Sentence:  Han 's student days were at a time when Europe was in a new intellectual ferment following the revolutions in America and in France , Germany and <WSD>Italy</WSD> were rising from divisive nationalisms and a strong wave of intellectual awareness was sweeping the Continent . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD