Editing Milan (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Milan}}
{{For timeline}}

=== Celtic era ===
[[File:9754 - Museo archeologico di Milano - Olletta celtica (sec. II-I a.C.) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 13-mar-2012.jpg|thumb|Celtic finds dating back to the period preceding the Roman conquest (3rd-2nd century BC), which is preserved in the [[Archaeological Museum, Milan|Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan]]]]

Around 590 BC<ref name="cronologia"/> a Celtic tribe belonging to the [[Insubre]]s group and belonging to the [[Golasecca culture]] settled the city under the name Medhelanon.<ref name="Tellier"/><ref name="cronologia"/> According to the legend reported by [[Livy]] (writing between 27 and 9 BC), the [[Gaul]]ish king [[Ambicatus]] sent his nephew [[Bellovesus]] into northern Italy at the head of a party drawn from various Gaulish tribes; Bellovesus allegedly founded the settlement in the times of the Roman monarchy, during the reign of [[Lucius Tarquinius Priscus|Tarquinius Priscus]]. Tarquin is traditionally recorded as reigning from 616 to 579 BC, according to ancient Roman historian Titus Livy.<ref>Livius, ''[[Ab Urbe condita]]'' 5.34–35.3.</ref>

Medhelanon, in particular, was developed around a [[sanctuary]], which was the oldest area of the village.<ref name="Tosi">{{cite book|first=Stefano|last=Tosi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofosDAAAQBAJ&dq=fossato+celtico+via+moneta+milano&pg=PA27|title=Da Milano alla Barona. Storia, luoghi e persone di questa terra|date=2 May 2016 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-326-64414-7 |access-date=16 July 2018|language=it}}</ref> The sanctuary, which consisted of a wooded area in the shape of an ellipse with a central clearing, was aligned according to precise astronomical points. For this reason, it was used for religious gatherings, especially in particular celebratory moments. The sanctuary of Medhelanon was an ellipse with axes of {{convert|443|m|abbr=on}} and {{convert|323|m|abbr=on}} located near [[Piazza della Scala]].<ref name="Tosi"/> The urban planning profile was based on these early paths, and on the shape of the sanctuary, reached, in some cases, up to the 19th century and even beyond. For example, the route of the modern Corso Vittorio Emanuele, [[Piazza del Duomo, Milan|Piazza del Duomo]], [[Piazza Cordusio]] and Via Broletto, which is curvilinear, could correspond to the south side of the ellipse of the ancient sanctuary of Medhelanon.<ref name="Tosi"/>

One axis of the Medhelanon sanctuary was aligned towards the [[heliacal rising]] of [[Antares]], while the other towards the heliacal rising of [[Capella]]. The latter coincided with a Celtic spring festival celebrated on 24 March, while the heliacal rising of Antares corresponded with 11 November, which opened and closed the Celtic year and which coincided with the point where the Sun rose on the winter [[solstice]].<ref name="Tosi"/> About two centuries after the creation of the Celtic sanctuary, the first residential settlements began to be built around it. Medhelanon then transformed from a simple religious center to an urban and then military centre, thus becoming a real village.<ref name="Tosi"/>

The first homes were built just south of the Celtic sanctuary, near the modern [[Royal Palace of Milan]].<ref name="Tosi"/> Subsequently, with the growth of the town centre, other important buildings for the Medhelanon community were built. First, a temple dedicated to the goddess [[Belisama]] was built, which was located near the modern [[Milan Cathedral]]. Then, near the modern Via Moneta, which is located near today's [[Piazza San Sepolcro]], a fortified building with military functions was built which was surrounded by a defensive moat.<ref name="Tosi"/>

