Unification & Modern Era

After centuries of foreign rule (Spaniards, Austrians, French under Napoleon), the 19th century saw the beginning of the Risorgimento — the national unification movement. Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Camillo Cavour were the driving forces. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, with Rome joining as the last city in 1870 (end of the Papal States).

The 20th century brought fascism under Benito Mussolini (1922–1943), World War II with German occupation and partisan warfare, the proclamation of the Republic (1946), and the economic miracle (Miracolo Economico) of the 1950s/60s: Vespa, Fiat 500, Fellini, Dolce Vita. Today, Italy is the third-largest economy in the Eurozone — politically turbulent, culturally inexhaustible, and economically divided between north and south.