Italy is a history teachers dream. Every town, every city, every square seems to have historical significance. I have traveled to Italy on six separate occasions. My first trip was to Rome with my parents in 1990. One of my most extensive tours, and most memorable, was with a group of IB students and a colleague from my first teaching job at Sebastian River High School. We did this trip in the summer of 2000, starting in Rome, then going to Naples and Pompeii, on to Florence and Pisa, then on to Venice. I returned on my own to Venice and Bari, twice in 2002. I came back with students, for a second time from Poolesville High School to Florence, Rome Naples and Capri on my fifth trip. My sixth trip to Italy came in 2012, this time to Savona, Genoa, Rome, Bologna, Rimini and to the island of Sicily and the towns of Palermo and Monreale. Italy is a very beautiful country and of course I would love to return for future trips.
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Italy became a nation-state in 1871 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the European Monetary Union in 1999. |   |