=== Roman times ===
{{Main|Mediolanum}}
[[File:Colonne di san lorenzo 01.jpg|thumb|left|Roman ruins in Milan: the [[Colonne di San Lorenzo|Columns of San Lorenzo]]]]
During the [[Roman Republic]], the Romans, led by consul [[Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus]], fought the Insubres and captured the settlement in 222 BC. The chief of the Insubres then submitted to Rome, giving the Romans control of the settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Aid%3Db2c34|author=Polybius|title=Histories|access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> The Romans eventually [[Roman expansion in Italy|conquered the entirety of the region]], calling the new [[Roman province|province]] "[[Cisalpine Gaul]]" ({{langx |la| Gallia Cisalpina}})—"Gaul this side of the Alps"—and may have given the city its Latinized name of Mediolanum: in [[Gaulish]] ''*medio-'' meant "middle, centre" and the name element ''-lanon'' is the Celtic equivalent of Latin ''-planum'' "plain", thus ''*Mediolanon'' (Latinized as ''Mediolānum'') meant "(settlement) in the midst of the plain".<ref name="Quintela"/><ref name="Delamarre 2003 https://archive.org/details/dictionnairedela00dela_348/page/n219 221–222"/> Mediolanum became the most important center of Cisalpine Gaul and, in the wake of economic development, in 49 BC, was elevated, within the ''[[Lex Roscia]]'', to the status of ''[[municipium]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2010/05/le-colonie-romane.html|title=Le colonie romane|access-date=6 June 2018|language=it}}</ref>
[[File:Ruins-imperial-complex-milan-.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Emperor's palace in Milan located in Via Gorani. Here [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] and [[Licinius]] issued the [[Edict of Milan]].]]
[[File:Civico museo archeologico di Milano 1.jpg|thumb|Remains of the [[Walls of Milan#Roman walls|Roman walls of Milan]] located inside the [[Archaeological Museum, Milan|Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan]]]]

The ancient Celtic settlement was, from a [[Topography|topographic]] point of view, superimposed and replaced by the Roman one. The Roman city was then gradually superimposed and replaced by the medieval one. The urban center of Milan has therefore grown constantly and rapidly, until modern times, around the first Celtic nucleus. The original Celtic toponym Medhelanon then changed, as evidenced by a graffiti in Celtic language present on a section of the Roman walls of Milan which dates back to a period following the Roman conquest of the Celtic village, in Mesiolano.<ref name="romanoimpero">{{cite web|url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2010/07/mediolanum-milano-lombardia.html|title=Mediolanum-Milano|access-date=8 July 2018|language=it}}</ref> In 286, the Roman Emperor [[Diocletian]] moved the capital of the [[Western Roman Empire]] from Rome to Mediolanum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://milano.corriere.it/foto-gallery/cronaca/16_febbraio_12/antica-mediolanum-rivive-computer-milano-romana-circo-anfiteatro-urbanfile-blog-66026574-d1af-11e5-9819-2c2b53be318b.shtml |title=Video of Roman Milan |access-date=24 November 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505073359/http://milano.corriere.it/foto-gallery/cronaca/16_febbraio_12/antica-mediolanum-rivive-computer-milano-romana-circo-anfiteatro-urbanfile-blog-66026574-d1af-11e5-9819-2c2b53be318b.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Diocletian himself chose to reside at [[Nicomedia]] in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague [[Maximian]] at Milan.

During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools; it possessed a theatre and an [[Milan amphitheatre|amphitheatre]] (129.5 x 109.3 m), the third largest in [[Roman Italy]] after the [[Colosseum]] in Rome and the vast amphitheatre in [[Capua]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Herbert W. |last=Benario |title=Amphitheatres of the Roman World |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=76 |issue=3 |year=1981 |pages=255–258 |jstor=3297328 }}</ref> A large stone wall encircled the city in Caesar's time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, by Maximian. Maximian built several gigantic monuments including the large [[Roman circus|circus]] (470 × 85 metres) and the ''[[thermae]]'' or [[Baths of Hercules]], a large complex of imperial palaces and other services and buildings of which few visible traces remain. Maximian increased the city area to 375 acres by surrounding it with a new, larger stone wall (about 4.5&nbsp;km long) with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had twin towers; the one included later in the construction of the convent of [[San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore|San Maurizio Maggiore]] remains 16.6 m high.

