Editing Italy (section)

=== Liberal period ===
{{Main|Kingdom of Italy|Italian diaspora|Italian Empire|Military history of Italy during World War I}}
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| footer            = [[Victor Emmanuel II]] (left) and [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour]] (right), leading figures in unification, became respectively the first King and prime minister of unified Italy.
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Sardinia's constitution was extended to all of Italy in 1861, and provided basic freedoms for the new state; but electoral laws excluded the non-propertied classes. The new kingdom was governed by a parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberals. As northern Italy quickly industrialised, southern and northern rural areas remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions to migrate and fuelling [[Italian diaspora|a large and influential diaspora]]. The [[Italian Socialist Party]] increased in strength, challenging the traditional liberal and conservative establishment. In the last two decades of the 19th century, Italy developed into [[Italian Empire|a colonial power]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The Italian Colonial Empire |url=http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=italian_colonial |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224012449/http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=italian_colonial |archive-date=24 February 2012 |access-date=17 June 2012 |publisher=All Empires |quote=At its peak, just before WWII, the Italian Empire comprehended the territories of present time Italy, Albania, Rhodes, Dodecanese, Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the majority of Somalia and the little concession of Tientsin in China}}</ref> by subjugating [[Italian Eritrea|Eritrea]], [[Italian Somalia|Somalia]], [[Italian Tripolitania|Tripolitania]], and [[Italian Cyrenaica|Cyrenaica]] in Africa.<ref>(Bosworth (2005), p. 49.)</ref> In 1913, male universal suffrage was adopted. The pre-[[World War I]] period was dominated by [[Giovanni Giolitti]], prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921.
[[File:Sacrario militare di Redipuglia agosto 2014.JPG|thumb|The [[Redipuglia War Memorial]] is a [[World War I memorials|World War I memorial]]. It is the largest war memorial in Italy and one of the largest in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rai.it/ufficiostampa/assets/template/us-articolo.html?ssiPath=/articoli/2021/10/Redipuglia-Il-sacrario-della-Grande-Guerra-c1dc61c5-9a1c-44c8-b203-9d16d943d7ec-ssi.html#:~:text=Il%20sacrario%20militare%20di%20Redipuglia,caduti%20durante%20la%20Grande%20Guerra.|title=Redipuglia. Il sacrario della Grande Guerra|language=it|access-date=23 June 2024|archive-date=25 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625213329/https://www.rai.it/ufficiostampa/assets/template/us-articolo.html?ssiPath=/articoli/2021/10/Redipuglia-Il-sacrario-della-Grande-Guerra-c1dc61c5-9a1c-44c8-b203-9d16d943d7ec-ssi.html#:~:text=Il%20sacrario%20militare%20di%20Redipuglia,caduti%20durante%20la%20Grande%20Guerra.|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

[[Italian entry into World War I|Italy entered into the First World War]] in 1915 with the aim of completing national unity, so it is also considered the Fourth Italian War of Independence,<ref>{{Cite web|date=6 March 2015|title=Il 1861 e le quattro Guerre per l'Indipendenza (1848–1918) |url=http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319075828/http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918|archive-date=19 March 2022|access-date=12 March 2021|language=it}}</ref> from a historiographical perspective, as the conclusion of the [[unification of Italy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=La Grande Guerra nei manifesti italiani dell'epoca|url=http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Contenuti/MibacUnif/Eventi/visualizza_asset.html_1239896580.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183754/http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Contenuti/MibacUnif/Eventi/visualizza_asset.html_1239896580.html|archive-date=23 September 2015|access-date=12 March 2021|language=it}}; {{Cite book|last=Genovesi|first=Piergiovanni|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_LntMIUOXngC&q=%22quarta+guerra+d%27indipendenza%22&pg=PA41|title=Il Manuale di Storia in Italia, di Piergiovanni Genovesi|date=11 June 2009|publisher=FrancoAngeli|isbn=978-8-8568-1868-0|language=it|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116110143/https://books.google.com/books?id=_LntMIUOXngC&q=%22quarta+guerra+d%27indipendenza%22&pg=PA41#v=snippet&q=%22quarta%20guerra%20d'indipendenza%22&f=false|archive-date=16 January 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> Italy, nominally allied with the [[German Empire|German]] and [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] empires in the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]], in 1915 joined the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], entering World War I with a [[Treaty of London (1915)|promise]] of substantial territorial gains that included west [[Inner Carniola]], the former [[Austrian Littoral]], and [[Dalmatia]], as well as parts of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The country's contribution to the Allied victory earned it a place as one of the "[[The Big Four (World War I)|Big Four]]" powers. Reorganisation of the army and conscription led to Italian victories. In October 1918, the Italians launched a massive offensive, culminating in victory at the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]].<ref>Burgwyn, H. James: ''Italian foreign policy in the interwar period, 1918–1940.'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. p. 4. {{ISBN|0-2759-4877-3}}.

Schindler, John R.: ''Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War.'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. p. 303. {{ISBN|0-2759-7204-6}}.

Mack Smith, Denis: ''Mussolini.'' Knopf, 1982. p. 31. {{ISBN|0-3945-0694-4}}.</ref> This marked the end of war on the Italian Front, secured dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was instrumental in [[Armistice with Germany|ending]] the war less than two weeks later.

During the war, more than 650,000 Italian soldiers and as many civilians died,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mortara|first=G|title=La Salute pubblica in Italia durante e dopo la Guerra|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1925|location=New Haven}}</ref> and the kingdom was on the brink of bankruptcy. The [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] (1919) and [[Treaty of Rapallo (1920)|Treaty of Rapallo]] (1920) allowed for annexation of [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol|Trentino Alto-Adige]], the [[Julian March]], [[Istria]], the [[Kvarner Gulf]], and the Dalmatian city of [[Zadar|Zara]]. The subsequent [[Treaty of Rome (1924)|Treaty of Rome]] (1924) led to annexation of [[Fiume]] by Italy. Italy did not receive other territories promised by the Treaty of London, so this outcome was denounced as a "[[mutilated victory]]", by [[Benito Mussolini]], which helped lead to the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|rise of Italian fascism]]. Historians regard "mutilated victory" as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel [[Italian imperialism]].<ref>G.Sabbatucci, ''La vittoria mutilata'', in AA.VV., ''Miti e storia dell'Italia unita'', Il Mulino, Bologna 1999, pp.101–106</ref> Italy gained a permanent seat in the [[League of Nations]]'s executive council.