Italy
From Encyclopediak
Italy, a kingdom of southern Europe, and the central of the three great peninsulas projecting into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the north by Switzerland and Austria on the east by Jugo-Slavia, the Adriatic and Ionian Seas on the west by France and the Mediterranean Sea. The peninsula is about 700 miles long and has an average width of about 100 miles. The total area of the mainland including recent acquisition from Austria is about 97,000 sq. m. In addition to the peninsula, Italy comprises the islands of Elba, Sicily, Sardinia, and smalled groups and a stretch of the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, including a part of Dalmatia. The estimated total area of Italy is now about 117,000 sq. m. The recent acquisitions of territory at the north end of the peninsula the Tyrol at the head of the Adriatic Sea and the east shore restore to Italy territory ruled by the city republic of Venice. Strategically, the position of Italy has been greatly strengthened.
SURFACE. The Kingdom of Italy consists geographically of three parts the Continental, the Peninsular and the Insular. The Alps border the Continental area on the north that part of the mountain region which is in the extreme northeast of the country is known as the Piedmont. Here is also found the Valley of the Po, or the great plain of Lombardy. The Peninsular region is practically filled by the Apennine system. The Northern Apennines, known also as the Ligurian, or Ligurian Alps, partly enclose the Gulf of Genoa and extend as far as the source of the Tiber the Central Apennines center around the region of Abruzzi the Southern Apennines reach to the Gulf of Taranto and southward. The Insular region is also mountainous and volcanic, and forms a continuation of the mountain system of the peninsula. Only about one-third of the whole area of the kingdom is made up of plains. The Valley of the Po forms the greater part of this territory. The total length of the coast line, including that of the islands, exceeds 4000 m. Practically the whole territory is easily accessible to the sea, and its position makes it of importance for commercial routes in all directions.
RIVERS AND LAKES. The largest river is the Po, flowing into the Adriatic Sea, and navigable as far as Turin. Other important rivers are the Adige, the Arno and the Tiber. Many of the beds of the minor streams are dry in summer. The lakes of Italy are distinguished for their beauty, the Lago di Como being considered the most beautiful lake in the world. Others are Garda, Maggiore, Lugano and Iseo.
CLIMATE. The atmosphere of Italy possesses a singular degree of clearness, which intensifies the outlines of its mountains, towered cities and castles until a spectacle of great charm is produced for the wondering eye of the tourist. There are four climatic areas the northern coincides with the Valley of the Po, and extremes of temperature are frequent the eastern and western coasts of the Peninsular region differ in that the western slope is generally warmer than the eastern in southern Italy and on the islands the climate is warm, and the difference between the summer and winter temperature is only 25. Irrigation is necessary because the greatest amount of rain falls in the autumn and winter months after the season of productivity.
MINERALS AND MINING. Sulphur constitutes the richest mineral wealth of the country, and nearly supplies the demand for the whole world. Some anthracite is found in the Piedmont region lignite is mined in Sardinia, Umbria and Tus-cany. Iron ore, zinc ore, copper, silver, gold, antimony, lead, marble, rock salt and petroleum are more or less abundant.
AGRICULTURE. The varied climate, by reason of the wide range of both altitude and latitude, allows for the production of practically all the crops of Europe, as well as of many of the tropical regions. The temperate climate allows for at least two harvests per year, and in the plains of Campagna a larger number are grown. One of the most important cereals raised is wheat. Other products are corn, rice, barley, rye, oats, potatoes and beets. More valuable than its yield of cereals is the country's annual production of fruit, and wine making has become a scientific industry. Olives, oranges, lemons, almonds, dates and figs grow in large quantities. The mulberry tree is cultivated for its value in relation to silk culture. Italy now ranks second only to Ch.ina and Japan, among the countries of the world, as a producer of raw silk. There is little stock breeding, except in the northern part of the country, where horned cattle and horses are bred. Fish breeding is largely carried on. The forests occupy over 15 per cent of the territory, and efforts are constantly made to reclaim what has been carelessly lost by the planting of new trees. A large part of the area under forests is in chestnuts.
