Senate of the Republic (Italy)The Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate (Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to the Articles 57, 58, and 59 of the Italian Constitution, the Senate has 200 elective members, of which 196 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 4 from Italian citizens living abroad.
Italian Armed ForcesThe Italian Armed Forces (Forze armate italiane, ˈfɔrtse arˈmaːte itaˈljaːne) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza has military status and is organized along military lines.
Mutilated victoryMutilated victory (vittoria mutilata) is a term coined by Gabriele D’Annunzio at the end of World War I, used to describe the dissatisfaction of Italian nationalists concerning territorial rewards in favor of the Kingdom of Italy after the conflict. As a condition for entering the war against Austria-Hungary and Germany, Italy was promised in the Treaty of London signed in 1915 with the powers of the Triple Entente, recognition of control over Italian Tyrol, the Austrian Littoral, northern Dalmatia—territories with sizeable ethnic Italian population which had not become part of the Kingdom upon Italian unification in the late 19th century.
National colours of ItalyThe national colours of Italy are green, white, and red, collectively known in Italian as il Tricolore (il trikoˈloːre; the Tricolour). The three Italian national colours appeared for the first time in Genoa on 21 August 1789 on the cockade of Italy shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution, on 11 October 1796 they were used for the first time in Milan on a military banner, while on 7 January 1797 in Reggio Emilia they appeared for the first time on a flag.
AlpiniThe Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinate to the Alpine Troops Headquarters. The Alpini's name comes from their inceptive association with the Alps, the mountain range that Italy shares with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. An individual soldier of the Alpini is called Alpino.
1946 Italian institutional referendumAn institutional referendum (referendum istituzionale, or referendum sulla forma istituzionale dello Stato) was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of contemporary Italian history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, reigning royal house of Italy since the national unification in 1861 and previously rulers of the Duchy of Savoy. However, in 1922 the rise of Benito Mussolini and the creation of the fascist regime, which eventually resulted in engaging Italy in World War II alongside Nazi Germany, considerably weakened the role of the monarchy.
