The Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy
The Flag of Italy
[[{{{map}}}|250px]] will do later
Motto
FERT
Anthem
Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza
National Info
Player	Wilted Rose
Leader	King Florenstano of Savoy
Capital	Roma
Government	Limited Constitutional Monarchy
Location	Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Factsheet Info
Area	301,340 sq km
Maritime_Claims	12 nm
Terrain	mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Climate	Temperate
Natural_Resources	coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorspar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land
Natural_Hazards	Mafia
Population	56.43 million
Major_Cities	Milan, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Naples.
Nationality	Italian
Religion	95% Roman Catholic

The Kingdom of Italy (Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state founded in 1861 when King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy. The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state.

Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866: despite an unsuccessful campaign, it received the region of Veneto following Bismarck's victory. Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy accepted Bismarck's proposal to enter in a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, following strong disagreements with France about the respective colonial expansions. However, even if relations with Berlin became very friendly, the alliance with Vienna remained purely formal, as the Italians were keen to acquire on Trentino and Trieste, parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire populated by Italians. So, in 1915, Italy accepted the British invitation to join the Allies in World War I because the western allies promised territorial compensation (at the expense of Austria-Hungary) for participation that were more generous than Vienna's offer in exchange for Italian neutrality.

The Great War

Nominally allied with the Central Powers of the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance, the Kingdom of Italy refused to join them when the war started in August 1914. Instead in May 1915, almost a year after the war's commencement, after a period of wavering and after secret negotiations with France and Great Britain in which Italy negotiated for territory if victorious, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies.

Italy fought mostly against Austria-Hungary along the northern border, including high up in the now-Italian Alps and along the Isonzo river. The war was initially a failure for Italy despite being numerically superior to Austria-Hungary. The Italian army repeatedly attacked Austria, making little progress and suffering heavy losses, and then being routed in 1917 by a German-Austrian counteroffensive after Russia left the war allowing the Central Powers to move reinforcements to the Italian Front from the Eastern Front. In October 1918, as civil unrest increased in Austria-Hungary, the Italians attacked again. The Austrian army broke, and the Italians drove deep into Austrian territory.

Despite managing to break through most of Austria's mountain defenses, and nearly pushing into Bavaria, Italy once again managed to hit a stalemate several miles away from Vienna. Italy's supply lines were not able to keep up with rapid advances into the front line, so whenever Italy managed to push forward, their supply shortages would in the end force a retreat back to old positions. This style of warfare would continue till the end of the war.

1920s-1970

Despite walking away with numerous gains and a full victory over the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Italy was left in a harsh state during the 20s and 30s. Italian industry had to go under the lengths of returning to civilian production, and the men and women who served had to return home and find new jobs in a market overburdened with surplus goods.

It wasn't until the 1940s that Italy's economy had begun to rise at the same rate as before the war, and even then there were recessions that would push back the progress made due to poor management. In the south, major crop failures did little and helping the large amounts of farmers who quickly found themselves out of money. Many moved to the major cities like Naples, in an attempt to find work in industries or fishing.

By 1960, Italy had fully recovered as was now a major player in Europe once again. Italian and French diplomats discussed the selling of Corsica to Italy several times of the years, yet all attempts failed, and Corsica remained French.