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- In 1871 Rome became the capital of the recently established Kingdom of
- Italy. In 1922 the fascist movement brought Benito Mussolini to power and he
- remained Prime Minister until 1943. During the Second World War Italy was
- allied to Germany; defeat meant the end of the Fascists and death for
- Mussolini. In 1946 the country voted to abolish the monarchy; in its place a
- democratic republic was created. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
- Florence was the setting for the Renaissance period during which great art
- flourished in the works of Botticelli, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo
- da Vinci. Traditionally the north of Italy has been the richer industrial
- heartland whilst the south has been poorer and more agricultural. The
- official religion is Roman Catholicism and Italian is the official language.
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