Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism (Italian: Nazionalismo italiano) is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country. From an Italian nationalist perspective, Italianness is defined as claiming cultural and ethnic descent from the Latins, an Italic tribe which originally dwelt in Latium and came to dominate the Italian peninsula and much of Europe. Because of that, Italian nationalism has also historically adhered to imperialist theories.[1] The romantic (or soft) version of such views is known as Italian patriotism, while their integral (or hard) version is known as Italian fascism.
Italian nationalism is often thought to trace its origins to the Renaissance,[2] but only arose as a political force in the 1830s under the leadership of Giuseppe Mazzini.[3] It served as a cause for Risorgimento in the 1860s to 1870s. Italian nationalism became strong again in World War I with Italian irredentist claims to territories held by Austria-Hungary, and during the era of Italian Fascism.[4]
Civil flag of Italy, originally designed in 1797. A symbol of the Italian nation since the early-19th century and symbol of the Italian Republic since 1946.
Civil flag of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. Presently used by Italian monarchists.
War flag of the Italian Social Republic, the incarnation of Fascist Italy from 1943 to 1945 after the Fascist regime in the Kingdom of Italy was dismantled in 1943. It is a prominent symbol used by Italian neo-fascists.
