ITALIAN SOCIETY SINCE 1861: SOME HIGHLIGHTS!

"Risorgimento" refers to the historical period in which the Italian nation sought and obtained its national unity (officially in 1861) joining together the kingdom of Italy and the pre-unification States.

In 1861 Italy was a united country, what about the Italians?

Despite the unification there was still a gap between the North and the South. Here capitalist farmers didn't exist and intensive cultivation wasn't spread, hence much of the fields were planted with cereals. The industrial sector was fairly developed (especially in Salerno and Naples) and protected by high tariff barriers. After the adoption of Piemonte's customs tariffs, which were much lower, the sector collapsed. This gap is still present today, it doesn't mereley concern economics but also culture and traditions. This is the main limitation of our country, but at the same time, our wealth, beacause regional diversity is typical of Italy.

As a saying goes "Italy is a nation of poets, saints and seamen"



But are we just like this?!?

Of course not! As time passed, the Italians devoted to other activities, achieving significant results in culture, art, entertainment, technology and scientific research.

LET'S COMBAT ILLITERACY!

One of the problems that a united Italy had to face was illiteracy. Tha first step was taken with the "Coppino Law" as until 1876 illiteracy hadn't worried the rulers of our country. The rate of literacy inreased, althought it remained much lower than that of the most developed countries in Europe, and it was scarce in the southern regions.

 -After the unification Italy had an average of 78% of illiterates.

-The first educational programs were approved in 1860, they sought to ensure basic cultural literacy for the entire population.

-Around 1900 positive effects started to be seen, illiteracy decreased but a new phenomenon came out: intellectual unemployment.

Primary school laws

1859 - Casati Law: the Legge Casati (Casati Act) mandated educational responsibilities for the forthcoming Italian state. The Casati Act made primary education compulsory, and had the goal of reducing illiteracy. This law gave control of primary education to the single towns, of secondary education to the provincie (counties), and the universities were managed by the State. Even with the Casati Act and compulsory education, in rural (and southern) areas children often were not sent to school (the rate of children enrolled in primary education would reach 90% only after 70 years) and the illiteracy rate (which was near 80% in 1861) took more than 50 years to halve.

1878 - Coppino Law: it required free public education through the third grade

1911 - Daneo-Credaro Law: fees for primary schools passed from the municipalities to the State.

1923 - Gentile's Reform: it was a radical reform of the Italian educational system carried out by the neo-idealist philosopher Giovanni Gentile, Minister of Education in Benito Mussolini's first cabinet. It officially recognized 21 universities in Italy.

The main parts of this reform were:

 -The compulsory age of education was raised to 14 years, and was somewhat based on a ladder system: after the first five years of primary education, one could choose the "scuola media", which gave further access to the "liceo" and other technical schools, or the "avviamento al lavoro", which was intended to give a quick entry into the low strata of the workforce.

-Gentile created the "liceo classico" (intended to be the peak of secondary education, with the goal of forming the future upper classes), the only secondary school that gave access to all types of university. Gentile also created technical, commercial and industrial institutes.

ITALY:

From a country of emigrants (the major migratory movements took place between the end of XIX century and the Great War and then after the Second World War in the '50s and '60s) towards America, Germany, Belgium, France...

To a country of immigrants, mainly from North Africa.

A WINDOW ON HOUSES

THEN
Between 1800 and 1900 lifestyle was not that good as it was marked by a succession of wars that led to the destruction and impoverishment of households.

NOW

A WINDOW ON CLOTHES

THEN 1800-1900:

AND NOW

ITALY IN THE WORLD

The key sectors of Italian industry are:

-CAR



-FOOD



-STEEL

-TEXTILE

-FASHION

-TOURISM

ITALIAN PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

VIVA L’ITALIA – FRANCESCO DE GREGORI

(Viva l’Italia – 1979)

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia liberata,

l'Italia del valzer, l'Italia del caffè.

L'Italia derubata e colpita al cuore,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che non muore.

