Socialist Union of Italy

The **Socialist Union of Italy** is a country in Southern Europe bordered by France to the west, Germany to the north, and Slovenia and Croatia to the east. As of 2089, it has a population of 45.216 Million, and is led by chairman Luigi Morricone.

## History

By the end of 1919, the countries of the Entente were finally defeated, and had signed many treaties with the Central Powers, including the cessation of many of their colonies. Italy by this point was almost entirely occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces, with exceptions of the North west and island of Sardinia. Austria wanted to reestablish it's former influence in the country, and Austrian officials met with pro-central power Italian politicians to discuss the creation of the Italian Confederation, which would be a pro-central powers puppet state. This had enraged much of the Italian population, who didn't want to be under the thumb of foreign powers On June 24th, 1920, socialists had occupied the Italian state of Liguria and Rome, and had started a war against the Austrian occupiers.

In August, troops under the order of Chairman Filippo Turati had made their way down south to the socialists in Rome in order to form a more united front against Austria Hungary. By August 19th, the socialists forces had finally been connected, and had started planning to completely push out the Austrians all together. In the first days of October, the battle of Rome had begun, as Austrian forces had made their way into the city in order to retake it from socialist hands. It eventually ended with an Austrian victory, as the Socialists were forced to retreat. After Rome was retaken by Austrian forces, and 2 sides had signed the treaty of Pescara in order to make peace. The terms of the treaty were:

Article 1: Austria Hungary would recognize the Socialist Union of Italy in the northern parts of the country

Article 2: The Socialist Union of Italy will relocate it's capital to Genoa

Article 3: The Socialist Union of Italy would recognize the Duchy of Venetia and Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies

After the war, chairman Filippo Turati had started working on rebuilding the country, and had also signed many treaties and agreements with the other socialist states of Europe

The first years of the country saw massive reforms, as the SUI started to see rapid industrialization, more workers rights, land reforms, and many other improvements within the country. A massive military reform was also put into effect, in order to fight off a potential invasion from Austria and it's Italian puppet states. Later on during may of 1925, the treaty of Rome was signed between Austria and the SUI. This treaty saw the creation of the Papal State of Rome, which was to serve as a buffer state between Austria's puppet state of the 2 Sicilies and the SUI. In 1928, Francesco De Martino was appointed to the position of chairman The late 20's and early 30's had seen the great depression happen world wide, as the stock market world wide crashed, causing mass unemployment and many other economic issues. Thanks in large part to the new economic polices introduced by the De Martino government, the Socialist Union of Italy endures the great depression in a lighter manner.

The early 1930's had also seen a long expected civil war happen in the United States of Greater Austria, which despite the reforms it had introduced to give all people's in the country equal rights, had still seen massive protests and riots De Martino saw this as an opportunity to reunite Italy under socialist rule, as the puppet states of Venetia and the 2 Sicilies also had their own riots. In the early days of the war, De Martino order ordered a massive military build up on it's north eastern and southern borders, and plans for an invasion had begun.

These plans were stopped however after De Martino received a note from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, which warned that if the SUI had invaded Austrian Italian territories, Germany would intervene and declare war. Knowing that Italy could in no way fight off German forces, Martino agreed to the terms and all troops on the borders were called back. At the wars end, the Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies had become fully independent and Venetia had now become a German puppet state. This had worried the Socialist Italian government, as this had now brought the German Weltreich closer to the SUI, and brought panic to the government. After this, the military had begun to grow in size, as Britain and the Soviet Union had helped train Italian troops in the event of a war In 1936, Benito Mussolini had become the chairman of the Socialist Union of Italy

Mussolini had a staunch anti-German viewpoint, as he believed that Germany would invade at any day now, and saw an even bigger growth of the Military, as most of the SUI's border had become heavily militarized. Mussolini's rule also saw mass arrests of Germans, anti-socialists, monarchists, and other groups accused of plotting against the government. Plans to invade the other countries of the Italian world were drafted, Venetia especially, as Mussolini had started funding anti-German rebels in the territory. Not only did he want to reunite Italy under his rule, but also "recreate" the Roman Empire, and had even proposed a union between the Socialist Union of Italy, France, and Britain, though this idea didn't get very far. Mussolini's rule also saw many new economic polices, as more taxes had been put on wealthy corporations, and new job opportunities had been opened up. Despite this, Mussolini's rule also saw mass repression, as all those who criticized his rule were arrested and jailed without trial. Mussolini also started to implement a cult of personality around himself, as many statues of him were built, and he and his followers started to refer to him as "Il duce".

This, of course, saw massive protests against Mussolini's reign, as clashes between protesters and police forces became all the more common. Mass deportations into the Alps also became frequent, with around 5,000 - 10, 000 people being deported to the region. At this point, Mussolini made for life, as he saw him self as the "savior of socialism in Italy" Mussolini was rather similar to Britain's Harry Pollitt, as he shared many of Mussolinis beliefs, such as wanting to eradicate technocracy and elitism in their countries, and purging much of their opposition. This led to greater co-operation between the 2 sides, with trade reaching an all time high during this period.

During 1947, The Ottoman Empire and German Weltreich had broken off relations with each other, and the Ottoman Empire had left the Central Powers After this event, other powers of the Internationale, Including Italy, had saught to capitalize on this and further improve relations with the Ottomans. After further treaties and agreements, the Internationale powers had gained access to the Suez Canal, providing an important victory with the Internationale. The Socialist Union of Italy also wanted to further improve relations with the other Italian states of Sardinia, 2 Sicilies, and the Papal States. Sardinia was the rump state of the Kingdom of Italy after the first world war, and while at first relations with the Internationale were sour, they eventually improved over time, as Sardinia wanted to improve it's economy. And while the Papal States and 2 Sicilies were nominally more German alligned, they also enjoyed relatively positive relations with the Internationale.

In 1952, Mussoloni had met with leaders from the other Italian states in Palermo to sign the Palermo agreement, which would see more trading and co-operation with each other, Mussolini had continued to grow Italy's military, seeing it as a necessity to defend socialist Italy and the socialist world in general from the "Capitalist German Beast" as Mussolini said in a 1953 speech. Free healthcare and education were also implemented, and the political system of the country was altered to be more similar to those of the USSR and SSA, with all states having some form of autonomy, but still answering to the government in Genoa. During the Late 40's, anti-socialist rebel groups had risen up in the northern parts of the country. Heavily supported by the German Weltreich, the rebel groups consisted of nationalists, monarchists, moderates, and far right groups. The goal was to overthrow the socialist government and replace it with a strong, pro-German kingdom. The government had deployed many troops to deal with the guerrillas, but since it was taking place in the mountainous northern regions of the country, it made the conflict into a much harder struggle as both sides vied for supremacy