Editing Reggio Calabria (section)

===Late modern and contemporary===
[[File:Reggio terremoto via marina fontana nuova.jpg|thumb|right|Effects of the [[1908 Messina earthquake|1908 earthquake]].]]
[[File:Reggio calabria corso garibaldi anni 20.jpg|thumb|right|Reggio di Calabria in 1920.]]
On 21 August 1860, during the ''{{Ill|Battaglia di Piazza Duomo|it|4=fr|5=Bataille de Reggio|6=ru|7=Взятие Реджо-ди-Калабрия}}'' (Cathedral Square Battle), [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] conquered the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]. Bruno Antonio Rossi (the mayor of Reggio after the historian Domenico Spanò Bolani, who helped the citizenship during the previous turbulent years) was the first in the kingdom to proclaim the new Garibaldi Dictatorship and the end of the rule of [[Francis II of the Two Sicilies|Francis II]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yearning.com/regional/europe/italy/calabria/?cat=provinces/reggio_calabria|title=Yearning.com regional - Find anything anywhere. What Are You Yearning for?|website=yearning.com|access-date=2019-05-03|archive-date=2022-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814202805/http://yearning.com/regional/europe/italy/calabria/?cat=provinces/reggio_calabria|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 28 December 1908, at 5:21 am, the town was hit by a heavy earthquake and shook violently for 31 seconds. Damage was even worse in Messina across the Straits. It is estimated that 25,000 people perished in Reggio and 65,000 in Messina. Reggio lost 27% of its inhabitants and Messina lost 42%. Ten minutes after the catastrophic earthquake, those who tried to escape by running towards the open spaces of the coast were engulfed by a 10-metre-high [[tsunami]]. Three waves of 6–12 metres swept away the whole waterfront. The [[1908 Messina earthquake]] remains one of the worst on record in modern western European history.<ref>[http://www.calabrialiving.com/1908earthquake.htm Reggio Calabria commemorates its 1908 earthquake victims], on Calabria Living</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091012174932/http://www.seismosoc.org/publications/SRL/SRL_80/srl_80-2_hs.html The 28 December 1908 Messina Straits Earthquake (Mw 7.1): A Great Earthquake throughout a Century of Seismology], Historical Seismologist, March/April 2009.</ref>

During the World War II, due to its strategic military position, it suffered a devastating air raid and was used as the [[Operation Baytown|invasion target]] by the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]] in 1943, which led to the city's capture. After the war Reggio recovered considerably. During 1970–71 the city was the scene of a popular uprising—known as the [[Reggio riots|Moti di Reggio]]—against the government choice of [[Catanzaro]] as capital of the newly instituted Region of Calabria.<ref name="partridge50">Partridge, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I-5OR8tDkEIC&dq=1970+revolt+reggio+calabria&pg=PA50 ''Italian politics today''], p. 50.<!-- ISBN, publishing info needed --></ref> The revolt was taken over by young [[neofascism|neofascists]] of the [[Italian Social Movement]], backed by the [['Ndrangheta]], a [[Mafia]]-type criminal organisation based in Calabria.<ref name="paoli198">Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 198.<!-- ISBN, publishing info needed --></ref><ref name="ind040296">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/town-the-mafia-shut-down-1317203.html Town the mafia shut down], ''The Independent'', 4 February 1996.</ref> The Reggio Calabria protests were the expression of malcontent about [[cronyism]] and the lack of industrial planning. In the 1970s and 1980s, Reggio went through twenty years of increasing organized crime by the 'Ndrangheta as well as urban decay. The town is home to several {{Lang|it|[['ndrine]]}}, such as the [[Pasquale Condello|Condello]]-[[Antonio Imerti|Imerti]] and the [[De Stefano 'ndrina|De Stefano]]-[[Giovanni Tegano|Tegano]] clans, who were involved in bloody wars against each other during this period.<ref name="obs240208">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/24/internationalcrime.italy Godfather's arrest fuels fear of bloody conflict], ''The Observer'', 24 February 2008.</ref> The 'Ndrangheta extorts protection money ([[Pizzo (extortion)|''pizzo'']]) from every shop and viable business in town and has more power than the city council in awarding licences to retailers.<ref name=ind040296/>

The spiral of corruption reached its zenith in the early 1990s. The sitting mayor at the time, {{Ill|Agatino Licandro|it}}, made a confession reporting "suitcases coming into city hall stuffed with money but going out empty". As a result of the nationwide corruption scandals most of the city council was arrested.<ref name="ind040296"/> Since the early 1990s, the so-called "Primavera di Reggio" (Reggio Spring)—a spontaneous movement of people and government institutions—encouraged city recovery and a renewed and stronger identity. The symbol of the Reggio Spring is the Lungomare Falcomatà, the sea-side boulevard named after Italo Falcomatà, the centre-left mayor who initiated the recovery of the town.<ref>[http://www.corrieredellacalabria.it/stories/politica/2205_dieci_anni_senza_italo_il_sindaco_della_primavera_di_reggio_calabria/ Dieci anni senza Italo, il sindaco della primavera di Reggio Calabria] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116102742/http://www.corrieredellacalabria.it/stories/politica/2205_dieci_anni_senza_italo_il_sindaco_della_primavera_di_reggio_calabria/ |date=2014-01-16 }}, Corriere della Calabria, 11 December 2011.</ref>

On 9 October 2012, the Italian government decided to dissolve the city council of Reggio Calabria for infiltration by the 'Ndrangheta. The move came after some councillors were suspected of having ties to the powerful crime syndicate, under the 10-year centre-right rule of Giuseppe Scopelliti, mayor from 2002 to 2010.<ref name="rep230912">[http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2012/09/23/news/sprechi_e_mafia_caos_pdl_in_calabria-43080292 Sprechi e mafia in Calabria], repubblica.it, 23 September 2012.</ref> His successor, the centre-right mayor Demetrio Arena and all 30 city councillors, were sacked to prevent any "mafia contagion" in the local government. It was the first time that the entire government of a provincial capital had been dismissed over suspected links to organized crime. Three commissioners ran the city for 18 months until a new [[Reggio Calabria municipal election, 2014|election]].<ref name="bbc091012">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19886631 Italy sacks Reggio Calabria council over 'mafia ties'], BBC News, 9 October 2012.</ref><ref name="rep091212">[http://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2012/10/09/news/scioglimento-44197399/ Il Viminale scioglie per mafia il comune di Reggio Calabria], Repubblica.it, 9 October 2012.</ref> According to anti-mafia investigators in 2016, Scopelliti was elected thanks to votes from the 'Ndrangheta.<ref name="ansa150716">[http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2016/07/15/secret-ndrangheta-cupola-picked-men-for-parliament-3_3e4f267e-a038-452d-8f54-8594702f4201.html Secret 'Ndrangheta cupola 'picked men for parliament'], Ansa, July 15, 2016</ref>