Cronologia di Storia Moderna e Contemporanea (1861-2003)

Unification Movements and the Rise of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1869)

The year 1861 marked a series of transformative events in both Europe and the Americas. In Russia, Tsar Alexander II abolished the system of serfdom (‘servit™ della gleba’), a monumental shift in Eastern European social structure. Meanwhile, in Italy, the first Italian Parliament met in Turin on February 18, 1864, leading to the official proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy under Vittorio Emanuele II di Savoia on March 17. The new nation soon faced a leadership crisis with the death of the statesman Cavour on June 6. Across the Atlantic, the American Civil War began, a conflict that would persist until 1865.

International relations involving the young Italian state were further defined by the September Convention (‘Convenzione di Settembre’) in 1864, where France and Italy agreed that French garrisons would withdraw from Rome. In exchange, Italy renounced its claim to conquer Rome as its capital, moving the seat of government from Turin to Florence on September 15. The labor movement also saw a significant milestone on September 28, 1864, with the founding of the International Workingmen's Association (‘Prima Internazionale’) in London, an initiative led by Karl Marx.

The mid-1860s were characterized by conflict and shifting borders. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, shortly after proclaiming the abolition of slavery. By 1866, Italy and Prussia declared war on Austria, marking the Third Italian War of Independence. While Italy suffered defeats at the battles of Custoza and Lissa, Garibaldi secured a victory at Bezzecca. The conflict concluded with Prussian victories over Austria, leading to the Peace of Prague, which sanctioned German unification, and the Peace of Vienna on October 3. As a result, Austria was forced to cede the Veneto region to Italy. Late in the decade, the First Vatican Council opened in 1869, establishing the doctrine of papal infallibility (‘ex cathedra’).

Consolidation of Nations and the Rise of Reformist Politics (1870–1889)

In 1870, several pivotal milestones occurred: Vladimir Ilic Uljanov, known to history as Lenin, was born on April 10. In July, France declared war on Prussia, leading to the French defeat at Sedan on September 2, where Napoleon III was taken prisoner. Exploiting the French collapse, General Cadorna led Italian troops into Rome on September 20, following symbolic resistance from papal forces. This period also saw the establishment of the Three Emperors' Alliance in 1873 between Germany, Austria, and Russia. In 1875, France enacted a new republican constitution that would endure until 1940.

Italy's internal politics shifted in 1876 when the Left (‘Sinistra Storica’) rose to power under Agostino Depretis after the fall of the Historical Right. This era introduced the parliamentary practice of ‘trasformismo’. In 1882, the electorate was expanded from 600,000 to approximately 2.5 million voters. On May 20, 1882, Italy joined the Triple Alliance treaty with Austria and Germany. Expansionism continued as Italians conquered Massaua in Ethiopia in 1885. Following the death of Depretis in 1887, Francesco Crispi was appointed President of the Council. Scientific advancement also progressed with H. R. Hertz’s discovery of electromagnetic waves for long-distance communication. The decade closed with the founding of the Second Socialist International in Paris in 1889, which designated May 1 as a global Workers' Day.

The Turn of the Century and the Crisis of the Liberal State (1890–1913)

In 1890, Otto von Bismarck resigned as Chancellor, and for the first time, Labor Day was celebrated on May 1. The social question was addressed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1891 encyclical "Rerum Novarum." Military disaster struck Italy in 1896 at the Battle of Adua, where Abyssinian forces defeated the Italians, resulting in approximately 5,000 Italian soldier deaths and the subsequent resignation of Crispi. This was followed by the Treaty of Addis Ababa on October 26, regulating Italo-Ethiopian relations. In 1898, France was rocked by the Dreyfus Affair following Emile Zola’s publication of "J'accuse." The century ended on a violent note in Italy when Umberto I was assassinated in Monza by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci on July 29, 1900.

The early 20th century saw the rise of the United States as a global power with the election of Theodore Roosevelt (serving 1901–1908) and the creation of the Republic of Panama with American support in 1903. In Italy, the Giolittian era began in 1903 when Giovanni Giolitti became President of the Council, ushering in social reforms and economic development. Internationally, the 1905 mutiny on the Russian battleship Potemkin signaled rising unrest. By 1910, the Italian Nationalist Movement was born in Florence. Italy declared war on Turkey on September 26, 1911, for the conquest of Libya, a conflict concluded by the Peace of Lausanne on October 18, 1912. The year 1913 brought the first Italian elections under universal male suffrage, while the Second Balkan War broke out, concluding with the Treaty of Bucharest where Serbia and Greece divided Macedonia and Bulgaria ceded Dobruja to Romania.

