History of Italy The origins of the Italian history can be traced back to the 9th century BC, when earliest accounts date the presence of Italic tribes in present-day central Italy. Linguistically, they were divided into Oscans, Umbrians and Latins. Later the Latin culture became dominant, as Rome emerged as a powerful city-state around 350 BC. Other pre-Roman civilizations include Magna Graecia in Southern Italy and the Etruscan civilization, which flourished between 900 and 150 BC in the central section of the peninsula.[1]
The Roman Empire later dominated Western Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries, giving the human kind immeasurable contributions. Some of these led to the development of Western philosophy, science and art, that remained central during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. After the fall of Roome in AD 476, Italy remained fragmented in noumerous city-states for much of the following millennium, finally falling under different foreign dominations. Parts of Italy were annexed to the Spanish, the Austrian and Napoleon's empire, while the Vatican maintained control over Rome, before the Italian Peninsula was eventually liberated and unified in the late 19th century.
The new new Kingdom of Italy, estabilished in 1861, quikly modernized and built a vast colonial empire, colonizing parts of Africa, and countries along the Mediterranean. However, many regions of the young nation (notably, the South) remained rural and poor, originating the Italian diaspora. Italy suffered enormous losses in World War I but came out on the winning side, but the fragile liberal state soon collapsed owing to poverty, violence and social unrest. The Fascists, led by Benito Mussolini, took over and set up an authoritarian dictatorship. Italy joined the Axis powers in World War II, falling into a bloody Civil War after a monarchist coup ousted Mussolini in 1943, and eventually surrendering to the Allies in 1945.
In 1946, due to a referendum, the monarchy was abolished,[2] and 2 June 1946 saw the birth of the Italian Republic. In the 1950s and 1960s, Italy saw a period of rapid modernization and sustained economic growth, the so called Italian economic miracle. The country, coming back to international politics among Western democratic powers, joined the European Economic Community (which later became the European Union), the United Nations, NATO, the G7 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Italy is currently ranked as a major
Origins of the name The name "Italy" (Italia) is an ancient designation for the country and people of Southern Italy. Mythological roots of the name date back to a legendary ancient king named 'Italus', though a more likely origin may be from ancient Oscan V?TELI?, meaning "land of young cattle", as Italy was a rich agricoltural country since ancient times. The name Italia was imposed upon the Roman Republic by the conquering Italic tribes of the contemporary Abruzzo region, centering in the area of Corfinium (Corfinio). Coins bearing the name Italia were minted by an alliance of Italic tribes (Sabines, Samnites, Umbrians and others) competing with Rome in the 1st century BC. By the time of Emperor Augustus, present-day Italy was included in the Roman Italy (Italia) as a province of the Empire. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Lombard invasions, "Italy" or "Italian" gradually became the collective name for diverse sovereign entities appearing on the peninsula. Archaeologist Massimo Pallottino claimed that the name was actually derived from the Italic tribes settled in modern Calabria. The Greeks gradually came to use the name for a wider region, but it was not until the time of the Roman conquests that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula.
History of Albania The history of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia (southern Illyricum), Macedonia (particularly Epirus Nova), and Moesia Superior. The territory remained under Roman (Byzantine) control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century, and was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.
The territorial nucleus of the Albanian state forms in the Middle Ages, as the Principality of Arb?r and the Sicilian dependency known as the Kingdom of Albania. The first records of the Albanian people as a distinct ethnicity also date to this period. The area was conquered by the Serbian Empire, passing to the Ottoman Empire in 15th century. It remained under Ottoman control as part of the Rumelia province until 1912, when the first independent Albanian state was declared following the short occupation by Kingdom of Serbia.[1] The formation of an Albanian national consciousness dates to the later 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire. A short-lived monarchy (1914?1925) was succeeded by an even shorter-lived first Albanian Republic (1925?1928), to be replaced by another monarchy (1928?1939), which was conquered into Fascist Italy during World War II. After the collapse of the Axis powers, Albania became a communist state, the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, which for the most part of its duration was dominated by Enver Hoxha (died 1985). Hoxha's political heir Ramiz Alia oversaw the disintegration of the "Hoxhaist" state during the wider collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the later 1980s.
The communist regime collapsed in 1990, and the Republic of Albania was founded in 1991 and the former communist party was routed in elections March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest. Further crisis during the 1990s, peaking in the 1997 Lottery Uprising, led to mass emigration of Albanians, mostly to Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and to North America during the 1990s. Albania became a full member of NATO in 2009. The country is applying to join the European Union.
History of Kosovo. In antiquity, the Kosovo region in the Balkans was known as Dardania and from the 1st century AD it formed part of the Roman province of Moesia. From c. 700 to 1455, the Kosovo region became part of the Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine Empire and then the Serbian medieval states, notably Ra?ka (Serbian Cyrillic: ?????). It was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Kosovo Vilayet dates to 1875, with borders significantly different from today's Kosovo. Then, in 1912, it was incorporated into Serbia and, in 1918, with Serbia it became part of Yugoslavia. Kosovo gained autonomy in 1963 under Josip Broz Tito's direction and lost its Autonomous province status in 1989. In 1999 UN through UNMIK gained control of the province following NATO intervention and after UNSC resolution.
