History UsefulNotes / Venice

* Just about anything about the life of Creator/GiacomoCasanova.

* Just about any film about the life of Creator/GiacomoCasanova.

* Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}''.

!!Works featuring this city include:

* Franchise/IndianaJones goes there in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'' to seek the grave of a First Crusade knight for clues about the location of the Holyu Grail. He is ambushed by the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, and a boat chase ensues.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': Venice is the second main location of the game after Tuscany (Florence). The Assassin Ezio Auditore follows Leonardo da Vinci there and wages a war against local Templars with the help of the city's thieves guild. In a memorable level, he gets to use Leonardo's flying machine to reach a target at the Doge's Palace. He also meets {{Historical Domain Character}}s like doges Giovanni Mocenigo and Marco Barbarigo.

* Venice is the city Film/JamesBond visited the most on film after London, three times more precisely: at the end of ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', in the middle section of ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' and in the climax of ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}''.

Venice grew until it became a small [[TheEmpire empire]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] UsefulNotes/TheCrusades to its benefit, most famously when it particpated the sack of [[UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} Constantinople]] during the Fourth Crusade. This brought Venice to its height. It was about then that Creator/MarcoPolo made his famous expedition.

Venice grew until it became a small [[TheEmpire empire]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] UsefulNotes/TheCrusades to its benefit, most famously at its crowning moment of treachery when it [[TheChessmaster arranged for]] the sack of [[UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} Constantinople]] during the Fourth Crusade. This brought Venice to its height. It was about then that Creator/MarcoPolo made his famous expedition.

Venice grew until it became a small [[TheEmpire empire]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] UsefulNotes/TheCrusades to its benefit, most famously at its crowning moment of treachery when it [[TheChessmaster arranged for]] the sack of [[{{Istanbul}} Constantinople]] during the Fourth Crusade. This brought Venice to its height. It was about then that Creator/MarcoPolo made his famous expedition.

For a more general overview of the history and culture of Italy, see UsefulNotes/{{CultureofItaly}}

Venice grew until it became a small [[TheEmpire empire]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] TheCrusades to its benefit, most famously at its crowning moment of treachery when it [[TheChessmaster arranged for]] the sack of [[{{Istanbul}} Constantinople]] during the Fourth Crusade. This brought Venice to its height. It was about then that Creator/MarcoPolo made his famous expedition.

After the NapoleonicWars Venice became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Later, in 1866, it became joined with UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}, where it remains to this day. Nowadays it is a popular tourist destination, famous around the world for its masks and the splendor of Carnival.

In later times the growth of gigantic [[TheEmpire Empires]] like the Ottomans and the Habsburgs forced Venice into a decline, and the discovery of the New World hurt its trade. Venice was able to survive by its cunning and its Navy, which was still feared. However, it slowly declined and developed a reputation more in keeping with modern associations than with war galleys and [[IntrepidMerchant intrepid merchants]]. Its final end as an independent state was something of an anticlimax, when NapoleonBonaparte, while campaigning in Italy, extinguished it as sort of an afterthought. At that time the state of Venice had something of a reputation as a DeadlyDecadentCourt, though it is hard to tell how much of that was propaganda.

-->Wordsworth, ''On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic.''

-->Wordsworth, ''On the Extinction of the Venitian Republic.''

The stereotype in the Italian consciousness for northeasterners is that they are uneducated workaholics who bring along their wielding tools when they go on vacation one week a year (usually to the Carribean or Maldives, but always in the wrong season). Typically, a northeastern entrepreneur as represented in the media will continuously vote for the Northern League, (“Lega Nord”) denouncing southerners and immigrants as lazy good-for-nothings, oblivious to the fact that he exclusively employs immigrants and southerners in his factory.