The First World War and the Russian Revolution (1914–1918)

The Great War commenced on July 28, 1914, when Austria declared war on Serbia. Germany quickly declared war on Russia and invaded neutral Belgium to attack France, leading England to declare war on Germany. Initially, Italy declared neutrality on August 2. In the U.S., the Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted. By 1915, Italy shifted its stance, signing the Pact of London on April 26 with France, Russia, and England, committing to join the Entente. After denouncing the Triple Alliance, Italy declared war on Austria on May 24, 1915. Battles raged, including the Austro-German victory at Gorlice and the Italian conquest of Gorizia. Italy eventually declared war on Germany on August 25, 1916.

In 1917, the global landscape changed as the United States entered the war alongside the Entente. In Russia, worker demonstrations in St. Petersburg led to the establishment of the Soviets on February 13. Lenin returned from Switzerland to Moscow on April 3, enunciating his ‘April Theses.’ The Revolutionary Military Committee, led by Trotsky and including Stalin, was formed, leading to the storming of the Winter Palace on November 7 and the formation of a government led by Lenin. On the Italian front, the disastrous defeat at Caporetto on October 24 led to General Cadorna being replaced by Diaz. The war concluded in 1918 as the Central Powers collapsed: the Peace of Brest-Litovsk removed Russia from the fight (ceding Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Livonia, and Courland to Germany), and armistices were signed by Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria (Villa Giusti, November 4), and finally Germany.

The Interwar Period and the Rise of Totalitarianism (1919–1933)

Following the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Treaties of Versailles (conditions for Germany) and Saint-Germain-en-Laye (conditions for Austria) were signed. In the aftermath, new political forces emerged: Hitler founded the National Socialist Party (N.S.D.A.P.) on April 1, 1920, and the Chinese Communist Party was established. In Italy, Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party, while the Communist Party of Italy was formed in Livorno in 1921 by Gramsci and Bordiga. The March on Rome in October 1922 saw King Vittorio Emanuele III invite Mussolini to form a government. In Russia, the USSR was officially formed in 1922.

Following Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin seized power. In Italy, the 1924 elections gave a massive majority to the liberal-fascist list, but the assassination of socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti by fascist squads led to the ‘Aventine Secession’ by opposition parties. Mussolini consolidated total power by 1926, dissolving all democratic parties. The Lateran Pacts and Concordat between Italy and the Holy See were signed on February 11, 1929. The same year, the Wall Street Crash triggered the Great Depression, leading to 25 million unemployed in the U.S. and fueling the rise of Hitler’s N.S.D.A.P. in Germany. Hitler was eventually appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933, and achieved an absolute majority in the March 5 elections. In the U.S., Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated the New Deal.

Aggression, Expansion, and the Outbreak of World War II (1934–1940)

Hitler's consolidation of power included the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ on June 30, 1934, where the SS murdered the leaders of the SA. In 1935, Mussolini attacked Ethiopia, leading to economic sanctions from the League of Nations on November 18. Despite this, the Italian Empire was proclaimed on May 5, 1936, after the conquest of Addis Ababa. This period saw the formation of the Rome-Berlin Axis and Italy’s adherence to the Anti-Komintern Pact with Germany and Japan. German troops remilitarized the Rhineland in 1936. The 1938 Munich Conference, involving Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier, and Mussolini, allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland. That same year, the ‘Kristallnacht’ (Night of Broken Glass) on November 9 marked a violent escalation in the persecution of Jews, with 91 killed and thousands arrested.

In 1939, Germany annexed Austria and occupied Czechoslovakia. Italy occupied Albania and made territorial claims on Tunisia, Djibouti, Corsica, Nice, and Savoy. The ‘Pact of Steel’ was signed on May 22, followed by the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. World War II began on September 1, 1939, with the invasion of Poland. By 1940, Germany had invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands. On June 10, Italy declared war on France and England. As German troops entered Paris, the collaborationist Vichy Republic was formed under P™tain. The Tripartite Pact was signed on September 27, dividing the world into spheres of influence between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Global Conflict and the End of the War (1941–1945)

The year 1941 was a turning point. Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter. In June, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. On December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war against Japan, followed by declarations of war from Italy and Germany against the USA. In 1942, major battles occurred: the English defeated the Axis at El Alamein, and the Soviets halted the Nazi advance at Stalingrad. That same year, Americans defeated the Japanese at the Coral Sea and Midway.