MANUFACTURE. Excluding the production of raw silk and a fairly large amount of silk spinning and weaving, the manufactures of Italy are not in a high state of perfection. In the manufacture of art products Italy has the distinction of supplying works of great beauty and artistic finish. Of such. nature are its small metal wares, pottery, glassware, alabaster and marble products. Paper, straw hats, leather goods and chemicals are also produced.
COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. The imports exceed the exports in quantity, and consist principally of wheat, raw cotton, coal, machinery, limber, raw wool, fish and hides. The chief exports are silk, wine, sulphur, olive oil, fruit, eggs, flax and raw hemp. The trade has been chiefly maritime, but the opening of numerous Alpine tunnels has facilitated land transportation to the Continent. The railroad system consists of the two groups, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, separated by the Apennine mountain range. The total railroad extent exceeds 10,000 m. The highways, national, provincial and communal, are elaborately constructed and carefully maintained.
INHABITANTS. Peoples have migrated to Italy both from the North and the South, but despite the peculiar mixture of races, an extraordinary degree of unity of speech now exists in the country. The original inhabitants were the Iberians, Ligurians, Italians, Illyrians and Etruscans. The L.tin language was adopted during the Roman period. Of the present local dialects of the Italian language, the Tuscan is the purest.
LITERATURE. See LITERATURE, subheads Roman Literature and Italian Literature.
GOVERNMENT. The constitution vests the hereditary power in a king of the House of Savoy. The only control of his authority is that the measures he accepts shall be countersigned by a minister, who by that act assumes responsibility for the same. The ministers in turn are responsible to the lower house of Parliament. The administrative departments of which they have charge are the interior, foreign afiairs, the treasury, finance, justice, war, marine, commerce and industry, and agriculture, public instruction, posts and telegraphs, public works, colonies, labor, and liberated provinces. The Senate and a Chamber of Deputies have legislative control. The members of the Senate are the princes of the royal blood who are of age and men chosen by the king from certain classes, provided for under the constitution, all of whom must be at least 40 years of age. The senators now number 402. There are 535 deputies elected on the basis of universal suffrage, male and female, and proportional representation. They are paid a salary but the senators receive no compensation other than free passes over the Italian railroads. Both the administrative and the judicial systems are a close model of those of France.
RELIGION. The Roman Catholic Church claims by far the largest number of the inhabitants. Rome is the seat of the central administration of the Church, and for this reason the Church as such has played an important part in the history of the inhabitants. The Protestant churches claim over 123,000 members and there are some 35,000 Jews.
COLONIES AND CITIES. The colonial possessions of Italy are those of Eritrea on the Red Sea, Italian Somaliland and Tripoli. The principal cities are Naples, Milan, Rome the capital, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Florence, Trieste, and Venice.
HISTORY. The history of modern Italy begins in 476 A. D., when the barbarians made their leader, Odoacer, King of Italy. He was conquered in 493 by Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, who united the whole neninsula under his wise and firm rule. A little after his death the country fell into the hands of Justinian, and the rising greatness of Italy was checked by he invasion of the Lombards in 568. Charlemagne received Italy with the other Roman possessions when he was crowned Emperor of Rome by the Pope, in 800. By the Treaty of Verdun, 843, Italy became the inheritance of Lothair, and a period of misrule followed for over a century. In 962 Otto I was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and from this time there were many wars between the emperors and the northern city states into which the Lom-aard Kingdom had disintegrated. The Lombard League defeated Frederick I and forced him to give up all real authority over them in 1183. The parties of the Guelphs and Ghibellines rent Italy with dissension in the llth and 12th centuries See GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES. The German emperors finally lost all authority in Italy, and by the 15th century the country was occupied by five powersVenice, Florence, Milan, the Kingdom of Naples and the Papacy. Italy became the scene of struggles between the emperors of Germany and France early in the 16th