Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The **Kingdom of Italy** was a country that started in 1861 after the Italian unification and ended with the dissolution of the monarchy in 1946. In 1922, it became Fascist Italy. After defeat in World War II, the people voted in 1946 to change it into the modern day Italian Republic.

### Unification

Before 1861, Italy was not one country. Instead, there were many kingdoms and duchies (places ruled by dukes) in the Italian Peninsula. In 1861, the King Victor Emmanuel II, who was the king of the Kingdom of Sardinia wanted to unite Italy, and he invaded the countries. Later, they all became one country and King Victor Emmanuel II became the King of Italy.

### Colonies

Italy began their colonial empire in the 1880s, when they conquered Eritrea and Somalia. In 1912, they took Libya from the Ottoman Empire. In 1936, Italy also conquered Ethiopia, creating Italian East Africa. When they lost WW2, their colonies were lost to the British Empire and the French Empire.

### Fascism

Before World War I, Italy was friends with the German Empire and Austria-Hungary. But Italy wanted parts of Austria-Hungary. In 1915, the United Kingdom promised the lands of South Tyrol, Istria and Dalmatia, and Italy joined the Triple Entente. After Italy won WW1, Italy did not get all of those places. After the Blackshirts' March on Rome of 1922, Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister. He was the leader of the National Fascist Party and did not like Italy not getting all their promised land in WWI. He made Italy into a dictatorship without much liberty.

When World War II began, Mussolini led Italy into alliance with Hitler and the Axis powers. In 1943 the Allies of World War II invaded and began conquering Italy. Mussolini's leadership ended and he was killed in 1945. Nazi Germany controlled Italy at that time, but Germany also eventually was invaded by the Allies. Hitler killed himself and Nazi Germany surrendered. Italy was independent again.

### Aftermath of World War II

After WWII, Italy was left in huge debt, causing Italy to be poor. Many people from Italy emigrated to the United States to escape being poor. In 1946, the people voted to get rid of the monarchy (kings and queens) and establish the new Italian Republic. Slowly, the new government helped Italy get back up again into its current state. Also, dramatically, people stopped emigrating because life in Italy was becoming better.

## List of monarchs

- Victor Emmanuel II (1861–1878)
- Umberto I (1878–1900)
- Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946)
- Umberto II (1946)

## Infobox (former country)

- **demonym**: Italian
- **government type**: Constitutional monarchy and Fascist dictatorship
- **conventional long name**: Kingdom of Italy
- **national anthem**:
Marcia reale d'ordinanza (1861–1943)

La leggenda del Piave (1943–1946)
- **national motto**: FERT (motto of the House of Savoy)
- **currency**: Italian lira
- **population estimate**: 42,993,602 (1936)
- **legislature**: Italian Parliament
- **national languages**: Italian language ,  Italian
- **area km2**: 310,190
- **capital**: Rome
- **flag caption**: Top: Civil Flag
Bottom: State Flag
- **image flag2**: Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg
- **image coat**: Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1929-1944).svg
- **image flag**: Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg
- **today**: Italy ,  Italian Republic (mainly), Slovenia, Croatia
- **native name**: Regno d'Italia
- **year start**: 1861
- **year end**: 1946