ABSTRACT
Italy is different from Europe, yet it is at its geographic and historical center. Its capital, Rome, was the center of the Roman Empire, which unified Europe and gave it its most important legal system, its conceptions of empire and republic, and its religion. The idea of the Italian nation emerged in the nineteenth century under the impulse of the French Revolution. Disastrously in 1896, Italy invaded Ethiopia and was soundly defeated at the battle of Adowa, the first defeat of a European power by an African nation. The Fascists pushed Italy into World War II, with disastrous consequences. By 1943, the king had surrendered to the Allies. Beauty and design were two essential elements of Italy's image abroad and of its self-image. Central Italy was a series of independent city-state republics existing in a fragile balance between pope, emperor, and dukes and a powerful middle class based on trade and banking.