Viva l'Italia, presa a tradimento,

l'Italia assassinata dai giornali e dal cemento,

l'Italia con gli occhi asciutti nella notte scura,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che non ha paura.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia che è in mezzo al mare,

l'Italia dimenticata e l'Italia da dimenticare,

l'Italia metà giardino e metà galera,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia tutta intera.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia che lavora,

l'Italia che si dispera, l'Italia che si innamora,

l'Italia metà dovere e metà fortuna,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia sulla luna.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia del 12 dicembre,

l'Italia con le bandiere, l'Italia nuda come sempre,

l'Italia con gli occhi aperti nella notte triste,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che resiste.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia liberata,

l'Italia del valzer, l'Italia del caffè.

L'Italia derubata e colpita al cuore,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che non muore.

Viva l'Italia, presa a tradimento,

l'Italia assassinata dai giornali e dal cemento,

l'Italia con gli occhi asciutti nella notte scura,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che non ha paura.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia che è in mezzo al mare,

l'Italia dimenticata e l'Italia da dimenticare,

l'Italia metà giardino e metà galera,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia tutta intera.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia che lavora,

l'Italia che si dispera, l'Italia che si innamora,

l'Italia metà dovere e metà fortuna,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia sulla luna.

Viva l'Italia, l'Italia del 12 dicembre,

l'Italia con le bandiere, l'Italia nuda come sempre,

l'Italia con gli occhi aperti nella notte triste,

viva l'Italia, l'Italia che resiste.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k60i0es8gb0

Written by:

Alessandra Bonetti

Anna Bonetti

Giulia Savoldi

Roxette

Roxette

Roxette is a Swedish pop music duo which started in 1986. The group includes the singers and songwriters Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson. Roxette had their greatest time 1998-1995 when they toured around the world, with their concerts “Join the Joyride World Tour” and “Crash! Boom! Bang! World Tour”. After the tours they had a live-performance break for a couple of years, but in 2001 they started another tour, a Europe tour called “Room Service Tour”.

Sadly in the year of 2002 Marie got a brain tumor which cost her a bit of her singing career and they had a career break but after a couple of years Marie was a fully

recovered. In 2006 Roxette released a “best of CD” called “A Collection of Roxette Hits – Their 20 Greatest Songs!”. Later, that same year they released another album, called “The Rox Box / Roxette 86-06” which was their final collection, and they decided to stop making music. Of course many of the Roxette fans were sorry.

But unbelievably enough, in 2010 the group decided to restart making music

together, or at least sing their old songs again. On June 18^th 2010 they sang together again with their hit “The Look” which was a “before marriage–party” performance in Stockholm for Crown princess Victoria and her husband Daniel.

Roxette had some really popular songs, like “Listen to your heart” which is also my favourite. Some other famous hits are: It Must Have Been Love, Joyride, Dressed For Success and Sleeping In My Car. Watch and enjoy “Listen to your heart”! (By Emma Ekberg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCC_b5WHLX0

ITALY YESTERDAY:

Kingdom of Italy’s motto: FOEDERE ET RELIGIONE TENEMUR (faithful to politics and religion)

Capitals: Turin (1861-1864)
Florence (1864-1871)
Rome (since 1871)

Language: Italian

Religion: Roman Catholicism

Government: Constitutional monarchy

Population: 33.680.000

Currency: Italian lira

Government… THE STATUTO ALBERTINO:The kingdom’s constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the former governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

THE UNIFICATION PROCESS (1848-1870)
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.
Giuseppe Garibaldi led the Italian republican drive for unification in southern Italy, while the northern Italian monarchy of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour, had the ambition of establishing a united Italian state under its rule. The Kingdom successfully challenged the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence. It established Turin as capital of the newly formed state. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence.
During the Napoleonic wars, the northern part of the country was invaded and reorganized as a new kingdom of Italy, that was a client state of the French Empire, while the southern half of the peninsula was administered by Joachim Murat.