century. The invasion of the country began in 1494, when Charles VIII of France attempted the conquest of Naples. Francis I was defeated at Pavia in 1525 by Emperor Charles V, and four years later he was obliged to give up all claim to Italian territory. Charles V gained Milan and Naples in 1535, and Austria acquired both, with Sardinia, early in the 18th century. Thus held by foreign powers, all expression of national life disappeared and was not revived until the time of the French Revolution. When Italy joined the powers against France, she was conquered and reduced to a mere dependency by Napoleon. Venice was given to Austria, and the remainder of the country was divided into republics, except Naples, which was made a kingdom in 1806 and ruled by Joseph Bonaparte and Murat. By the Congress of Vienna 1814-15, Italy was almost all divided between Austria and the Papacy. Longings for a united Italy began to express themselves by conspiracies and secret meetings, and when Charles Albert of Sardinia gave a liberal rule to his people the patriots rallied about him as the national liberator. In 1848, the popular discontent forced constitutional rights from Naples and Rome, while the people of Milan drove the hated Austrians from their city. Charles Albert entered Lombardy, but he was defeated at Novara in 1849 and was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel. Victor Emmanuel was an intensely patriotic young prince. He wisely followed the policy of his great minister, Cavour (See CAVOUR, CAMILLO BENSO Di), to strengthen Sardinia and to gain allies for another struggle for Italian liberty and unity. Cavour shrewdly joined England and France in the Crimean War against the Russians, while Austria preserved a rather inglorious neutrality. Thus Sardinia was allowed representation in the Congress of Paris in 1856. Through the diplomacy of Cavour, Louis Napoleon was drawn into a secret alliance, Austria was lured into making an attack, and after the Italian victories of Magenta and Solferino 1859 the Austrians ceded Lombardy, which was added to Sardinia. The next step toward Italian unity was taken when the duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany drove out their rulers and voted in 1860 for annexation with Sardinia. This annexation increased Sardinia more than one-third. The third step followed in the same year, when the hero Garibaldi made his wonderful conquest of Sicily and Naples See GARIBALDI, GUISEPPE. As a reward for her help to Prussia against Austria in 1866, Italy received Venice as her fourth acquisition, and when the Franco-German War began in 1870, Napoleon III recalled the French troops from Rome, and Italy quietly took her ancient capital and became a free, united country. Victor Emmanuel III came to the throne in 1900, succeeding Humbert I, who was assassinated that year. The war with Turkey in 1911 resulted in the acquisition of Tripoli. In the World War Italy saw an opportunity to realize her cherished ambitions. Since she was not pledged to offensive warfare by the Triple Alliance she joined the Allies in 1915 in the hope of regaining her "lost provinces," securing control of the Adriatic and a foothold in Asia Minor. The Italian campaigns in the Alpine passes and along the Piavc form one of the most heroic and brilliant of the military chapters of the war. But, blocked by the Great Powers in the post-war settlements, Italy came out of the conflict with only the Trentino and Istria. This failure abroad contributed to the unrest at home. In 1919 there developed a revolutionary, communistic movement culminating in the seizure of the factories by the workers. The government was practically powerless. Opposed to the communists sprang up the Fascist black shirts led by Benito Mussolini, whose double purpose is to restore Italian fortunes at home and abroad. By midsummer, 1922, the conflict between the Fascisti and communists amounted to civil war. Finally, in October, the king ma Ie Mussolini premier and the legislature voted him practically dictatorial powers. This dictatorship was attended by an amazing reorganization of national life, and 1924 saw the country restored to order under a constitutional government headed by this stern Milanese. See FASCISTI MUSSOLINI. In August, 1923, however, the assassination of the Italian members of the Greco-Albanian border commission in Albania created a grave international crisis. Mussolini delivered an ultimatum to Greece reminiscent of Austria's note of 1914. When Grrece protested that the demands infringed her sovereignty, Italy occupied Corfu. Greece then appealed to the League of Nations whose jurisdiction Mussolini denied. The League, with the consent of both parties, ultimately referred the latter to the Council of Ambassadors with proposed terms of settlement whose acceptance the Council secured. Pop. 38,835,941.