By 1943, the Allies landing in Sicily on July 9 led to the arrest of Mussolini on July 25 and his replacement by Marshal Badoglio. An armistice was signed at Cassibile on September 3, though it was not public until September 8, prompting a German invasion of Italy. Mussolini, rescued by Germans on September 12, formed the Italian Social Republic. 1944 saw the Liberation of Rome (June 4) and the D-Day landings in Normandy (June 6). In 1945, the Yalta Conference determined the final assault on Germany. Northern Italy was fully liberated on April 25. Mussolini was captured and executed at Dongo on April 27, and Hitler committed suicide on April 30. Germany surrendered on May 7. The war in the Pacific ended after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (August 6, 80,000 deaths) and Nagasaki (40,000 deaths); Japan signed the surrender on August 14. The United Nations (ONU) was founded during the San Francisco Conference (April–June).

Post-War Reconstruction and the Cold War (1946–1960)

In 1946, Italy voted to become a Republic, electing Enrico De Nicola as its first President. Post-war independence movements grew: India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, and the State of Israel was established on November 29. The Marshall Plan era saw the creation of the OECE. In 1948, the new Italian Constitution came into effect, and Gandhi was assassinated. The Cold War deepened with the 1949 signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China under Mao Tse-tung. The Korean War broke out in 1950. European integration began with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951.

Stalin's death in 1953 and the death of Alcide De Gasperi in 1954 marked the end of an era. The mid-1950s saw the temporary division of Vietnam and the independence of Laos and Cambodia. In 1956, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established the European Common Market (MEC) and Euratom, while the USSR launched Sputnik on October 4. The decade ended with the Cuban Revolution under Fidel Castro, the return to power of De Gaulle in France (V Republic), and the election of John F. Kennedy in the United States in 1960.

The Contemporary Age (1961–1979)

The 1960s were defined by the space race and escalating conflict. Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961, followed by American astronaut Glenn in 1962. Vatican II opened in 1962. A period of trauma followed with the assassination of JFK in Dallas (1963) and later Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War occurred in 1967. Social unrest peaked in 1968 with the Prague spring, repressed by Soviet forces. The decade culminated in the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. In Italy, the ‘Years of Lead’ began with the Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan.

The 1970s saw the normalization of ties between the U.S. and China, the admission of China to the UN (1971), and the UK joining the EEC (1973). In Chile, the 1973 coup led to the death of Allende and the rise of Pinochet. The Yom Kippur War occurred the same year. In Italy, the 1974 divorce referendum saw 59% of voters in favor, while terrorism increased with attacks like Piazza della Loggia. The decade ended with the Red Brigades' kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978 and the election of Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II.

Shifts in the Late 20th Century (1980–1989)

The early 1980s were marked by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the 1980 Bologna station massacre, and the election of Ronald Reagan. In Italy, political scandals emerged, notably the P2 Masonic Lodge affair. In 1981, Pope John Paul II was wounded in an assassination attempt, and the Spadolini government became the first in Italy not led by a Christian Democrat. Ciriaco De Mita became secretary of the DC in 1982, while General Dalla Chiesa was murdered in Palermo. Bettino Craxi became the first Socialist Prime Minister in 1983.

The mid-to-late 80s saw the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev (1985) and the beginning of the end of the Cold War. In 1987, the Achille Lauro hijacking and the Fiumicino massacre underscored Mediterranean tensions. The decade closed with the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the transition of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) into the PDS. Germany was officially reunified on September 12, 1990.

The New Millennium and Globalization (1990–2003)

The early 90s saw the Gulf War (1991), the dissolution of the USSR (December 26, 1991), and the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. Italy's political system was upended by the ‘Mani Pulite’ investigation and the assassinations of judges Falcone and Borsellino. Nelson Mandela was freed in South Africa (1990), leading to multiracial elections in 1994. The late 90s focused on the Euro project (monetary union established 1998, physical currency 2002) and conflicts like the Kosovo War (1999). Significant leaders arose, including Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi.

The 21st century began with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda, leading to the war in Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban. In 2003, English and American troops invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. This era also dealt with the SARS epidemic, the construction of the West Bank wall by Israel, and the first death of the cloned sheep, Dolly. In Italy, soldiers lost their lives in the 2003 Nassirya bombing during the peace mission in Iraq.