It was from Mediolanum that the [[Emperor Constantine]] issued what is now known as the [[Edict of Milan]] in AD 313, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, thus paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Empire. Constantine was in Mediolanum to celebrate the wedding of his sister to the Eastern Emperor, [[Licinius]]. In 402, the [[Visigoths]] besieged the city and the [[Honorius (emperor)|Emperor Honorius]] moved the Imperial residence to [[Ravenna]].<ref>Compare:
{{cite book
 | last1 = Doyle
 | first1 = Chris
 | chapter = The move to Ravenna
 | title = Honorius: The Fight for the Roman West AD 395–423
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=johnDwAAQBAJ
 | series = Roman Imperial Biographies
 | location = Abingdon, Oxfordshire
 | publisher = Routledge
 | date = 2018
 | isbn = 978-1-317-27807-8
 | access-date = 20 January 2019
 | quote = A subject that has often been debated is Honorius' transfer of his court to Ravenna. Consensus holds that this occurred in 402 as a result of Alaric's siege of Milan, although no Honorian-era written primary source attests to this as the year or the reason [...].
 | archive-date = 13 June 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200613065601/https://books.google.com/books?id=johnDwAAQBAJ
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> In 452, [[Attila]] besieged the city, but the real break with the city's Imperial past came in 539, during the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]], when [[Uraias]] (a nephew of [[Vitiges|Witiges]], formerly King of the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom|Italian Ostrogoths]]) carried out attacks in Milan, with losses, according to [[Procopius]], being about 300,000 men. The [[Lombards]] took [[Ticinum]] as their capital in 572 (renaming it ''Papia'' – the modern [[Pavia]]), and left [[Early Middle Ages|early-medieval]] Milan to the governance of its [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan|archbishops]].

=== Middle Ages ===
{{Main|Lordship of Milan}}
[[File:5903 - Milano - Camillo Boito, Porta Ticinese (1865) -Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 27-Feb-2007.jpg|thumb|The [[Porta Ticinese (Medieval Gate of Milan)|Medieval Porta Ticinese]] (12th century) is one of the three medieval gates of the city that still exist in the modern Milan.]]
[[File:Piazza mercanti Milano.JPG|thumb|right|[[Piazza Mercanti]] used to be the heart of the city in the Middle Ages.]]
After the siege of the city by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence moved to Ravenna. Attila, King of the [[Huns]], [[Siege of Milan|sacked and devastated the city]] in 452&nbsp;AD. In 539 the [[Ostrogoths]] conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Emperor [[Justinian I]]. In the summer of 569 the Lombards (from whom the name of the Italian region [[Lombardy]] derives), conquered Milan, overpowering the small [[Byzantine army|Byzantine garrison]] left for its defence. Some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule.<ref>See the ''[[Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis]]''.</ref> Milan surrendered to [[Charlemagne]] and the [[Franks]] in 774.

The 11th century saw a reaction against the control of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]s. City-states emerged in northern Italy, an expression of the new political power of the cities and their will to fight against all feudal powers. Milan was no exception. It did not take long, however, for the Italian city-states to begin fighting each other to try to limit neighbouring powers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/storia|title=Milan: a history of greatness, from its origins to the twentieth century|website=Portale per il Turismo del Comune di Milano|language=en|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-date=29 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429093826/http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/storia|url-status=live}}</ref> The Milanese destroyed Lodi and continuously warred with Pavia, Cremona and Como, who in turn asked [[Frederick I Barbarossa]] for help. In a sally they captured [[Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy|Empress Beatrice]] and forced her to [[Parading on donkey|ride a donkey]] backward through the city until getting out. Frederick I Barbarossa brought the destruction of much of Milan in 1162.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walford |first1=Edward |author-link1=Edward Walford |first2=John Charles |author-link2=John Charles Cox |last2=Cox |first3=George Latimer |last3=Apperson |year=1885 |title=Digit folklore, part II |journal=The Antiquary |volume=XI |pages=119–123 |url=https://archive.org/stream/antiquary11slsniala#page/118/mode/2up }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Novobatzky |first1=Peter |first2=Ammon |last2=Shea |year=2001 |title=Depraved and Insulting English |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780156011495 |url-access=registration |location=Orlando |publisher=Harcourt |isbn=9780156011495 }}</ref>

