boy Conradin, safely sequestered across the Alps, the Papacy now faced an able military leader who had greatly supported the Ghibelline cause at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260. Accordingly, when negotiations broke down with Manfred in 1262, Pope Urban IV again took up
13298-569: The world's oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty. This was elaborated on in a document he later drew up in 1939 called "The March to the Oceans", and included in the official records of a meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism . This text asserted that maritime position determined a nation's independence: countries with free access to the high seas were independent; while those who lacked this, were not. Italy, which only had access to an inland sea without French and British acquiescence,
13420-399: Was durum wheat , with other exports including nuts , timber , oil , bacon, cheese , furs, hides , hemp and cloth . Grain and other dry products were measured in salme, which was equivalent to 275.08 litres in the western part of the Kingdom, and 300.3 litres in the eastern part. The salma was divided in 16 tumoli. One tumolo was equivalent to 17,193 litres . Weight
13542-454: Was a minor. Until the end of the boy's regency by his mother Margaret of Navarre in 1172, turmoil in the kingdom almost brought the ruling family down. The reign of William II is remembered as two decades of almost continual peace and prosperity. For this more than anything, he is nicknamed "the Good". However, he had no issue, which led to a succession crisis: his aunt Constance , the sole heir to
13664-508: Was a successor state of the County of Sicily , which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula . The island was divided into three regions : Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto . After a brief rule by Charles of Anjou, a revolt in 1282 known as the Sicilian Vespers threw off Angevin rule in the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in
13786-680: Was conquered from the Arabs of the Emirates of Sicily ; the Duchy of Apulia and the County of Sicily , which had belonged to his cousin William ;II, Duke of Apulia , until William's death in 1127; and the other Norman vassals. Roger declared his support for the Antipope Anacletus II , who enthroned him as King of Sicily on Christmas Day 1130. In 1136, the rival of Anacletus, Pope Innocent II , convinced Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor to attack
13908-448: Was defeated by Walter III of Brienne. Markward was killed, and Frederick fell under the control of William of Capparone , an ally of the Pisans . Dipold continued the war against Walter on the mainland until the claimant's death in 1205. Dipold finally wrested Frederick from Capparone in 1206 and gave him over to the guardianship of the chancellor, Walter of Palearia. Walter and Dipold then had
14030-533: Was encouraged by the government, and by 1939, Italian settlers numbered 120,000–150,000 in Italian Libya and 165,000 in Italian East Africa. During World War II , Italy allied itself with Nazi Germany in 1940 and it also occupied British Somaliland, western Egypt, much of Yugoslavia, Tunisia, parts of south-eastern France and most of Greece; however, it then lost those conquests and its African colonies to
14152-402: Was measured in cantari. One cantaro was equivalent to 79.35 kilograms (174.9 lb) and was divided in one hundred rottoli. Cloth was measured in canne. One canna was 2.06 meters long. By the end of the 12th century, Messina had become one of the leading commercial cities of the kingdom. Under the kingdom, Sicily's products went to many different lands. Among these were Genoa , Pisa ,
14274-441: Was only a "semi-independent nation", and alleged to be a "prisoner in the Mediterranean": The bars of this prison are Corsica , Tunisia , Malta , and Cyprus . The guards of this prison are Gibraltar and Suez . Corsica is a pistol pointed at the heart of Italy; Tunisia at Sicily. Malta and Cyprus constitute a threat to all our positions in the eastern and western Mediterranean. Greece, Turkey, and Egypt have been ready to form
14396-519: Was put down by the new king, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies , who was nicknamed Re Bomba after his 5-day bombardment of Messina. The increased hostility of the peoples and the elites of Sicily towards Naples and the Bourbon dynasty created a very unstable equilibrium, kept under control only by an increasingly oppressive police-state, political executions and exiles. During the Norman Kingdom of Sicily,
14518-529: Was ruled by the Angevin ruler René of Anjou until the two thrones were reunited by Alfonso V of Aragon , after the successful siege of Naples and the defeat of René on 6 June 1443. Alfonso of Aragon divided the two kingdoms during his rule. He gave the rule of Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I of Naples , who ruled from 1458 to 1494, and the rest of the Crown of Aragon and Sicily to his brother John II of Aragon . From 1494 to 1503, successive kings of France Charles VIII and Louis XII , who were heirs of
14640-531: Was safely held by Bernardo Tanucci , the president of the regency council. During this period most of the reform process initiated by Charles came to a halt, with the king mostly absent or uninterested in the matters of state and the political helm steered by Queen Maria Carolina and prime ministers Tanucci (until 1777) and John Acton . The latter tried to distance Naples and Sicily from the influence of Spain and Austria and to place them nearer to Great Britain , then represented by ambassador William Hamilton . This
14762-455: Was to see papal power decrease steadily over the next decade and was unsure about which side to back at many junctures. The Hohenstaufen's grip on power, however, was not secure. Walter III of Brienne had married the daughter of Tancred of Sicily . She was sister and heiress of the deposed King William III of Sicily. In 1201, William decided to claim the kingdom. In 1202, an army led by the chancellor Walter of Palearia and Dipold of Vohburg
14884-403: Was worth 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 aquilae. One aquila was worth twenty grani. In transactions tari and pichuli were mainly used. During the Norman reign, several different religious communities coexisted in the Kingdom of Sicily. These included Latin Catholics ( Roman Catholics ), Greek-rite Catholics ( Greek Catholic ), Muslims and Jews . Although local religious practices were not interrupted,
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