On February 17, 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence, as the Republic of Kosovo, with partial recognition of that declaration.
History of Montenegro. During the Bronze Age, the Illirii, probably the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time, that gave their name to the entire group[1] were living near Skadar lake on the border of Albania and Montenegro and neighboring with the Greek tribes south.[1][2] Along the seaboard of the Adriatic, the movement of peoples that was typical of the ancient Mediterranean world ensured the settlement of a mixture of colonists, traders, and those in search of territorial conquest. Substantial Greek colonies were established on the coast during the 6th and 7th centuries BC and Celts are known to have settled there in the 4th century BC. During the 3rd century BC, an indigenous Illyrian kingdom emerged with its capital at Scutari. The Romans mounted several punitive expeditions against local pirates and finally conquered this Illyrian kingdom in the 2nd century BC, annexing it to the province of Illyricum.
The division of the Roman Empire between Roman and Byzantine rule ? and subsequently between the Latin and Greek churches ? was marked by a line that ran northward from Skadar through modern Montenegro, symbolizing the status of this region as a perpetual marginal zone between the economic, cultural, and political worlds of the Mediterranean peoples. As Roman power declined, this part of the Dalmatian coast suffered from intermittent ravages by various semi-nomadic invaders, especially the Goths in the late 5th century and the Avars during the 6th century. These soon were supplanted by the Slavs, who became widely established in Dalmatia by the middle of the 7th century. Because the terrain was extremely rugged and lacked any major sources of wealth such as mineral riches, the area that is now Montenegro became a haven for residual groups of earlier settlers, including some tribes who had escaped Romanisation.
History of Tirana. Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431?32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, with nearly 2,028 houses and 7,300 inhabitants. In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler established the Ottoman town with a mosque, a commercial centre, and a hammam (Turkish sauna). The town was located along caravan routes and grew rapidly in importance until the early 19th century.
During this period, the Et'hem Bey Mosque built by Molla Bey of Petrela, began to be constructed. It employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Molla's son, who was also Sulejman Bargjini's grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit. They were Vlachs from villages near Kor?? and Pogradec who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake.[8] They started to be known as the llacifac and were the first Christians to arrive after the creation of the town. After Serb reprisals in the Debar region, thousands of locals fled to Tirana. In 1807, Tirana became the center of the Sub-Prefecture of Kruj?-Tirana. After 1816, Tirana languished under the control of the Toptani family of Kruj?. Later, Tirana became a Sub-Prefecture of the newly created Vilayet of Shkod?r and Sanjak of Durr?s. In 1889, the Albanian language started to be taught in Tirana's schools, while the patriotic club Bashkimi was founded in 1908. On 28 November 1912, the national flag was raised in agreement with Ismail Qemali. During the Balkan Wars, the town was temporarily occupied by the Serbian army, and it took part in uprising of the villages led by Haxhi Qamili. In 1917, the first city outline was compiled by Austro-Hungarian architects.
History of Italy The origins of the Italian history can be traced back to the 9th century BC, when earliest accounts date the presence of Italic tribes in present-day central Italy. Linguistically, they were divided into Oscans, Umbrians and Latins. Later the Latin culture became dominant, as Rome emerged as a powerful city-state around 350 BC. Other pre-Roman civilizations include Magna Graecia in Southern Italy and the Etruscan civilization, which flourished between 900 and 150 BC in the central section of the peninsula.[1]
The Roman Empire later dominated Western Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries, giving the human kind immeasurable contributions. Some of these led to the development of Western philosophy, science and art, that remained central during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. After the fall of Roome in AD 476, Italy remained fragmented in noumerous city-states for much of the following millennium, finally falling under different foreign dominations. Parts of Italy were annexed to the Spanish, the Austrian and Napoleon's empire, while the Vatican maintained control over Rome, before the Italian Peninsula was eventually liberated and unified in the late 19th century.
The new new Kingdom of Italy, estabilished in 1861, quikly modernized and built a vast colonial empire, colonizing parts of Africa, and countries along the Mediterranean. However, many regions of the young nation (notably, the South) remained rural and poor, originating the Italian diaspora. Italy suffered enormous losses in World War I but came out on the winning side, but the fragile liberal state soon collapsed owing to poverty, violence and social unrest. The Fascists, led by Benito Mussolini, took over and set up an authoritarian dictatorship. Italy joined the Axis powers in World War II, falling into a bloody Civil War after a monarchist coup ousted Mussolini in 1943, and eventually surrendering to the Allies in 1945.
