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Foreign relations of the Italian Republic are the Italian government's external relations with the outside world. Located in Europe, Italy has been considered a major Western power since its unification in 1861.〔http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/catalogue/3303331600596/index.shtml〕 Its main allies are the NATO countries, the EU states and the G7 nations, three entities of which Italy is a founding member. Italy has a particular role within the Christian world because Rome is the seat of the Pope and the center of the Catholic Church. Italy acts as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has a lot of troops deployed in the middle east and all over the world for peacekeeping missions and for combating the organized crime, illegal drug trade, human trafficking, piracy and terrorism. Italy is currently commanding various multinational forces.〔 (Documento programmatico pluriennale per la Difesa per il triennio 2014-2016 ). Italian Ministry of Defence, August 2014.〕 The country plays also a significant role in former colonies and territories of the Italian Empire and is considered a key player in the mediterranean region. ==History== The ''Risorgimento'' was the era 1830–1870 that saw the emergence of a national consciousness. Italians achieved independence from Austria, the House of Bourbon and from the Pope, securing national unification.〔Martin Collier, ''Italian Unification 1820-71'' (2003)〕〔Taylor, ''Struggle for Mastery'' pp 99-125〕 The papacy called France to resist unification, fearing that giving up control of the Papal States would weaken the Church and allow the liberals to dominate conservative Catholics. Italy captured Rome in 1870 and later formed the Triple Alliance (1882) with Germany and Austria. Italy defeated the Ottoman Empire in 1911-1912. 〔Charles Stevenson, ''A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912: The First Land, Sea and Air War'' (2014)〕 By 1914, Italy had acquired in Africa a colony on the Red Sea coast (Eritrea), a large protectorate in Somalia and administrative authority in formerly Turkish Libya. Outside of Africa, Italy possessed a small concession in Tientsin in China (following the Boxer Rebellion) and the Dodecanese Islands off the coast of Turkey. Austria took the offensive against the terms of the alliance and Italy decided to take part in World War I as a principal allied power with France, the UK and Japan. During the First World War, Italy occupied southern Albania to prevent if from falling to Austria-Hungary. In 1917, it established a protectorate over Albania, which remained in place until 1920.〔Nigel Thomas. Armies in the Balkans 1914–18. Osprey Publishing, 2001, p. 17.〕 Italy defeated the Austrian Empire in 1918 and became one of main winners of the war. The Fascist government that came to power with Benito Mussolini in 1922 sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists. In 1935–36, in its second invasion of Ethiopia Italy was successful and it merged its new conquest with its older east African colonies. In 1939, Italy invaded Albania and incorporated it into the Fascist state. During the Second World War (1939–45), Italy formed the axis alliance with Japan and Germany and occupied several territories (such as parts of France, Greece, Egypt and Tunisia) but was forced in the final peace to abandon all its colonies and protectorates. Following the civil war and the economic depression caused by World War II, Italy enjoyed an economic miracle, promoted European unity, joined NATO and became an active member of the European Union.〔Sara Lorenzini, "The roots of a 'statesman': De Gasperi's foreign policy," ''Modern Italy'' (2009) 14#4 pp 473-484.〕 Italy was granted a United Nations trust to administer Somaliland in 1950. When Somalia became independent in 1960, Italy's eight-decade experience with colonialism ended. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Foreign relations of Italy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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