The Kingdom of Italy (Italian: Regno d'Italia, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-smallfont-size:85%.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-smallfont-size:100%pronounced [ˈreɲɲo diˈtaːlja]) was a state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 12 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished, following civil discontent that led to an institutional referendum on 2 June 1946 which resulted in a modern Italian Republic. The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called the Risorgimento. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal predecessor state.
The Kingdom established and maintained until the end of World War II colonies, protectorates, military occupations and puppet states beyond its borders. These included Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Libya, Ethiopia (annexed by Italy from 1936 to 1941), Albania (an italian protectorate since 1939), British Somaliland, part of Greece, Corsica, southern France with Monaco, Tunisia, Kosovo and Montenegro (all territories occupied in World War II) Croatia (Italian and German client state in World War II), and a 46-hectare concession from China in Tianjin (see Italian concession in Tianjin).[5] These foreign colonies and lands came under Italian control at different times and remained so over different periods.
The Kingdom of Italy was a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, who governed through appointed ministers. The legislative branch was a bicameral Parliament comprising an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdom maintained as its constitution the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible solely to the king. However, by this time, a king couldn't appoint a government of his choosing or keep it in office against the express will of Parliament.
The creation of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of concerted efforts of Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula.
The birth of the Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the political and social Italian unification movement, or Risorgimento, emerged to unite Italy consolidating the different states of the peninsula and liberate it from foreign control. A prominent radical figure was the patriotic journalist Giuseppe Mazzini, member of the secret revolutionary society Carbonari and founder of the influential political movement Young Italy in the early 1830s, who favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. His prolific output of propaganda helped the unification movement stay active.
From the 1860s, Italy invested heavily in the development of railways and the existing rail network more than tripled between 1861 and 1872 and more than doubled from 1870 to 1890. Gio. Ansaldo & C. from the former Kingdom of Sardinia provided the first all italian build locomotives with the FS Class 113 and the later FS Class 650. The first railway section on the island of Sicily was inaugurated on 28 April 1863 with the Palermo - Bagheria line. By 1914 the Italian railway had around 17,000 km of railways.
Steelworks were established with state funding and capital from credit institutions, notably the Credito Mobiliare, in 1884 in Terni and in 1897 in Piombino via the iron-ore from Elba. The relative backwardness of the south however continued to be a central problem for the state. Proposed solutions to the so-called 'southern question', as proposed by Francesco Saverio Nitti, Gaetano Salvemini and Sidney Sonnino, were tackled, but the government limited itself to special problem areas such as Naples.[35] The ILVA group from Genoa with the political and financial backing of the Italian state built the Bagnoli steel plant as part of the 1904 law for the development of Naples, prepared by economist and later prime minister Nitti. In 1898 in order to make the steel-industry completely independent from foreign coal imports the Neapolitan engineer Ernesto Stassano invented the Stassano furnace. The first electric furnace of the indirect-arc type. By 1917 there were 88 indirect-arc type furnaces, manufactured by Stassano, Bassanese and Angelini, operating in italian iron and steel plants.[36]
In 1906 the government lowered the national interest tax rate from 5% to 3.75%. This move eased the burden on the state's required finances, reduced panic among the state's creditors, and encouraged the growth of heavy industry. The subsequent budget surplus made it possible to finance major government employment programs, such as the completion of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906, which massively reduced unemployment. Shortly after the railway began its triumphal march through Switzerland, each region wanted its own north-south connection and with the construction of the railway tunnels on the Gotthard 14,998 km (1872-1880), Simplon 19,803 km (1898-1906) and Lötschberg 14,612 km (1907-1913), three major Alpine crossings were realized that were important for Switzerland and neighboring European countries. The workforce of these monumental projects were directly connected to the italian labor market. From the Gotthard tunnel where 90% of all miners came from northern italy to the Lötschberg tunnel where 97% of all miners were italians, chiefly the south.
Before 1861, Italy was not one country. Instead, there were many kingdoms and duchies (places ruled by dukes) in the Italian Peninsula. In 1861, the King Victor Emmanuel II, who was the king of the Kingdom of Sardinia wanted to unite Italy, and he invaded the countries. Later, They all became one country and King Victor Emmanuel II became the King of Italy.
Victor Emmanuel III lived for 78 years. His indecisiveness and unwillingness to act caused political unrest and profound harm to the Italian people. His obsession with maintaining power made him indifferent to whose side he was on so long as he ended up on the winning side. In the end, the years of playing turncoat caught up to him. His kingdom was gone, his family in exile, and his legacy forever stained by the dark mark of fascism.