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A brilliant, meticulously researched account of the birth of Italian democracy after Mussolini. The rebirth of Italy after the Second World War is one of the most impressive political transformations in modern European history. In 1945, post-fascist Italy was devastated by war, and its reputation in the international arena was nil. Yet by December 1955, when Italy was admitted to the United Nations, the nation had contested three acrimonious but free general elections, had a flourishing press, and was a leader in the rebuilding of Europe. This is the dramatic story told by Italy Reborn. It charts the descent of Italy into Fascism, the scale of the wartime disaster, the Italian resistance to ...
The fourteenth century is usually portrayed as a period of retrogression and disaster in European history, but for the transalpine state of Savoy it was a period of glory. During this time almost the entire region between Lombardy and Burgundy was brought under the control of Savoyard rulers. The "buffer state" created between France and Italy hindered French expansion for many centuries and helped preserve the independence of Italy. Drawing upon much unpublished material, Professor Cox traces the social and political evolution of the principality. He discusses how the Savoyard state was governed, financed, and defended. He also provides a fascinating biography of the Green Count. Originally...
This book analyses the relationship between Fascist Italy and the League of Nations in the interwar years. By uncovering the traces of those Italians working in the organization, this volume investigates Fascist Italy’s membership of the League, and explores the dynamics between nationalism and internationalism in Geneva. The relationship between Fascist Italy and the League of Nations was contradictory, shifting from active collaboration to open disagreement. Previous literature has not reflected this oscillation in policy, focusing disproportionally on the problems Italy caused for the League, such as the Ethiopian crisis. Yet Fascist Italy remained in the League for more than fifteen years, and was the third largest power within the institution. How did a Fascist dictatorship fit into an organization espousing principles of liberal internationalism? By using archival sources from four countries, Elisabetta Tollardo shows that Fascist Italy was much more concerned with, and involved in, the League than currently believed.
The Sword and the Green Cross offers a minutely researched analysis of the creation of one of the monastic and military Orders of the period: the Knights of Saint Lazarus. Devoid of the chequered popularity of their contemporary Knights Templar or the Knights of Saint John, the Knights of Saint Lazarus, with their green cross and invariable care of lepers and other afflicted pilgrims, nobles, knights and peasantry, offer the reader a fascinating history of diplomacy, military exploits, survival instinct and a legacy which has permeated throughout time. The book explores the Order's birth in the Outremer, its expansion and Papal sponsorship, its constant interaction with the Templars and the Hospitallers and its tremendous growth in Europe which later justified its lengthy operations on the Continent even though the Holy Land was lost to the Crusades. The book analyses its complete change from a Papal Order to a Monarchical Order under the benign overseeing of the French Kings and dwells at length on the immediate and long term ramifications of the French Revolution and the Order's demise.
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