Most cities in northeastern Italy had spontaneously given themselves over to Venice’s protection during one of Milan’s periodic late-medieval conquering sprees. Their ruling classes were welcomed into Venice’s ruling nobility (eventually swelling the “great council,” who’s membership was hereditary, to outrageous size). Thus, the holders of capital who in other Italian states would invest in their home city instead invested them in Venice. Despite this, the people of the lands Venice ruled never rebelled [[note]] (although some disgruntled nobles did stage some coup attempts) [[/note]], mainly because all the nobles were invested in business on the mainland in some way or other, and had an interest to keep the economy stable and the people happy.

These same disadvantages were turned into advantages in the 1970’s. After Italy’s postwar economic boom had petered out and the “Years of Lead” had set in (“Anni di Piombo”) northeastern workshops began supplying well-made niche goods at cutthroat prices. In grey towns where the only thing of beauty might be the villa of an absentee landlord, the northeasterners had nothing to do but work. And work they did, slowly becoming the most powerful force in Italian industry. [[note]] In 2003, the provinces of Padova, Treviso and Venezia had a GDP greater than that of Argentina. [[/note]] Now, every square mile of land east of Milan is packed with small family run firms. Oftentimes the CEO is the father, the CFO is the mother, the product designer is the daughter and the chief salesman is the son. [[note]] (The actual factory work has been taken over by North African immigrants) [[/note]]

Sadly, Venice itself, once the chief city of the region, is now reduced to a sort of historical Disneyland. From a population high of 250’000 in the 1950’s [[note]] (and over a half million in the renaissance) [[/note]] today the city only counts some 20’000 inhabitants (the official population is much higher, as suburban towns keep getting annexed to the city’s jurisdiction so tax revenue can stay stable)

The stereotype in the Italian consciousness for northeasterners is that they are uneducated workaholics who bring along their wielding tools when they go on vacation one week a year (usually to the Carribean or Maldives, but always in the wrong season). Typically, a northeastern entrepreneur as represented in the media will continuously vote for the Northern League, (“Lega Nord”) denouncing southerners and immigrants as lazy good-for-nothings, oblivious to the fact that he exclusively employs immigrants and southerners in his factory.

Ironically, recent judicial developments have shown that the Northern League is in the pocket of the Calabrese Mafia. However, they still retain a chokehold on the electorate in almost all of Northern Italy.

After Italian unification, however, Venice lost its importance and northeastern Italy was plunged into crippling poverty. Millions immigrated to South America [[note]] (southerners, for some inexplicable reason, instead tended to migrate to North America) [[/note]]. As late as the 1950’s, the popular stereotype was for rich Italian families to be able to poach well-trained servants from the now-empty Venetian palaces. [[note]] (A famous commercial at the time featured a servant-girl speaking in a thick Venetian accent, “The coffee has finished!”) [[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:336:One of Venice's famous canals.]]

After the NapoleonicWars Venice became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Later, in 1866, it became joined with UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}, where it remains to this day.

In later times the growth of gigantic [[TheEmpire Empires]] like the Ottomans and the Habsburgs forced Venice into a decline, and the discovery of a sea route to China hurt its trade. Venice was able to survive by its cunning and its Navy, which was still feared. However, it slowly declined and developed a reputation more in keeping with modern associations than with war galleys and [[IntrepidMerchant intrepid merchants]]. Its final end as an independent state was something of an anticlimax, when NapoleonBonaparte, while campaigning in Italy, extinguished it as sort of an afterthought. At that time the state of Venice had something of a reputation as a DeadlyDecadentCourt, though it is hard to tell how much of that was propaganda.

Ah, ''Venezia'', the famed CityOfCanals, the haunt of lovers, and of beauty. ''La Serenissima'', the Jewel of the Adriatic. Well, that's not all it was. The fact is that Venice was one of the most successful states in Europe, with a history of independence spanning over a thousand years. In its heyday, it was powerful enough to stand up to empires much larger than itself, thanks to its centuries-long dominance of trade in the Mediterranean as well as cunning and diplomacy.

After the NapoleonicWars Venice became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Later it became joined with the new Republic of UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}, where it remains to this day.

After the NapoleonicWars Venice became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Later it became joined with the new Republic of Italy where it remains to this day.