Kingdom of Sardinia
On 17 March 1861, law no. 4671 of the Sardinian Parliament proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy, so ratifying the annexations of all other Apennine states, plus Sicily, to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The institutions and laws of the Kingdom were quickly extended to all of Italy, abolishing the administrations of the other regions. Piedmont became the most dominant and wealthiest region in Italy and the capital of Piedmont, Turin, remained the Italian capital until 1865, when the capital was moved to Florence. But many revolts exploded throughout the peninsula, especially in southern Italy, and on the island of Sicily, because of the perceived unfair treatment of the south by the Piedmontese ruling class. The House of Savoy ruled Italy until 1946 when Italy was declared a republic by referendum. In this referendum the southern regions, including Sardinia, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the House of Savoy, with the results being 63.8% in favor of maintaining the monarchy.
Bahá'í Faith in Italy
In October 1953 Marie Ciocca moved to Cagliari in Sardinia and was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh - Ciocca was an Italian-American and soon married James Holmlund who had also moved to Sardinia from America. In 1966 Livia Pargentino became the first native Sardinian Bahá'í. In August 1968 Ciocca was buried in the cemetery of Cagliari. In 1968 there was a public meeting in Sardinia which was also the subject of the local newspaper article. In November 1975 the local assembly of Cagliari held a booth at a 10-day fair on Sardinia as well as an observation of United Nations Day. In November 1975 a television talk program called "Ore Venti" out of Cagliari reviewed the religion. The interviewer opened the program with a reading from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Alessandro Bausani then spoke of the history of the religion and explained Bahá'í administration. Another guest, Manuela Fanti, explained how and why she joined the religion. During the 25-minute interview Bausani stressed the universality of the religion by describing his recent trip to Bolivia. By summer 1976 Bahá'ís had been invited to address a number of religious studies classes in Cagliari and Alessandria, hour-long interviews had been granted on two Cagliari radio stations and an assembly was formed in Quartu Sant'Elena. In 1978 the Bahá'ís of Cagliari and Quartu Sant'Elena pooled resources to support a booth at the Trade Fair in 1978.