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This is an abridged list of important events that have helped to shape
Italy today. If you would like to see a more complete list I recommend
the book that was used as a source for this page. In addition to
an extensive chronology you will also find a wealth of information about
the history and cultural development of the people who have made their
home on the peninsula over the centuries.
Lintner, Valerio.
"A Traveler’s History of Italy - Fifth Edition", New York: Interlink
Books, 1998, Pages 240-252.
1305-77 Exile
of Papacy
1310-40 Construction
of Doge’s Palace in Venice
1314-21 Dante
writes Divina Commedia
1328 Louis
IV crowned emperor in Rome
1348-49 Black
Death rages in Italy
1378-1415
The Great Schism
1380 Venice
defeats Genoa at Chioggia
1406 Florence
annexes Pisa
1414-18 Council
of Constance ends schism
1436 Cupola
of Florence Duomo completed
1442 Alfonso
of Aragon captures Naples from Angevins
1444 Sandro
Botticelli and Donato Bramante born
1452-1519
Leonardo da Vinci
1458-64 War
of succession between Angevins and Aragonese
1465 First
Italian press established at Subiaco
1475-1564
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1478-80 War
between Florence, Venice, Milan and the Papacy, Siena, Naples
1480 Lodovico
Sforza comes to power in Milan
1483 Sistine
Chapel consecrated
1483-1520
Raphael
1498 Savonarola
burnt as a heretic
1499 Louis
XII invades Italy
1508-12 Michelangelo
paints ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
1527-30 Florentine
Republic
1537-41 Michelangelo
paints the Last judgement
1540 Jesuit
Order founded
1564-1642
Galileo Galilei
1597 Clement
VIII annexes Ferrara
1612-17 Wars
of Monferrato and Valtellina
1618-48 Thirty
Years War
1633 Galileo
condemned in Rome
1647-48 Revolts
in Naples and Palermo
1684 French
fleet bomb Genoa
1700-13 Wars
of Spanish succession
1714-18 Venice
at war with Turkey
1732 Don
Carlos of Bourbon becomes duke of Parma
1755 Genoa
sells Corsica to France
1773 Clement
XIV dissolves Jesuits
1796-97 Napoleon’s
first Italian campaign
1798-1837
Giacomo Leopardi
1800-1801
Napoleon recaptures Italy
1801-1802
Italian Republic
1805 Kingdom
of Italy
1820 Revolts
at Nola, Avellino and Naples
1848 Revolts
in Sicily and Milan; Republic of Venice declared
1848-49 First
War of Independence; Piedmontese defeated by Austrians
1849 Republic
of Rome; despotism restored
1852 Cavour
prime minister of Piedmont
1859-60 Piedmont
annexes most of northern Italy; Nice and Savoy ceded to France
1860 Garibaldi
and the Thousand capture Sicily and the south
1865 Capital
moved from Turin to Florence
1866 Venice
becomes part of Italian kingdom after Third War of Independence
1870 Rome
captured and becomes capital; unification complete; Law of Guarantees
1876-1915
Radicals dominate the parliamentary scene
1893 Civil
unrest in Sicily
1898 Riots
in Milan, breakdown of law & order in much of country
1902-7 Widespread
strikes
1911-12 Conquest
of Libya
1912 Mussolini
becomes editor of Avanti!
1915 Italy
enters World War 1
1917 Defeat
of Caporetto
1921 Mussolini
forms Fascist Party; PCI formed
1922 March
on Rome; Mussolini prime minister
1935-36 Abyssinian
war; League of Nations sanctions
1936-39 Intervention
in favour of Franco in Spanish Civil War
1936 Axis
formed between Italy and Germany
1939 Pact
of Steel with Germany; occupation of Albania
1940 Italy
enters World War II on German side
1941-43 Italians
fight in Yugoslavia, Russia and Africa; defeat in Africa; Allies land in
Sicily; anti-Fascist action; Badoglio delares war on Germany
1944 Anzio
landings; Allies take Rome
1945 Resistance
movement; liberation of Florence; German surrender
1946- Christian
Democrat domination of government
1949 Italy
becomes a member of NATO
1954 City
of Trieste returned to Italy
1956 Italy
joins European Community
1966 Floods
in Venice and Florence
1968-69 Student
and workers’ struggle
1969 Fascist
bomb at Piazza Fontana, Milan; anarchist Pietro Valpreda arrested; autunno
caldo
1974 Referendum
approves divorce
1975-77 Decentralization
through regional laws
1980 Earthquake
in Campania; fascist bomb at Bologna station
1982 Italy
wins football World Cup (1934,1938)
1983-87 Bettino
Craxi first Socialist prime minister
1985 Francesco
Cossiga elected President
1987 Giovanni
Goria youngest ever prime minister at the age of 44; II sorpasso , Italian
GNP greater than that of the UK; general election, recovery of DC, decline
of PCI
1991 Italian
warplanes participate in Gulf war
1992 Intensification
of mafia activity: MEP Salvo Lima and judges Falcone and Borsellino murdered;
Bank of Italy made independent; municipal corruption in Milan and other
cities revealed - PSI implicated; austerity programme, fight against mafla
and corruption
1993 Arrest
of mafia boss Salvadore Riina; Craxi resigns as leader of PSI; 82.7% vote
in favour of electoral reform in referendum, operation ‘clean hands’ intensifies,
faith in traditional political parties collapses, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
moves from Bank of Italy to become Prime Minister in government of technocrats’,
traditional Parties suffer heavy losses in municipal elections
1994 Roberto
Baggio’s goals take Italy to final of World Cup; Italian birth rate lowest
in the world. Berlusconi investigated by corruption judges, falls out with
Northern League and resigns
1995 Year
begins with unresolved political crisis. In January, Lamberto Dini invited
to form a new government
1996 Dini
government falls; Maccanico fails to form government; general election
brings left to power for first time; Romano Prodi new Prime Minister; antics
of separatist northern League who rename Northern Italy ‘Padania’
1997 Earthquake
seriously damages parts of central Italy including Assisi; Versace murdered;
Berlusconi charged with corruption; DiPietro comes under investigation
by operation clean hands
1998 Progress
towards meeting EMU convergence criteria
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