A period of peace followed and Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its geographical position. During this time, the city was considered one of the largest European cities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Tom|title=The City-State in Europe, 1000–1600: Hinterland, Territory, Region|year=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|pages=17|isbn=978-0199274604}}</ref> As a result of the independence that the Lombard cities gained in the [[Peace of Constance]] in 1183, Milan returned to the commune form of local government first established in the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lecco |first1=Alberto |last2=Foot |first2=John |title=Milan Italy |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Milan-Italy/Landscape |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. |accessdate=4 February 2020 |date=2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Italy |url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=2693&HistoryID=ac52&gtrack=pthc |website=HistoryWorld |accessdate=4 February 2020 |page=2}}</ref>

In 1395, [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti]] became the first [[List of rulers of Milan|Duke of Milan]] upon receiving the title from [[Wenceslaus, King of the Romans]]. In 1447 [[Filippo Maria Visconti]], Duke of Milan, died without a male heir; following the end of the Visconti line, the [[Golden Ambrosian Republic|Ambrosian Republic]] was established; it took its name from St. Ambrose, the popular patron saint of the city.<ref name="lucas:268">Henry S. Lucas, ''The Renaissance and the Reformation'' p. 268.</ref> Both the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions worked together to bring about the Ambrosian Republic in Milan. Nonetheless, the Republic collapsed when, in 1450, Milan was conquered by [[Francesco I Sforza|Francesco I]] of the [[House of Sforza]], which made Milan one of the leading cities of the Italian [[Renaissance]].<ref name="lucas:268"/><ref name="InternationalStudent">{{cite web|url=http://internationalrelations.unicatt.it/it/international_student/the_history_of_milan |title=The History of Milan – Relazioni Internazionali – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore |publisher=internationalrelations.unicatt.it |access-date=14 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108120442/http://internationalrelations.unicatt.it/it/international_student/the_history_of_milan |archive-date= 8 November 2009 }}</ref> Under the House of Sforza, Milan experienced a period of great prosperity, which in particular saw the development of mulberry cultivation and silk processing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Milan – History|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Milan-Italy|access-date=17 December 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Following this economic growth, works such as the [[Sforza Castle]] (already existing in the Visconti era under the name of Porta Giovia Castle, but re-adapted, enlarged and completed by the Sforza family) and the [[Policlinico of Milan|Ospedale Maggiore]] were completed. The Sforzas also managed to attract to Milan personalities such as [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who redesigned and improved the function of the [[navigli]] and painted ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'', and [[Bramante]], who worked on the [[Santa Maria presso San Satiro|church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro]], on the [[basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]] and to the [[Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan|church of Santa Maria delle Grazie]], influencing the development of the [[Renaissance in Lombardy|Lombard Renaissance]].

