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Formation of an independent Italy
In 1861, Italy gains independence from Austria. While Italy was unified under a king, it was still divided as seen through the north and the south as well as a growing Risorgimento movement. -
Papal States taken over by new nation of Italy
Italy annexes the Papal States incurring Catholic resentment against the kingdom. Causes division between Pope and the kingdom. -
Failure of First Italo-Ethiopian War with the Battle of Adowa (Adwa)
After its attempt at occupying Tigre, Abyssinia Italy was defeated after losses at Adowa weakened them. In the perspective of the Italians, who were in the fervor of nationalism, the defeat was a great loss to the Italian image and the people felt humiliated. -
Italy invades and takes over Libya
Italy took over Libya, which was under Turkish rule at the time, and succeeded in maintaining its rule over the colony. To the Italians, this was a way to redeem themselves after their defeat at Adowa. -
Mussolini begins work as an editor for the Socialist Party newspaper Avanti
After his arrest for participating in a demonstration protesting war in Libya, Mussolini joined the Avanti, a Socialist newspaper. Through this, Mussolini was able to able to write papers against the liberal state. -
Mussolini kicked out of Socialist Party for pro-nationalistic sentiments
Mussolini was fired from Avanti! symbolizing his transition to more militaristic, nationalist sentiments. He then started the Il Popolo d'Italia in which he advocated for Italy's involvement in WWI -
Treaty of London
The treaty stated that Italy would join the war allying with the Triple Entente. Many groups advocated for war as they thought it would bring them a revolution, this group included the Fasci, National Socialists, and the Associazione Nazionalista Italiana. -
Beginning of Biennio Rosso
After WWI, Italy faced many major problems such as unemployment, this sparked the Biennio Rosso in which social conflicts began to grow. This was significant as it allowed for the Socialists to take control of the local governments. -
D’Annunzio takes Fiume
A soldier during the first world war known as Gabriele D'Annunzio had marched 2,000 armed men to the port city of Fiume. -
Fascio di Combattimento formed in Milan
People met in Milan to form this combat group which are also known as the Fascists of the First Hour. The main intentions was to bring nationalists and the socialists together. -
Mussolini forms alliance with Giolitti
Giolitti had offered Mussolini and his fascist group an alliance in order to give the Fascist a larger advantage. -
Mussolini forms the PNF (Fascist Party) and is elected its leader
Mussolini forms the PNF also known as the Partido Nazionale Fascista, in which the national congress elected Mussolini as their leader -
March on Rome and Mussolini becomes Prime Minister
The ras had wanted to invade rome so mussolini had gone with them to try to restrain violence. Over 40000 fascists invaded rome and the prime minister declared state of emergency. -
Acerbo Law passed
Proposed by Baron Acerbo which gave the party that gained the most voted won two thirds of the sears in the parliament given that the number of votes was over 25% so mussolini used this to win his seats. -
Corfu Incident
An italian general had been murdered in France over creating a map of disputed territories and mussolini had fined greece 50 million lire as compensation. -
Matteotti Crisis
A socialist who opposed fascist violence and claimed to have evidence to back it up was killed in rome. Mussolini was blamed and lost some support however was able to regain by arresting Dumini. -
Aventine Secession
After Mussolini and his fascist party began to gain total control of Italy, the secession of many major political parties such as the Italian Socialist Party departed from parliament. -
Battle for Grain
The Battle for Grain, which started in 1925, was started in order to reduce imports into Italy and create more production of grain products such as bread. About 5000 new farms were built. -
Locarno Treaty Signed
The Locarno Treaty-one that united countries such as France, Germany, Britain, and Italy by granting peace between the countries-was signed on this day, which was a big day for the future of Europe. -
Battle for the Lira
The Battle for the Lira, which started in 1926, was created in order to reduce the inflation of the Italian currency and fix the Lira (currency) to show the power of the fascists of Italy. -
Battle for Births
The Battle for Births, which started in 1927, was a campaign directed to raising the population of Italy, and it succeeded by increasing it by almost 20 million. Loans were given frequently to couples to encourage them to have children. -
Kellogg-Briand Treaty
The Kellow-Briand Treaty/Pact was enacted in order to for states of Europe to resolve conflicts or disputes that occur between them instead of warfare. It is commonly stated that the treaty had almost no effect on the countries. -
Lateran Treaty
The Lateran Treaty with the Pope was created by Mussolini in order for the church to recoinage Roma as their capital and for the Vatican City to be born. The city of Rome became a scared place and had many new laws. -
The Abyssinian Crisis
in 1935, Mussolini's army invaded Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). In 1934, the dispute between Italian and Abyssnian forces in Wal-Wal oasis motivated Mussolini to invade Abyssinia in 1925. The Abyssinian leader, Haile Selassie, informed the League of Nations of hope of assistance, but they needed Mussolini to help them against Hitler, causing the Stresa pact. Eventually, war outbreak led to the withdrawal of Italy from the League of Nations and its realignment with Nazi Germany. -
Stresa Front
The Stresa Front was an agreement made between the prime ministers of Britain, France, and Italian that would oppose Hitler's plan to make Germany into a world superpower again, as his plan broke the Treaty of Versailles. -
Italian involvement with Spanish Civil War
During the Spanish Civil war, military intervention of Italy held in Spain to support the nationalist cause against the second Spanish republic. Promising Spain military support, and money, but Mussolini failed these demands. On November 28, a secret treaty between Italy and Spanish Nationalists allowed Italy to establish bases in Spain if war with France began. Mussolini formed black shirts in Spain to fight around Madrid. Italy sent 80,000 men, cannons, mortars, machine guns, vehicles, etc. -
Rome- Berlin Axis Treaty
An alliance between Germany and Italy after the Spanish Civil war. Hitler invited the Italian foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano to come to Berlin and the alliance allowed Germany and Italy to follow a common foreign policy in which they were partners in military aggression. This linked two fascist countries and the Axis powers eventually included Japan. -
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Italy invades Albania
Albanian King Zog's oppression of fascists motivated Mussolini's aggression. On March 25, 1939, Mussolini sent an ultimatum to Tirane, the Albanian capital subject to Italian annexation. King's refusal led Italian warships to bombard the Albanian coast on April 7, 1939, also Good Friday. Strategies by Mussolini reflected similar ones to Hitler. Albanian resistance was ineffective despite drowned Italian soldiers. On April 12, Albania surrendered, making new King Vittorio Emanuele III in power. -
Munich Conference
An agreement permitting Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Hitler demanded German annexation of the Sudetenland and that all the Germans in Czechoslovakia could join the Third Reich. No Czech representative was invited and on the date of the conference, a Czech government statement agreed to cede Czech territory but protested against plebiscite demand in areas without a German majority. All German majority territory in Czechoslovakia was to be handed over by October 10th. -
Mussolini brought down by coup during WW II
In July of 1943, as Italy started to become a losing power in the war, it was invaded at Sicily by the allies. This became a turning point as public support for Mussolini diminished and was taken out of power. -
Italy enters WW II on side of Germany
the axis treaty, prior to WW II, is the main reason for Italy entering the war with Germany. On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact called the Axis alliance. The defense alliance intended to deter the United States from entering the conflict. Mussolini declared war, with Germany on its side, on allies of France and Britain on June 10, 1940. -
Mussolini killed
on April 28, 1945, both Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were shot. They were killed by Italian partisans that captured them while they attempted to flee to Switzerland. He attempted to disguise himself with a Luftwaffe coat and helmet in hope of getting into Austria but ended up getting caught by partisans in which their bodies were hung in Milan and displayed for publicity by the masses.
