SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS IN ITALY

- In 1348, the black death pandemic made its mark on Italy by killing one third of the population.

- In 1494, the French king Charles VIII opened the first of a series of invasions and a competition between France and Spain for the possession of the country.

- Between 1700 and 1800, Italy’s population grew by about one-third, to 18 million.

- In 1796–1815, French revolution and the Napoleonic wars had ideas of equality, democracy, law and nation which many people in Italy supported and built national unity in Italy.

- In 1915, during the World war I, 600,000 Italians died, and the economy collapsed.

- In October 1922, the fascists attempted a coup (the Marcia su Roma, "March on Rome"), but the king ordered the army not to intervene, instead forming an alliance with Mussolini.

- On April 7 1939, Italy occupied Albania for decades, and entered World War II in 1940, taking part in the late stages of the Battle of France.

- On June 2 1946, Italy became a Republic.

- On June 2 1946, was the first time in Italy that Italian women were allowed to vote.

- January 1 1948, The Italian republic constitution was approved.

- 1950's, Italy became a member of NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and made an agreement with the United States.

- 1948-1951 "The Marshall plan" was a United States creation to help rebuilt and created a stronger economic foundation for the Western Europe countries.

-1960,Italy enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth commonly called the "Economic Miracle."

-In 1957, Italy was a founder member of the European Economic Community (EEC), which became the European Union (EU) in 1993.