=== Early modern ===
{{Main|Duchy of Milan}}
[[File:Parti superstiti dei bastioni di Milano presso Porta Venezia 02.jpg|thumb|[[Walls of Milan#Spanish walls|Spanish walls]] of Milan]]
[[Image:1807KingdomItaly.jpg|thumb|Highlighted in yellow, the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy]], which had Milan as its capital]]
Milan's last independent ruler, [[Lodovico il Moro]], requested the aid of [[Charles VIII of France]] against the other [[Italian states]], eventually unleashing the [[Italian Wars]]. The king's cousin, [[Louis XII|Louis of Orléans]], took part in the expedition and realized most of Italy was virtually defenseless. This prompted him to come back a few years later in 1500, and claim the Duchy of Milan for himself, his grandmother having been a member of the ruling [[Visconti of Milan|Visconti]] family. At that time, Milan was also defended by [[Swiss mercenaries]]. After the victory of Louis's successor François I over the Swiss at the [[Battle of Marignan]], the duchy was promised to the French king [[François I of France|François I]]. When the Spanish Habsburg Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] defeated François I at the [[Battle of Pavia]] in 1525, [[northern Italy]], which included Milan, passed to [[Hapsburg Spain|Habsburg Spain]].<ref>John Lothrop Motley, ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' Vol. II (Harper Bros.: New York, 1855) p. 2.</ref>

In 1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] and his brother [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]]. Charles's Italian possessions, including Milan, passed to Philip II and remained with the Spanish line of Habsburgs, while Ferdinand's Austrian line of Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire. The [[Italian plague of 1629–1631|Great Plague of Milan]] in 1629–31, that claimed the lives of an estimated 60,000 people out of a population of 130,000, caused unprecedented devastation in the city and was effectively described by [[Alessandro Manzoni]] in his masterpiece [[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|''The Betrothed'']]. This episode was seen by many as the symbol of Spanish bad rule and decadence and is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long [[pandemic]] of plague that began with the [[Black Death]].<ref>Cipolla, Carlo M. ''Fighting the Plague in Seventeenth Century Italy''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981.</ref>

In 1700, the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]]. After his death, the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] began in 1701. In 1706, the French were defeated in [[Battle of Ramillies|Ramillies]] and [[Siege of Turin|Turin]] and were forced to yield northern Italy to the [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrian Habsburgs]]. In 1713–1714 the Treaties of [[Treaty of Utrecht|Utrecht]] and [[Treaty of Rastatt|Rastatt]] formally confirmed Austrian sovereignty over most of Habsburg Spain's Italian possessions including Lombardy and its capital, Milan.

[[Napoleon]] invaded Italy in 1796, and Milan was declared capital of the [[Cisalpine Republic]]. Later, he declared Milan capital of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]] and was crowned King of Italy in the cathedral. After Napoleon's occupation ended, the [[Congress of Vienna]] returned Lombardy and Milan to Austrian control in 1815.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/regno-lombardo-veneto/|title=Lombardo-Veneto, Regno|access-date=29 October 2023|publisher=[[Treccani]]|language=it}}</ref>

=== Late modern and contemporary ===
[[File:Cinque giornate di Milano.jpg|thumb|Popular print depicting the "[[Five Days of Milan]]" (18–22 March 1848) uprising against Austrian rule]]

On 18 March 1848 Milan effectively rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called "[[Five Days of Milan|Five Days]]" ({{langx|it|Le Cinque Giornate}}), that forced Field Marshal [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz|Radetzky]] to temporarily withdraw from the city. The bordering [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Piedmont–Sardinia]] sent troops to protect the insurgents and organised a [[plebiscite]] that ratified by a huge majority the unification of Lombardy with Piedmont–Sardinia. But just a few months later the Austrians were able to send fresh forces that routed the Piedmontese army at the [[Battle of Custoza (1848)|Battle of Custoza]] on 24 July and to reassert Austrian control over northern Italy. About ten years later, however, Italian nationalist politicians, officers and intellectuals such as [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour|Cavour]], [[Giuseppe Garibaldi|Garibaldi]] and [[Giuseppe Mazzini|Mazzini]] were able to gather a huge consensus and to pressure the monarchy to forge an alliance with the new [[Second French Empire|French Empire]] of [[Napoleon III]] to defeat Austria and establish a large Italian state in the region. At the [[Battle of Solferino]] in 1859 French and Italian troops heavily defeated the Austrians that retreated under the [[Quadrilatero|Quadrilateral line]].<ref name="Solferino">{{cite web|title=Solferino |author=Graham J. Morris |url=http://www.battlefieldanomalies.com/solferino/08_the_battle.htm |access-date=9 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630084539/http://www.battlefieldanomalies.com/solferino/08_the_battle.htm |archive-date=30 June 2009}}</ref> Following this battle, Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into Piedmont-Sardinia, which then proceeded to annex all the other Italian statelets and proclaim the birth of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] on 17 March 1861.

