Italy

Historical overview

Italy’s modern history is closely associated with the Risorgimento, the nineteenth-century movement for national unification. Before unification, the peninsula was divided among several kingdoms, duchies and territories, with Austria exercising considerable influence in northern Italy.

The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on 17 March 1861, following the campaigns of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the political leadership of Count Camillo di Cavour and the monarchy of Victor Emmanuel II. Rome became the capital in 1871 after Italian forces entered the city in 1870.

Italy entered the First World War in 1915 on the side of the Allies. Post-war economic and political instability helped the Fascist movement gain power. Benito Mussolini became prime minister in October 1922, and his government progressively dismantled parliamentary democracy, banned opposition parties and established a dictatorship.

Italy entered the Second World War in June 1940 as an Axis power. In July 1943, Mussolini was removed from power. After the armistice of September 1943, German forces occupied much of northern and central Italy, while the Italian Resistance fought against German occupation and the Italian Social Republic. The liberation of northern Italy in April 1945 marked the end of Fascist rule.

On 2 June 1946, Italians voted in a referendum to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. Women participated in a national election for the first time. The Constituent Assembly was also elected, and the Constitution of the Italian Republic entered into force on 1 January 1948. The Italian Senate’s historical record provides referendum totals and details of women’s electoral participation. Senato della RepubblicaPost-war Italy became a parliamentary democracy and a founding member of European integration. The 1960s and 1970s included major social movements, labour struggles, political violence and terrorism, often referred to as the Years of Lead. In the early 1990s, corruption investigations known as Mani Pulite exposed extensive political-financial networks and contributed to the collapse of the post-war party system.

Key historical timeline

1. 1815Congress of Vienna restores and reorganises states across the Italian peninsula.
2. 1848–49Revolutions and constitutional movements spread through Italian states.
3. 1861Kingdom of Italy proclaimed on 17 March.
4. 1866Venetia incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.
5. 1870Italian forces enter Rome.
6. 1871Rome becomes the capital.
7. 1915–18Italy participates in the First World War.
8. October 1922Mussolini appointed prime minister after the March on Rome.
9. 1925–26Fascist dictatorship consolidated; opposition parties suppressed.
10. June 1940Italy enters the Second World War.
11. July 1943Mussolini removed from office.
12. September 1943Armistice announced; German occupation and Resistance struggle expand.
13. 25 April 1945Liberation movement achieves victory in northern Italy.
14. 2 June 1946Referendum abolishes the monarchy; Constituent Assembly elected.
15. 1 January 1948Republican Constitution enters into force.
16. 1957Italy signs the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community.1960s–80sSocial conflict, terrorism and the Years of Lead.
17. 1992Mani Pulite investigations begin.
18. 2001Constitutional reform expands regional autonomy.Important historical documents to digitiseStatuto Albertino (1848).Documents of the Risorgimento and Italian unification.Treaty of London (1915).Fascist laws and decrees (1925–26).Italian armistice announcement and related records (1943).Records of the Italian Resistance and National Liberation Committee.Referendum results and Constituent Assembly proceedings (1946).Constitution of the Italian Republic (1948).Treaty of Rome (1957).Parliamentary and judicial records relating to political terrorism and corruption investigations.

Archive notes

Archive and research links

Central State Archives of Italy (Archivio Centrale dello Stato) – national political and institutional records.

Central State Archives – Republic and Constitution – a particularly useful collection covering the end of Fascism, the referendum and the making of the Constitution.

Senate of the Republic – Italy Becomes a Republic – official referendum results and records of the Constituent Assembly.

State Archives of Milan – regional archival collections and historical documents.

Normattiva – Italian Legislation Database – official legislative texts.

Editorial note: The archive should distinguish the Italian Resistance, the Allied campaign, the Italian Social Republic and the post-war referendum. Include the experiences of civilians, Jewish Italians, political prisoners and people affected by Fascist colonial rule in Africa and the Balkans.