Cavour, in order to challenge republican unification efforts, organized by Garibaldi, planned popular revolts in the Papal States. Only a small portion of the Papal States around Rome remained under the control of Pope Pius IX. Despite their differences, Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi’s Southern Italy, allowing it to join the union with Piedmont-Sardinia in 1860. Subsequently, Cavour declared the creation of the Kingdom of Italy on February 18, 1861.
King Victor Emmanuel II was declared King of Italy. Cavour, the Kingdom’s strongman, died on 6th June 1861. Another important character who played an important role in the unification process was Giuseppe Mazzini, patriot, politician and philosopher. His ideas and his political action contributed significantly to the creation of the unified Italian state. Giuseppe Mazzini is considered, with Giuseppe Garibaldi, Vittorio Emanuele II and Camillo Benso, Count Cavour, one of the fathers of our homeland.

L'incontro tra Garibaldi e Vittorio Emanuele II

MAZZINI                                                                                                  CAVOUR

AFTER THE UNIFICATION

Northern Italy underwent a process of industrialization and modernization, while Southern Italy and some rural areas in the North remained under-developed.
After the unification, Italy’s politics favored liberalism: the Liberal-conservative right - historical right - and Liberal-conservative. The main character of this period, marked by corruption, government instability, poverty in southern Italy, and use of authoritarian measures by the Italian government, is without doubt Agostino Depretis.
He began an experimental political idea called “Transformism”. The theory of “trasformismo” was that a cabinet should select a variety of moderates and capable politicians from a non-partisan perspective.

Transformism was also continued by Francesco Crispi who became Prime Minister. In 1887 he worked to build Italy as a great world power and tried to win the favour of the German Empire.
At the same time, Italy joined the Triple Alliance which included both Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The Italian unification was finally achieved, and shortly afterwards Italy’s capital was moved from Florence to Rome, after the conquest of the city in 1870. This event marked the break in the relations between the Italian state and the Church.There was also a great liberal politician called Giovanni Giolitti. He was one of the most effectively commited liberal politicians who struggled for the extension of the base of the young democratic state. He wanted economic modernization and an industrial and cultural-policy for the Italian society in the XIX and XX centuries.

AGOSTINO DEPRETIS                                                                      GIOVANNI GIOLITTI

War memories:

FIRST WORLD WAR: At the outbreak of World War I, Italy opted for a neutral position.
There were two lines: the “neutralists” and the “interventionists”.
On 24th May, 1915, Italy declared war on Austria, entering the First World War. The first battles, in which the Italian Army was involved, had disastrous results.The Austrian offensive became increasingly pressing, until the Italian Army suffered the terrible defeat of Caporetto, on 24th October 1917, with serious repercussions on the economic and social life of the country. 1918 was the decisive year of the conflict, which also marked the conclusion of the First World War with the victory of the Triple Entente.


SECOND WORLD WAR:
On 10th June, 1940, Italy entered World War II as an ally of Germany. It is considered the largest armed conflict in history, and it cost six years of untold suffering, destruction and massacres for a total of 55 million dead. The tragedy of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jewish took place.The second world war ended on 14th August, 1945. More than 410,000 Italian soldiers died in the conflict.

Kings of Italy:

· Victor Emmanuel II (1861-1878)

· Umberto I (1878-1900)

· Victor Emmanuel III (1900-1946)

· Umberto II (1946)

To understand everything in just 32 seconds, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcxHw27jr4U

THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC:

Official name: Repubblica Italiana

Official language: Italian

Other language spoken: German and French

Capital: Rome

Form of government: Parliamentary Republic

President of the Republic: Giorgio Napolitano

Unification: the 17th of March 1861

Republic: the 2nd of June 1946

Population: 60.545.940 inhabitants

Currency: Euro (since 2002)

