This page covers Italy from fall of Western Roman Empire – covered here: Roman Empire (to 476): Rise and Fall
552: Byzantine Roman Empire reconquers Italy after fall of Ostrogothic kingdom
568: Lombards enter Italy
697: Republic of Venice founded
754: Papal States founded
774: Frankish Empire under Charlemagne conquers Lombard kingdom and retains control until it splits into 3 in mid 9th century. Middle Francia inherits Italy.
826: Arabs invade Sicily; completing conquest in 902
962: East Francia invades Italy; comes under control of Holy Roman Empire (german king Otto I)
999: Normans invade southern Italy; conflict lasts 200 years
12th & 13th centuries: Rise of powerful Italian city states such as Venic and Genoa.
Mid-late 1300s: Black Death
1381: Venice victorious over Genoa in War of Chioggia for control of Adriatic sea
1395: Milan turns into dukedom under Visconti; 50 years war with Venice and Florence
1429: Cosimo de’ Medici inherits Medici Bank
Early 1400s: Florence flourishes with explosion of art and architecutre
1440: Lorenzo exposes the Donation of Constantine, a document that had given huge swaths of land to the Catholic church in Rome, as a forgery, one of the classic moments in European intellectual history
1442: Aragon conquers Naples
1453: Ottomans conquer Constantinople
1454:
– Gutenberg Bible published.
– Rival states (Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples, and the Papal States) agree to honor each other’s current borders; several decades of peace followed.
1492: Columbus reaches Americas
1494:
– Pacioli publishes ‘Everything About Arithmetic, Geometry, and Proportion’ including Golden Ratio.
– France invades Italy, conquering Milan in 1499. Spanish Habsburgs ally with Papacy and Venice; and eventually drive French out.
Early 1500s: David sculpture by Michelangelo (1504); Mona Lisa by Da Vinci (1505); Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo (1508-1512); The Prince by Machiavelli (1513); Utopia by Thomas Moore (1516)
1530-1700: Spanish Habsburgs influence Italy
1508: League of Cambrai (Papacy, Holy Roman Empire, France, Aragon, Italian city states) attack Venice. Venice declines.
1525: Holy Roman Empire victorious over France in Battle of Pavia, ending French claims on Italy. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked Rome in 1527, preventing Henry VIII’s annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
1543: Revolutions of the Celestial Orbits by Copernicus
1648: Peace of Westphalia following Thirty Years War ends Holy Roman influenced Kingdom of Italy
1700s: War of Spanish Succession between Bourbons (France) and Habsburgs – Italy becomes prize to fight over. Habsburgs forced to renounce Naples and Sicily in 1759 and Tuscany in 1790
1796-1814: Napoleonic Italy.
1815: Congress of Vienna results in Austrian domination over Italy.
1831: Mazzini founds Young Italy, dedicated to uniting Italy
1839: First documented pasta recpie with tomatoes. Tomatoes from new world were rumoured to be poisonous in Europe until mid 19th century. (source)
1848: Revolutions erupt all over the country. Short-lived Roman Republic led by Giuseppe Mazzini. Prompts many states including Piedmont/Sardinia to implement new constitutions. Piedmont loses war against Austria but becomes Italy unification rallying point under Victor Emmanuel II
1859-1870: Italy reunifies while Austria distracted by war with France.
1860: Garibaldi leads conquest of Sicily and Naples, then giving to Victor Emmanuel II
1861: Kingdom of Italy proclaimed under Victor Emmanuel II
1866: Italy gains Venetia after Austro-Prussian War.
1870: Rome is annexed (becoming capital in 1871), completing unification; but tensions with the Pope remain.
1882: Italy joins the Triple Alliance (with Germany and Austria-Hungary).
1896: Defeat at Battle of Adwa by Ethiopian forces.
1911-1912: Italy seizes Libya from the Ottoman Empire.
1915-1918: Italy joins Allies (Treaty of London), tempted by Austro-Hungarian territory. Many unsuccessful attacks against Austria-Hungary. See Visual Timeline of World War I for more. Gains South Tyrol, Trentino, and Dalmatian coast territories (Treaty of Saint-Germain) from Austria-Hungary.
1919–1920: “Mutilated Victory” – dissatisfaction with postwar settlements, economic crisis, rise of Fascist and socialist movements.
1922: Musolini gains power
1925–1926: Mussolini establishes a dictatorship.
1935–1936: Italy invades Ethiopia, League of Nations imposes sanctions.
1936: Rome-Berlin Axis formed (alliance with Nazi Germany).
1939: Italy invades Albania.
1940-1945:
– May39: Musolini signs pat with Hitler
– Sep39: Germany invades Poland, WWII starts
– Jun40: Italy enters WWII by declaring war on UK and France
– Oct/Nov40: Unsuccessful campaign in Greece
– Dec40: British begin North Africa campaign against Italy
– Dec42: Italian troops defeated by Soviet troops at Soviet River Don
– Mar43: Germans and italians surrender to Allies in North Africa
– Jul43: Allies land in Sicily. Mussolini arrested and Fascist Italian government falls. Mussolini establishes puppet Italian Social Republic in North.
– Oct43: Bagdalio Italy declares war on Germany
– Apr44: Allied offensive in northern Italy
– Apr45: Mussolini killed by Italian partisans
– May45: Germans in Italy surrender. Allied Victory in Europe
See Visual Timeline of World War II for more.
1946: Referendum abolishes the monarchy; Italy becomes a republic.
1947: Treaty of Paris – Italy loses colonial possessions (Libya, Somalia, Eritrea, Dodecanese Islands).
1948: New constitution adopted; first democratic elections
1950s–1960s: Economic miracle – rapid industrialization and economic growth.
1968–1970s: Student protests and social movements.
1970s–1980s: “Years of Lead” – political terrorism from left-wing (Red Brigades) and right-wing extremists.
1978: Prime Minister Aldo Moro kidnapped and murdered by the Red Brigades.
1980: Bologna train station bombing (fascist terrorism).
1992–1993: Tangentopoli (Bribesville) Scandal – corruption revelations collapse Italy’s political establishment.
1994: Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia wins elections.
1999: Italy adopts the euro (introduced in 2002).
2000s–2010s: Berlusconi dominates politics amid scandals, economic struggles, and EU tensions.
2011: Eurozone crisis – Italy’s economy struggles, Berlusconi resigns.
2016: Failed constitutional referendum; PM Matteo Renzi resigns.
2018: Rise of populist parties (Five Star Movement, League).
2020–2021: COVID-19 pandemic hits Italy hard.
2022: Giorgia Meloni becomes first female Prime Minister.
See also:
Visual Timeline Series