Northern Italy Political Analysis

Italy’s strategic location between Eastern and Western Europe allowed it to establish a lucrative Eurasian trade. This allowed the ideals of the Renaissance to gradually spread to Rome and the rest of Europe. The Eurasian trade enabled families to acquire great wealth and this great wealth gave families the ability to become patrons of government, education, and the arts. Becoming a patron of government, education, and the

Now each city-state had a product that made them prosper. For Florence it was cloth, Milan arms, but Venice and Genoa became extremely rich of off trade. That would be why the wealthiest city-state was Venice. That is because they were excellent shipbuilders, sailors, and merchants. They figured out how to trade with the biggest economic power in the region, the Ottomans. They created most their profit from trading paper to the Ottomans. Another way they turned a profit was with the highly sought after Florentine textiles due to the textiles vibrant color that was dyed with alum. Now they could only get this chemical for the Ottomans until 1460. That was when the Pope's godson found alum in Italy and they started to mine the alum. The family in charge of the alum mining rights were the Medici.

The political history of Italy is quite extensive. The Greeks were the first to settle in Italy and established colonies in the southern part of the country and in Sicily. There was not a sense of political reality as much as there was a civilization (Windows on Italy- History). While the Greeks controlled the south the Gauls, or Celtic people, ruled the north and the Po Valley. But the most important group to settle in Italy was the Etruscans. Because of their advanced civilization, the Etruscans were the only ones to establish political and cultural ideas before the Roman Empire (Windows on Italy- History). At the end of the Etruscans rule, Rome began a unification of Italy and established Latin to be the general language (Defusco).

Renaissance education helped increase the economy of different cities in Europe, in which the Renaissance took place. Art, a very important form of self-expression, became very popular during the Renaissance. Wealthy patrons, which were usually educated, supported artists and paid them huge salaries to do works of art. Advances in education, allowed Italians to improve their shipbuilding techniques, thus increasing trade and allowing their ships to sail all year long. Venice traded overseas, while Genoa traded with the Middle East and Northern Europe. Florence was full of wealthy and educated merchants and bankers, (doc 11)who began to dominate Europe's banking. As a result the economy began to grow. With a stronger

Florence is arguably the starting place of the renaissance. With many different artists there, the Medici Family in control and a very strong trading system, it was a very powerful city-state during the renaissance. During this time, the feudal system was no more. The people in

The growth of international trade boosted economy and also aided the affluence of Northern and Central Italy in the late Middle Ages

This had been happening since the Crusades, which is why Italy held much more wealth during this time than other parts of Europe. Italy also had a relationship with the Ottoman Empire, as they were trading partners. The ottoman empire significantly influenced the Italian Renaissance. This empire encompassed parts Africa, Asia, and Europe. Ottomans were an economic powerhouse. They were experiencing an Islamic Golden Age which meant they were on a serious pursuit of knowledge. They developed and researched subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and Astronomy. So as Italians reestablished trade they were exposed to the new ideas of the Middle East. This acted as a natural Segway to the Italian Renaissance. Feudalism never flourished in Italy. Italy was more urban whereas the rest of Europe was still rural. Money was made through trade and commerce instead of farming. Cities were the place where people exchanged ideas and the site of an intellectual revolution. This is where people would interact with one another and admire art and architecture.

A key factor as to why the Renaissance was later in arriving in northern Europe is due to its location. Northern Europe was further removed from the centres of trade in the Mediterranean. As a result trade and progressive ideas that come with wealth developed more slowly in the north of Europe. The cities of Milan, Florence, and Venice had become very successful during the end of the Middle Ages. Northern Italy was able to lead the Italian Renaissance due to the Mediterranean, the central location for trade. They controlled trade with Asia mostly through the silk road and also through importing spices

Out of the seven continents in the world, Italy; The seventy second largest nation in the world is located in Europe. Italy is a boot-shaped country that covers 294,149 square kilometers of land and 7,200 square kilometers of water, totaling 301,340 square kilometers and is apart of the eastern Hemisphere and located in Southern Europe. Located in the Mediterranean Sea is where this Peninsula lies and is surrounded by rolling hills, valleys, along with Alps and Apennine Mountains. Italy is accompanied by Croatia, San Marino, Slovenia, Vatican, Austria, Switzerland and France (Where is Italy). Not to mention Italy is home to some of the largest active Volcanoes in Europe.