The political [[unification of Italy]] enhanced Milan's economic dominance over northern Italy. A dense rail network, whose construction had started under Austrian patronage, was completed in a brief time, making Milan the rail hub of northern Italy and, with the opening of the [[Gotthard Rail Tunnel|Gotthard]] (1882) and [[Simplon Tunnel|Simplon]] (1906) railway tunnels, the major South European rail hub for goods and passenger transport. Indeed, Milan and Venice were among the main stops of the [[Orient Express]] that started operating from 1919.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lastampa.it/verbano-cusio-ossola/2012/06/15/news/orient-express-quando-tra-londra-e-costantinopoli-c-erano-le-fermate-a-stresa-e-pallanza-1.36470455/#:~:text=Visto%20il%20successo%2C%20nel%201919,il%20simbolo%20della%20Belle%20%C3%89poque|title=Orient Express, quando tra Londra e Costantinopoli c'erano le fermate a Stresa e Pallanza|date=15 June 2012 |access-date=29 October 2023|language=it}}</ref> Abundant hydroelectric resources allowed the development of a strong steel and textile sector and, as Milanese banks dominated Italy's financial sphere, the city became the country's leading financial centre. In May 1898, Milan was shaken by the [[Bava Beccaris massacre]], a riot related to soaring cost of living.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ilpost.it/2018/05/08/bava-beccaris-moti-milano/|title=Le cannonate di Bava Beccaris, 120 anni fa|date=8 May 2018 |access-date=29 October 2023|language=it}}</ref>

[[File:Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (bombardata) 02.jpg|left|thumb|[[Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II]] destroyed by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombings, 1943]]
Milan's northern location in Italy closer to Europe, secured also a leading role for the city on the political scene. It was in Milan that [[Benito Mussolini]] built his political and journalistic careers, and his fascist [[Blackshirts]] rallied for the first time in the city's Piazza San Sepolcro; here the future [[Fascist]] dictator launched his [[March on Rome]] on 28 October 1922. During the [[Second World War]] Milan's large industrial and transport facilities [[Bombing of Milan in World War II|suffered extensive damage from Allied bombings]] that often also hit residential districts.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Philip|title=The fall of Mussolini: Italy, the Italians, and the Second World War|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-921934-6|page=67|edition=Reprint.}}</ref> When Italy [[Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces|surrendered]] in 1943, German forces occupied and plundered most of northern Italy, fueling the birth of a massive resistance guerrilla movement.<ref name="Cooke">{{cite book|last=Cooke|first=Philip|title=Italian resistance writing: an anthology|year=1997|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=0-7190-5172-X|page=20}}</ref> On 29 April 1945, the American [[1st Armored Division (United States)|1st Armored Division]] was advancing on Milan but, before it arrived, the Italian resistance seized control of the city and [[Death of Benito Mussolini|executed Mussolini]] along with his mistress and several regime officers, that were later hanged and exposed in [[Piazzale Loreto]], where one year before some resistance members had been executed.

