![Italy map](/pix/mini-maps/it-map.gif)
![Italy flag](/pix/mini-flags/it-flag.gif)
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis...more history