Geographically, Italy is comprised of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, as well as two large islands. The shape of Italy has been depicted as a ‘boot’ in many cartoons and drawings for years. The country covers over 116,000 square miles, making it approximately the combined size of Florida and Georgia. (Killinger, 2002) Italy is a democratic republic that has a current population of around 60 million people, making it the twenty-third most populous country in the world. Italy

World War I began in August of 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo, in what is now Yugoslavia. Following this period Italy was in a state of civil war, with the parliament incapable of providing effective leadership. There was a rise in social tension, as well as economic problems. This resulted in a new, more aggressive breed of Italian politicians. They followed a violent anarchic political credo, also known as fascism. Although Italy’s economy was weak, following World War I, it was effected more by political factors, such as the rise of fascism, and social factors as seen through the newspaper, Il Popolo d’Italia.

The Fascists’ social and economic policies up to 1939 significantly aided their control over Italy yet may not be cited as the sole cause. The Fascist party’s social and economic policies along with other factors attributed to the overall control of Italy. Through such policies it was a certainty that the Fascist party would hold complete power over the population of Italy in each aspect of an individual’s life whether it was their leisure time through the Dopolavoro or at work under the corporate state system which was formally introduced in 1934. This complete domination of the Italian peoples’ lives could be argued to have been the instrumental factor behind the Fascists’ control over Italy up to 1939. Other factors which assisted the

The renaissance was a time of great and immeasurable change within all aspects of European life; so much so that it could be seen as beginnings of our modern western society. Leading this revitalization in culture and society in Europe’s historical development were to the two of the most dominant states of renaissance Italy, Florence and Venice. These small city-states were the powerhouses of the time and assisted speeding up the renaissance and helped spur revolutionary developments along the way being the main hubs of influence in the Italian peninsula during the late 13th and early 16th century. Florence could be characterized as a financial centre, with their banking system considered extraordinarily ahead of time; in addition being the main producers of fine elevated their chances to conduct successful trading ventures. Venice was considered one of the largest centers of trade being a coastal city of the shores of the Adriatic Sea, which allowed for prosperous trade with what was then considered the Eastern world; the city was also well known for their quality in ship building as well which likely contributed to them being a large naval power in the region. Now due to fact that both city-states were two different sovereign parts of Italy meant having two different approaches and views on or about a multitude of ideas. To understand the impact of Florence and Venice, the two very influential and affluent republics in renaissance Italy, it is crucial to analyze their over

Italy holds a long and rich history, starting from how it became one country during ancient times. For thousands of years, people have lived in Italy, relying on its vast amount of assets and resources. There was no established group of settlers to arrive first, because the chief pioneers entailed many different types of people who spoke different languages. Italy was at first preceded by several non-Italian cultures, including Greeks. The Greeks occupied southern Italy, including areas around Sicily. This remained a wealthy extent of land because of the tremendously fertile soil, which then caused the sprout of new cities and civilization. These Greek cities ultimately stood taken over by Roman control. As far as northern city-states, the Etruscans lived in areas influenced by Greek culture. The Etruscans stayed well-known engineers, builders, and traders. Italy was always back and forth in the control of foreign authorities, but finally landed in the power of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire took over at about 450 B.C., but eventually collapsed. The land that now stands as Italy was ruled by Julius Caesar. There were many civil wars before and after Julius Caesar’s death. The land was then restored by Octavian, Caesar’s son, who later passed his throne to his son Tiberius. Although ancient Italy had been taken over by diverse commands, it still held on to its vast culture and

instability, as the nation tried to re-create the social bonds broken by the war and