Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)

Kingdom of Italy
Regno d'Italia
1861–1946
Flag Coat of arms
Motto Foedere et Religione Tenemur
Anthem Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza Royal March of Ordinance
Italy   Colonies of Italy   Territories occupied during World War II
Capital		Turin (1861–65) Florence (1865–71) Rome (1871–1943) Salerno (1943–44) Rome (1944–46)
Religion		Separation of church and state (1870 – abolishment of the Papal State) Freedom of religion (1872) Roman Catholicism (constitutionally recognised as the sole state religion)
Government		Constitutional monarchy (1861–1922) dictatorship (1922–26) Fascist one-party state (1926–43) Military dictatorship (Central and Southern Italy) (1943–45) Italian Social Republic (Northern Italy) (1943–45) Constitutional monarchy (1945–1946)
King
•	1861–78	Victor Emmanuel II
•	1878–1900	Umberto I
•	1900–46	Victor Emmanuel III
•	1946	Umberto II
Prime Minister
•	1861	Count di Cavour (first)
•	1922–43	Benito Mussolini (Il Duce from 1925)
•	1945–46	Alcide De Gasperi (last)a
Legislature		Parliament
History
•	Unification	1861
•	March on Rome	31 October 1922
•	Overthrow of Benito Mussolini	25 July 1943
•	Republic established	1946
Area
•	1861 (Italy proper)	250,320 km² (96,649 sq mi)
•	1936 (Italy proper)	310,190 km² (119,765 sq mi)
•	1938 (including colonies)	3,798,000 km² (1,466,416 sq mi)
Population
•	1861 (Italy proper) est.	21,777,334
Density		87 /km²  (225.3 /sq mi)
•	1936 (Italy proper) est.	42,993,602
Density		138.6 /km²  (359 /sq mi)
Currency		Lira
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Sardinia Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia Papal States Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Austria-Hungary Italy Free Territory of Trieste
a.	While the Kingdom of Italy ended in 1946, de Gasperi continued as Prime Minister until 1953.

The Kingdom of Italy (Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state founded from 1861, when King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, to 1946, when a constitutional referendum led civil discontent to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic. The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state.

Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866 and received the region of Veneto following their victory. Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, following strong disagreements with France about the respective colonial expansions. However, even if relations with Berlin became very friendly, the alliance with Vienna remained purely formal, as the Italians were keen to acquire Trentino and Trieste, parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire populated by Italians. So, in 1915, Italy accepted the British invitation to join the Allies in World War I because the western allies promised territorial compensation (at the expense of Austria-Hungary) for participation that were more generous than Vienna's offer in exchange for Italian neutrality. Victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations.