History UsefulNotes / Italy

* [[UsefulNotes/Culture of Italy]]

Italy was a late-comer to the scramble for Africa, but it eventually managed to acquire some hard-scrabble colonies (Somalia, Erithrea, Libya) between 1882 and 1911; WorldWarOne brought a chance for the new country to shine on the world stage, and Italy was persuaded to leave its previous alliance with Germany and Austria (it should be noted, however, that said alliance was purely defensive in nature and that the majority of Italians despised the Austrians, who had been their long-time enemies) and join the Allies (1915) in exchange for some territorial gains at Austria's expense.

* ChristopherColumbus

->The flag's colors date back to the Napoleonic era, combining the colors of the flag of Milan (red cross on white field, similar to that used by England) and the green uniform of its civic guard. Following the fall of Napoleon, the green-white-red flag became the official banner of the Italian unification movement. Between 1861 and 1946, the Italian flag was defaced with the coat of arms of the House of Savoy..

->The flag's colors date back to the Napoleonic era, combining the colors of the flag of Milan (red cross on white field, similar to that used by England) and the green uniform of its civic guard. Following the fall of Napoleon, the green-white-red flag became the official banner of the Italian unification movement.

The country which gave us two popular foodstuffs (pizza and pasta), the Latin alphabet (used by Romance, Germanic, Celtic, and many other languages), Opera, ballet, the Renaissance, the Republic (the form of government, not the book), musical notation, the university system (started in Bologna in 1088 A.D.), eyeglasses, Humanism, ''[[InsistentTerminology Roman]]'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]], and TheMafia. Despite importing its two major religious influences (the Greek Gods in classical times and Christianity from Judea), Italy has been a major center of theological thought.

[[AC:The Italian flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Italy_svg.png

-->--'''Dante Alighieri''', ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' (Purgatorio, Canto VI)

Member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and {{NATO}}. Now has the Euro, so RidiculousExchangeRates jokes no longer work. One of the top 8 largest economies in the world by GDP, and easily in the top 20 by any economic measurement, despite corruption, few natural resources, a backwards south, an archaic political structure and incompetent (at best) politicians.

WorldWarOne brought a chance for the new country to shine on the world stage, and Italy was persuaded to leave its previous alliance with Germany and Austria (it should be noted, however, that said alliance was purely defensive in nature and that the majority of Italians despised the Austrians, who had been their long-time enemies) and join the Allies (1915) in exchange for some territorial gains at Austria's expense.

They got it, but still felt short-changed, ushering in Mussolini's era, which led to the [[WorldWarII second unpleasantness]] and another change in government.

* GioacchinoRossini

* ValeriaGolino

* {{Creator/AsiaArgento}}

* UmbertoEco

* AsiaArgento

* [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante Alighieri]]

* {{Creator/Cicero}}

* UsefulNotes/TheMafia

Member of the EuropeanUnion and {{NATO}}. Now has the Euro, so RidiculousExchangeRates jokes no longer work. One of the top 8 largest economies in the world by GDP, and easily in the top 20 by any economic measurement, despite corruption, few natural resources, a backwards south, an archaic political structure and incompetent (at best) politicians.

->(''"Oh slave Italy, hostel to sorrow,''

->''not lady of the provinces, but a brothel!"'')

Actually, some of the so-called "dialects" are not variations of standard Italian, but real languages with their own grammar and pronunciation: the differences between them are so huge that, ironically, an Italian living in Calabria would have an easier time understanding a Spaniard than another Italian living in Piedmont, if both Italians spoke their respective regional language.

All these languages reflect the different local cultures: in fact, every Italian region has its own unique traditions, foods, and history, and it's not rare to notice a bit of rivalry between regions, each one of them claiming to have the best people, or the best dishes. [[OliveGarden Hollywood Italy]] erroneously tends to portray all Italians as dark haired, olive-skinned folks either living in Rome, Naples, Tuscany or Sicily, but real Italy is actually a diverse country with radically different people everywhere you go. This has often lead to stereotypes even ''between Italians themselves'', especially during the '50s and '60s, when many southern Italians emigrated to northern Italy; northern Italians weren't pleased and (very) often looked down on them, labeling them as lazy and poor; in turn, southern Italians considered their northern fellows stuck-up and boring. Luckily, [[ItGetsBetter it got better]] with time and nowadays these stereotypes are usually [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], as no one really takes them seriously anymore (mostly).

The country which gave us two popular foodstuffs (pizza and pasta), the Latin alphabet (used by Romance, Germanic, Celtic, and many other languages), Opera, ballet, the Renaissance, the Republic (the form of government, not the book), musical notation, the university system (started in Bologna in 1088 A.D.), eyeglasses, Humanism, ''[[InsistentTerminology Roman]]'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]], and TheMafia. Despite importing its two major religious influences (the Greek Gods in classical times and Christianity from Palestine), Italy has been a major center of theological thought.