Editing Milan (section)

=== 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]].