During the post-war economic boom, the reconstruction effort and the [[Italian economic miracle]] attracted a large wave of internal migration (especially from rural areas of [[southern Italy]]) to Milan. The population grew from 1.3&nbsp;million in 1951 to 1.7&nbsp;million in 1967.<ref name="Ginsborg">{{cite book|last= Ginsborg|first= Paul|title= A history of contemporary Italy: society and politics, 1943 – 1988|year= 2003|publisher= Palgrave Macmillan|location= New York|isbn= 1-4039-6153-0|page=220}}</ref> During this period, Milan was rapidly rebuilt, with the construction of several innovative and modernist skyscrapers, such as the [[Torre Velasca]] and the [[Pirelli Tower]], that soon became the symbols of this new era of prosperity.<ref name="Foot">{{Cite book |last=Foot |first=John |title=Milan since the miracle: city, culture, and identity |publisher=Berg |year=2001 |isbn=1-85973-545-2 |location=New York |page=119}}</ref> The economic prosperity was, however, overshadowed in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the so-called [[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of lead]], when Milan witnessed an unprecedented wave of street violence, [[labour strike]]s and [[political terrorism]]. The apex of this period of turmoil occurred on 12 December 1969, when [[Piazza Fontana bombing|a bomb]] exploded at the National Agrarian Bank in Piazza Fontana, killing 17 people and injuring 88.
[[File:ACTLD Tree Of Life Expo 2015 Italy HR 13.jpg|thumb|[[Expo 2015]], which took place in Milan]]
In the 1980s, with the international success of Milanese houses (like [[Armani]], [[Prada]], [[Versace]], [[Moschino]] and [[Dolce & Gabbana]]), Milan became one of the world's fashion capitals. The city saw also a marked rise in [[international tourism]], notably from America and Japan, while the stock exchange increased its market capitalisation more than five-fold.<ref>{{cite web|title=Italian Stock Exchange – Main indicators 1975–2012|url=http://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|access-date=16 October 2012|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106211102/https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsaitaliana/ufficio-stampa/dati-storici/principaliindicatori2012_pdf.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> This period led the mass media to nickname the metropolis ''"Milano da bere"'', literally "Milan to be drunk".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cultura/200804articoli/31497girata.asp |title=L'uomo che inventò la Milano da bere |publisher=Lastampa.It |date=4 January 2008 |access-date=25 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914065500/http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cultura/200804articoli/31497girata.asp |archive-date=14 September 2009}}</ref> But in the 1990s Milan was badly affected by [[Tangentopoli]], a political scandal in which many politicians and businessmen were tried for corruption. The city was also affected by a severe financial crisis and a steady decline in textiles, automobile and steel production.<ref name="Foot"/> Berlusconi's Milano 2 and Milano 3 projects were the most important housing projects of the 1980s and 1990s in Milan and brought to the city new economical and social energy.

In the early 21st century Milan underwent a series of sweeping redevelopments over huge former industrial areas.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mieg |first1=Harald A. |last2=Overmann |first2=Heike |title=Industrial heritage sites in transformation : clash of discourses |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York and London |isbn=978-1-315-79799-1 |page=72}}</ref> Two new business districts, [[Porta Nuova (Milan)|Porta Nuova]] and [[CityLife (Milan)|CityLife]], were built in the space of a decade, radically changing the skyline of the city. Its exhibition centre moved to a much larger site in [[Rho, Lombardy|Rho]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nuovosistemafieramilano.it/JumpCh.asp?idLang=ENG&idUser=0&idChannel=12 |title=New Milan Exhibition System official website |access-date=29 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201091644/http://www.nuovosistemafieramilano.it/JumpCh.asp?idLang=ENG&idUser=0&idChannel=12 |archive-date=1 December 2011}}</ref> The long decline in traditional manufacturing has been overshadowed by a great expansion of publishing, finance, banking, fashion design, information technology, logistics and tourism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ni|first=Pengfei|title=The global urban competitiveness report 2011|year=2012|publisher=Edward Elgar|location=Cheltenham|isbn=978-0-85793-421-5|page=127}}</ref> The city's decades-long population decline seems to have partially reverted in recent years, as the {{langx|it|comune|links=yes|label=none}} gained about 100,000 new residents since the last census. The successful re-branding of the city as a global capital of innovation has been instrumental in its successful bids for hosting large international events such as [[2015 Expo]] and [[2026 Winter Olympics]].