Sicily
Italy became a Republic in 1946 and, as part of the Constitution of Italy, Sicily was one of the five regions given special status as an autonomous region. Both the partial Italian land reform and special funding from the Italian government's "Cassa per il Mezzogiorno" (Fund for the South) from 1950 to 1984 helped the Sicilian economy. During this period, the economic and social condition of the island was generally improved thanks to important investments on infrastructures such as motorways and airports, and thanks to the creation of important industrial and commercial areas. In the 1980s, the Mafia was deeply weakened by a second important campaign led by magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Between 1990 and 2005, the unemployment rate fell from about 23% to 11%.
List of historic states of Italy
Italy, up until the Italian unification in 1860, was a conglomeration of city-states, republics, and other independent entities. The following is a list of the various Italian states during that period.
The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed between Elizabeth I of England and Henry II of France on 2 April and between Henry II and Philip II of Spain on 3 April 1559, at Le Cateau-Cambrésis. Under its terms, France restored Piedmont and Savoy to the Duke of Savoy, and Corsica to the Republic of Genoa. The Papacy and Venice remained independent. The treaty confirmed Spanish direct control of Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the State of Presidi.By the Treaty of Utrecht's provisions, the European empire of Spain was divided. In Italy, the Duchy of Savoy received Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan, while Charles VI (the Archduke of Austria) received the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan along with other minor states.Following the defeat of Napoleonic France, the Congress of Vienna (1815) was convened to redraw the European continent. In Italy, the Congress restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, either directly ruled or strongly influenced by the prevailing European powers, particularly Austria. The Congress also determined the end of two millenary republics: Genoa was annexed by Sardinia, and Venice was incorporated with Milan into a new kingdom of the Austrian Empire. At the time, the struggle for Italian unification was perceived to be waged primarily against the Habsburgs, since they directly controlled the predominantly Italian-speaking northeastern part of present-day Italy and were, together, the most powerful force against unification. The Austrian Empire vigorously repressed nationalist sentiment growing on the Italian peninsula, as well as in the other parts of Habsburg domains.