The birth of the Italian Republic

June 2nd, 1946: The Italians were called to the polls to choose between the Monarchy and the Republic.
On that same day, elections for the Constituent Assembly were held. This body was responsible for writing the new Constitution, that had to replace the old Albertine Statute. For the first time in Italian history, universal suffrage was granted to women. Before, in fact, women did not have any voting rights.
In an effort to save the Crown, shortly before the elections of June 2nd, Vittorio Emanuele abdicated (May 9, 1946) in favour of his son Umberto II.
The majority of the Italians voted in favor of the Republic. The result of the referendum, announced by the Interior Minister Giuseppe Romita, was this: "Republic, 12,718,641 votes, 10,718,502 Monarchy”.
A few days after the referendum, King Umberto II of Savoy known as the "King of May" was obliged to exile to Portugal (June 13th, 1946).
The Constituent Assembly, freely elected, started its work on 25th June 1946 and three days later Enrico De Nicola was elected temporary Head of State.On 22nd December 1947, the Assembly approved the text of the Italian Constitution, which came into force on 1st January 1948.


THE ITALIAN CONSTITUTION

The Italian Constitution is the fundamental law and the foundation of the Italian State. It was passed by the Constituent Assembly on 22nd December 1947 and published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic on 27th December 1947. It entered into force on 1st January 1948.
The Constitution is composed of 139 articles.

PARLIAMENT

It’s an elected body made up of:
   -Senators
   -Members (of Parliament)

POWERS OF THE STATE

The three powers of the Italian state are:
   -legislative power, it belongs to the Parliament;
   -executive power, it belongs to the government;
   -judicial power, it belongs to the judiciary.

The “Tricolore”:

"The flag of our Republic is the Italian “tricolore”: green, white and red, in three vertical bands of equal size."(Article 12 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic)

Green symbolizes hope, long-cultivated and often disappointed during the nineteenth century.
White symbolizes the Catholic faith, professed by the majority of the Italians. Red stands for the blood shed for the unification of Italy.
These colours were already known at the time of Dante Alighieri, as symbols of the three theological virtues: hope: green, white: faith, red: charity (Purgatorio Canto XXX, v.30 -33): accordingly they represent Italian culture and literature.

The Italian national flag was born with a document dated October 18, 1796 passed by the provisional Senate of Bologna.

The "Canto Degli Italiani'', also known as Inno di Mameli or "Fratelli d'Italia'', is the national anthem of the Italian Republic, provisionally chosen in 1946 and finally passed on 17th November 2005.

Mameli

Fratelli d'Italia, L'Italia s'è desta; Dell'elmo di Scipio S'è cinta la testa. Dov'è la Vittoria? Le porga la chioma; Ché schiava di Roma Iddio la creò. Stringiamci a coorte! Siam pronti alla morte; Italia chiamò. Noi siamo da secoli Calpesti, derisi, Perché non siam popolo, Perché siam divisi. Raccolgaci un'unica Bandiera, una speme; Di fonderci insieme Già l'ora suonò. Stringiamci a coorte! Siam pronti alla morte; Italia chiamò. Uniamoci, amiamoci; L'unione e l'amore Rivelano ai popoli Le vie del Signore. Giuriamo far libero Il suolo natio: Uniti, per Dio, Chi vincer ci può? Stringiamci a coorte! Siam pronti alla morte; Italia chiamò. Dall'Alpe a Sicilia, Dovunque è Legnano; Ogn'uom di Ferruccio Ha il core e la mano; I bimbi d'Italia Si chiaman Balilla; Il suon d'ogni squilla I Vespri suonò. Stringiamci a coorte! Siam pronti alla morte; Italia chiamò. Son giunchi che piegano Le spade vendute; Già l'Aquila d'Austria Le penne ha perdute. Il sangue d'Italia E il sangue Polacco Bevé col Cosacco, Ma il cor le bruciò. Stringiamci a coorte! Siam pronti alla morte; Italia chiamò.

To hear a short version of our anthem click here and SING IT!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcAupmoJfTk&feature=related