Italian History – Page 8 – General History

What was the ‘Roman Question’?

It is something studious people have been asking for centuries: what relation does the city of Rome (for one thousand four hundred years in the ‘temporal’ possession of the Catholic Pope) have with any movement that might demand Italian unity?

Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti) was obliged to get out of Rome fast when a popular uprising drove him out of the Vatican. A Roman Republic was set up, mainly by the cleverness of Giuseppe Mazzini (politically) and Garibaldi (militarily). It was recognised officially in 1849. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-14T09:44:16+00:00 March 14th, 2012|Italian History, Today, World History|0 Comments

The Communist Parties

The word itself – ‘Communist’ – was certainly first heard as long ago as the 1840s. Both Karl Marx (q.v.) and his promoter Engels used the word, but it was not until after the Russian Revolution (q.v.) of 1917 that fervid Marxists detached themselves from the more moderate Social Democrat Parties, to form groups (and committees) called Communist Parties. In Russia, Bolsheviks did not officially adopt the term until 1918. When the news of the shooting of the royal family spread, it was considered wise to tone down the ‘Ekaterinburg/Bolshevik’ connection, replacing ‘bolshevik’ by a little-known word. There had been ‘Communes’ in Europe, especially in France, but ‘Communists’ was something new. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-27T12:05:00+00:00 February 27th, 2012|Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Italian History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Renaissance

Painting of cardsharpers by Caravaggio / fotos.org

This difficult word represents something more than merely being a favourite in the fevered mind of a history examiner. Without the Renaissance the world would now be a different place –not necessarily better or worse – but different.

What we know as the Renaissance flowered intellectually and artistically in Italy in the fourteenth century, and was in glorious full bloom in the sixteenth. The rest of Europe was profoundly influenced by it. The word is French, of course, and means ‘rebirth’. It indicates a revival of those values of the classical world that appeared lost in the rough and tumble of the ‘Dark Ages’. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-02T11:07:32+00:00 February 2nd, 2012|Italian History, World History|0 Comments

Two grand opera composers: Wagner & Verdi

Richard Wagner / javeriana.edu.co

Professional music critics tend to bicker over the greatness or otherwise of these two composers, born as almost exact contempories, within months of each other in 1813. Wagner was of course German, wrote opera principally, keeping wary of symphonies and concerti, though God knows what masterpiece he might have written if he had steered away from the human voice. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-01-11T18:00:33+00:00 January 11th, 2012|German History, Italian History, Philosophy, Today, World History|0 Comments

The U.S.S.R.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (also known as the Soviet Union) used to occupy all the northern part of Asia, and a substantial part of Eastern Europe. Under that name, what was before, and is now again Russia lasted from 1936 to 1991. It comprised fifteen constituent republics. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-12-22T18:17:06+00:00 December 22nd, 2011|French History, History of Afghanistan, History of Korea, Italian History, Romanian History, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments

The University

A corner of the University of Santiago, Spain, one of the oldest universities in the world / tuhostal.com

It is an institute of higher education, responsible for taking students from the schools and giving them, through teaching, research and studies, an extended education which may lead to a Degree. The difference between a College and a University is that there may be many colleges in one university campus, each teaching different disciplines. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-12-20T09:21:52+00:00 December 20th, 2011|English History, French History, German History, Italian History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Libya

is a country more than twice the size of Spain on the north coast of the great land mass of Africa, bounded by Tunisia and Algeria to the west, Niger and Chad to the south, and Egypt to the east. The only truly arable part is near the coast at Tripolitania, where the climate is Mediterranean. Inland the ground rises to a desert of limestone rock. The north-west region dominated by Cyrenaica is high tableland, lightly-wooded. To the south, the grown is low and mostly sand, though oases can be found. The south of the country lies within the Sahara Desert: to the west, however in the Fezzan region, there are large oases in otherwise naked, stony plains and scrub-covered hills. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-12-03T10:54:36+00:00 December 3rd, 2011|Italian History, Today, World History|0 Comments

Benito Mussolini Il Duce

Mussolini when he was super-popular / taringa.net

The future dictator of Italy was born at Forli (Romagna) in 1883. His father was a blacksmith, his mother a schoolteacher. Before he was twenty Benito himself became a schoolmaster, but when threatened with military service he moved to Switzerland (1902), where this intelligent and well-spoken man became a manual labourer. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2011-11-23T18:10:00+00:00 November 23rd, 2011|Italian History, World History|0 Comments

Holy Roman Empire

Francis II, last Holy Roman Emperor / emersonkent.com

Someone once said that the odd thing about the Holy Roman Empire is that it was not holy, Roman or an empire. This mostly Germanic and North Italian territory was organised under Otto I, who had been crowned by the Pope (holy) in the year 962. In what we call The Middle Ages the Emperor tried to represent an attempt to maintain ancient Roman traditions of European unity blessed by a purely Christian conept of authority ordained by God. Naturally this was resented and there was constant friction with several Popes, which led at the end of the 15th century to an ‘Empire’ which was little more than a legal term for an instituted trusteeship of the German or Teutonic States.

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By Dean Swift| 2011-01-31T12:08:06+00:00 January 31st, 2011|German History, Italian History, Jewish History, World History|2 Comments

History of the Bible

The Bible is the sacred book of Christianity. There are many Christian churches, but all accept the two sections of it: the Hebrew scriptures, which we know as the Old Testament, and the Christian writings, known as the New Testament. Roman Catholics, among other Christian churches, accept a third section known as the Apocrypha. This was included in the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint).

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By Dean Swift| 2011-01-31T11:44:53+00:00 January 31st, 2011|African History, Asian History, Czech History, English History, French History, German History, Greek History, Italian History, Jewish History, Russian history, South American History, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments