Italy
The Kingdom of Italy is a European nation bordering the German Empire, Yugoslavia, and Comintern Republic.
History
In 1828, Charles, Duke of Parma and Lucca, was selected by the Argentine people for king. He arrived in the country while still holding onto the Duchy. However Charles of Argentina was overthrown in Parma a year later
That same year, Francis IV, Duke of Modena, and Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, were forced to flee their holdings. Republics were formed in their place. Francis IV and Leopold II were returned to their holdings in Modena and Tuscany respectively shortly after. Charles of Argentina attempted to gather support for reasserting control in his Duchy, but was opposed in the Argentine Congress. Parma and Lucca were thus annexed by Modena.
The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia went to war against Austria in the 1st War of Italian Independence during the Springtime of Nations in 1848, but was defeated. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena once again overthrew their respective monarchs briefly. Meanwhile, Prince Charles di Borbone of Argentina was driven from the country due to his authoritarian ideas and calling for the dissolution of the parliament. Prince Charles returned to the former Duchy of Parma while the aloof King Charles was forced to return to Buenos Aires to govern.
1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini overthrew Pope Pius IX from the Papal States and formed the Roman Republic. Pope Pius IX fled to Gaeta. Austria also invaded the Duchies of Tuscany and Modena to reinstate their dukes.
1850, Piedmont-Sardinia aided Corsica during the French Civil War to be an independent Italian republic. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies joined with the Pope to wage war on the Roman Republic. Spain invaded Rome with 4,000 troops, but were defeated and forced to withdraw.
1852, the liberal constitutions of the Duchies were revoked. Piedmont-Sardinia and Rome asked for foreign support against Austria. Holland promised financial support, while Prince Charles Bonaparte raised a company of volunteers to aid in unification, though this took time and convincing from his brother, King Louis II.
1853, crippled by war against the Two Sicilies, Giuseppe Mazzini agreed to hand over control of the Roman Republic to Piedmont-Sardinia. Meanwhile, Prince Charles of Argentina was assassinated in Parma. Argentina was outraged, and Charles I went into depression. The elder Charles sent forces to reassert his control of the Duchy, angering Argentine and American politicians as it broke the terms of the Continental Ordinance.
1855, Austrian troops left Tuscany, and the popularity of the Grand Duke suffered as he struggled to maintain control of the region. Piedmont-Sardinia invaded Tuscany the next year, annexing the region. Sicily would then revolt against the king in Naples. while Corsica, burdened by economic problems, would also join Piedmont-Sardinia
Piedmont, assisted by Prince Charles of Holland and his host of 7,000, declare war on Austria in 1859, starting the Second War for Italian Independence. Prince Charles used his forces to successfully press the Austrians out of Lombardy and into Venice. Lombardy was then annexed by Peidmont-Sardinia.
The Two Sicilies once again broke out in turmoil. Capitalizing on this, Giuseppe Garibaldi raised a force of a thousand men and landed in Siciliy in 1860. Virtually unopposed, his army would swell to 50,000 Italian and foreign volunteers. The Two Sicilies would fall to Piedmont-Sardinia, who would reform into the Kingdom of Italy.
1864, Charles abdicated due to popular opinion in favor of his grandson, Robert I. Robert sent word to Giuseppe Garibaldi, inviting him to Argentina during the Paraguayan War. Robert recalled Argentine forces in Parma which was officially incorporated into Italy.
1866, Prussia and Austria went to war. Italy sided with Prussia, and invaded the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. Republicans rose up in support, and the Austrian nobility were ousted. Though they performed poorly, Italy gained Venice.
1869, Argentina granted asylum to Italian nobles, granting land and titles. Sicilian became the lingua franca of the Argentine nobility. King Robert I of Argentina married Maria Pia, sister of Francis II of Sicily.
During the Berlin Conference in 1884 and 1885, Italy gained the territory of Eritrea and Somalia as protectorates. The, in 1911, Italy and the Ottoman Empire went to war over Tripolitania. Italy won the war in 1912, annexing the territory into the united Libya with Tunisia.
During the Great War, Italy sided with Germany and Russia against Austria and Ukraine. Though Italy was on the winning side, Italy failed to gain the land it wanted in Dalmatia, which went to the later formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Furthermore, as it had also failed to gain control over Malta, Italy's desires to gain the island fortress largely failed as well. Instead, they were granted the region of Venice that they had long coveted.
Prominent figures such as Benito Mussolini came to power, riding off anger in what was becoming to be known as the mutilated victory. When Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922, he immediately began to send weapons and troops to the Spanish Republic. After the Spanish Civil War, Mussolini began to look towards strengthening Italy's control over the Mediterranean Sea. In order to further this ambition, Italy looked to further integrate their holding in Tunisia and Libya, greatly angering Algeria and Morocco, and later Maghreb. Maghreb had looked to liberate Tunisia and Libya, and possibly later encorporate them into the kingdom. Mussolini understood this, and sought to expand Italy's military presence in the region.
Mussolini also sought an alliance with Great Britain, particularly with Oswald Mosley. Italy supported Britain renegotiating the terms of the treaty that had ended the Great War limiting the size of the Royal Navy. Italy supported this so that Britain could regain the Suez Canal and Egypt in preparation for an Italian invasion of East Africa.
Following Britain's creation of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1938, Italy likewise formed their own alliance, the Latin Bloc, with Spain and Portugal. However, without the aid of the Block, Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia in 1939 after committing what many believed to be war crimes, including the usage of gas attacks.
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