Editing Parma (section)

===Contemporary age===
[[File:Parma 1832.jpg|thumb|Parma in 1832]]

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1802–1814), Parma was annexed to [[France]] and made capital of the [[Taro (département)|Taro Department]]. Under its French name, Parme, it was also created a ''[[duché grand-fief de l'Empire]]'' for [[Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance]], the Emperor's Arch-Treasurer, on 24 April 1808 (extinguished in 1926).

After the restoration of the Duchy of Parma by the 1814–15 [[Vienna Congress]], the [[Risorgimento]]'s upheavals had no fertile ground in the tranquil duchy. In 1847, after [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma]]'s death, it passed again to the [[House of Bourbon]], the last of whom was stabbed in the city and left it to his widow, Luisa Maria of Berry. On 15 September 1859 the dynasty was declared deposed, and Parma entered the newly formed province of Emilia under [[Luigi Carlo Farini]]. With the [[plebiscite]] of 1860 the former duchy became part of the unified [[Kingdom of Italy]].

The loss of the capital role provoked an economic and social crisis in Parma. It started to recover its role of industrial prominence after the railway connection with [[Piacenza]] and [[Bologna]] of 1859, and with [[Fornovo di Taro|Fornovo]] and [[Suzzara]] in 1883. [[Trade union]]s were strong in the city, in which a notable General Strike was declared from 1 May to 6 June 1908. The struggle with [[Fascism]] had its most dramatic moment in August 1922, when the regime officer [[Italo Balbo]] attempted to enter the popular quarter of Oltretorrente. The citizens organized into the ''[[Arditi del Popolo]]'' ("The people's daring ones") and pushed back the [[squadristi]]. This episode is considered the first example of Resistance in Italy.

[[File:Parma, palazzo della pilotta 01.jpg|right|thumb|View of [[Palazzo della Pilotta]] in Piazza della Pace. The rebuilt part on the right is where once was the church of St. Peter.]]

During [[World War II]], Parma was a strong centre of [[Partisan (military)|partisan]] resistance. The train station and marshalling yards were targets for high altitude bombing by the Allies in the spring of 1944. Much of the [[Palazzo della Pilotta]], situated not far (half a mile) from the train station, was destroyed. Along with it the [[Teatro Farnese]] and part of the [[Biblioteca Palatina]] were destroyed by Allied bombs; some 21,000 volumes of the library's collection were lost. Several other monuments were also damaged: Palazzo del Giardino, Steccata and San Giovanni churches, Palazzo Ducale, Paganini theater and the monument to [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]. However, Parma did not see widespread destruction during the war. Parma was liberated from the German occupation (1943–1945) on 26 April 1945 by the partisan resistance and the [[Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB)|Brazilian Expeditionary Force]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pitoresco.com/historia/guerra/guerra01.htm |title=Mapa da рrea de operaушes |publisher=Pitoresco.com |access-date=2009-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410190514/http://www.pitoresco.com/historia/guerra/guerra01.htm |archive-date=10 April 2008 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

While modern city politics has been dominated (as in much of Emilia-Romagna) by the left, in 1998 Parma elected centre-right candidate Elvio Ubaldi as mayor, again in 2002, and in 2007 elected the centre-right candidate Pietro Vignali. During their terms, Parma suffered from fiscal mismanagement, Vignali left office in 2011 with the city's debts amounting to over 600 million euros. In 2012, the city elected Federico Pizzarotti as mayor, making him the first mayor of a provincial capital to hail from [[Five Star Movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aloisi |first=Silvia |date=2012-05-27 |title=Parma mayor becomes Italy's most-watched politician |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/parma-mayor-becomes-italys-most-watched-politician-idUSBRE84Q01U/ |website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kington |first=Tom |date=2012-05-21 |title=Parma elects anti-austerity 'comedy' candidate as mayor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/21/parma-mayor-pizzarotti-beppe-grillo |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>