In 1946, due to a referendum, the monarchy was abolished,[2] and 2 June 1946 saw the birth of the Italian Republic. In the 1950s and 1960s, Italy saw a period of rapid modernization and sustained economic growth, the so called Italian economic miracle. The country, coming back to international politics among Western democratic powers, joined the European Economic Community (which later became the European Union), the United Nations, NATO, the G7 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Italy is currently ranked as a major
History of Albania The history of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia (southern Illyricum), Macedonia (particularly Epirus Nova), and Moesia Superior. The territory remained under Roman (Byzantine) control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century, and was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.
The territorial nucleus of the Albanian state forms in the Middle Ages, as the Principality of Arb?r and the Sicilian dependency known as the Kingdom of Albania. The first records of the Albanian people as a distinct ethnicity also date to this period. The area was conquered by the Serbian Empire, passing to the Ottoman Empire in 15th century. It remained under Ottoman control as part of the Rumelia province until 1912, when the first independent Albanian state was declared following the short occupation by Kingdom of Serbia.[1] The formation of an Albanian national consciousness dates to the later 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire. A short-lived monarchy (1914?1925) was succeeded by an even shorter-lived first Albanian Republic (1925?1928), to be replaced by another monarchy (1928?1939), which was conquered into Fascist Italy during World War II. After the collapse of the Axis powers, Albania became a communist state, the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, which for the most part of its duration was dominated by Enver Hoxha (died 1985). Hoxha's political heir Ramiz Alia oversaw the disintegration of the "Hoxhaist" state during the wider collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the later 1980s.
The communist regime collapsed in 1990, and the Republic of Albania was founded in 1991 and the former communist party was routed in elections March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest. Further crisis during the 1990s, peaking in the 1997 Lottery Uprising, led to mass emigration of Albanians, mostly to Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and to North America during the 1990s. Albania became a full member of NATO in 2009. The country is applying to join the European Union.
History of Kosovo. In antiquity, the Kosovo region in the Balkans was known as Dardania and from the 1st century AD it formed part of the Roman province of Moesia. From c. 700 to 1455, the Kosovo region became part of the Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine Empire and then the Serbian medieval states, notably Ra?ka (Serbian Cyrillic: ?????). It was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
History of Montenegro. During the Bronze Age, the Illirii, probably the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time, that gave their name to the entire group[1] were living near Skadar lake on the border of Albania and Montenegro and neighboring with the Greek tribes south.[1][2] Along the seaboard of the Adriatic, the movement of peoples that was typical of the ancient Mediterranean world ensured the settlement of a mixture of colonists, traders, and those in search of territorial conquest. Substantial Greek colonies were established on the coast during the 6th and 7th centuries BC and Celts are known to have settled there in the 4th century BC. During the 3rd century BC, an indigenous Illyrian kingdom emerged with its capital at Scutari. The Romans mounted several punitive expeditions against local pirates and finally conquered this Illyrian kingdom in the 2nd century BC, annexing it to the province of Illyricum.
The division of the Roman Empire between Roman and Byzantine rule ? and subsequently between the Latin and Greek churches ? was marked by a line that ran northward from Skadar through modern Montenegro, symbolizing the status of this region as a perpetual marginal zone between the economic, cultural, and political worlds of the Mediterranean peoples. As Roman power declined, this part of the Dalmatian coast suffered from intermittent ravages by various semi-nomadic invaders, especially the Goths in the late 5th century and the Avars during the 6th century. These soon were supplanted by the Slavs, who became widely established in Dalmatia by the middle of the 7th century. Because the terrain was extremely rugged and lacked any major sources of wealth such as mineral riches, the area that is now Montenegro became a haven for residual groups of earlier settlers, including some tribes who had escaped Romanisation.
History of Tirana. Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431?32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, with nearly 2,028 houses and 7,300 inhabitants. In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler established the Ottoman town with a mosque, a commercial centre, and a hammam (Turkish sauna). The town was located along caravan routes and grew rapidly in importance until the early 19th century.
During this period, the Et'hem Bey Mosque built by Molla Bey of Petrela, began to be constructed. It employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Molla's son, who was also Sulejman Bargjini's grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit. They were Vlachs from villages near Kor?? and Pogradec who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake.[8] They started to be known as the llacifac and were the first Christians to arrive after the creation of the town. After Serb reprisals in the Debar region, thousands of locals fled to Tirana. In 1807, Tirana became the center of the Sub-Prefecture of Kruj?-Tirana. After 1816, Tirana languished under the control of the Toptani family of Kruj?. Later, Tirana became a Sub-Prefecture of the newly created Vilayet of Shkod?r and Sanjak of Durr?s. In 1889, the Albanian language started to be taught in Tirana's schools, while the patriotic club Bashkimi was founded in 1908. On 28 November 1912, the national flag was raised in agreement with Ismail Qemali. During the Balkan Wars, the town was temporarily occupied by the Serbian army, and it took part in uprising of the villages led by Haxhi Qamili. In 1917, the first city outline was compiled by Austro-Hungarian architects.