It’s March 17. Time to celebrate … Italy?
Christopher Tremoglie
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Most people traditionally commemorate March 17 as a celebration of all things Irish as part of the festivities surrounding St. Patrick’s Day. However, the date has great significance in another European country, Italy. It commemorates the date of the unification of Italy, when Italy became a modern nation state and the Republic of Italy was born.
“Italian Americans also have a great reason to celebrate on St. Patrick’s Day in that it is also the anniversary of the unification of Italy, under the glorious house of Savoy,” Robert Allegrini, president of the National Italian American Foundation, told me. “The aspirations of several centuries worth of Italians were met today in 1861 when Italy was reunified for the first time since the fall of the Roman empire.”
THE HISTORY, GLITZ, AND GLAMOR OF THE NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION GALA
When many people think about Italy’s history, they envision gladiators, emperors, chariot races, or other hallmarks of the Roman Empire. Yet, as recently as the 19th century, Italy’s geopolitical greatness had long passed. The Italian peninsula was not the strong, politically unified force of classical antiquity but a divided, loose collection of independent regional states.
Various forms of government ruled over what is now known as Italy for hundreds of years after the collapse of the Roman Empire. It wasn’t until the early 1800s, when the Risorgimento movement advanced ideas of unifying the country, that people began to take action. It was an arduous process “initiated by an intellectual elite convinced that an Italic lineage and nation existed, and that the national identity was to be found in a common history.”
March 17 celebrates the declaration of “law no. 4671 of the Kingdom of Sardinia,” in which Victor Emmanuel II (then the king of Sardinia) issued a proclamation declaring the Kingdom of Italy. Emmanuel announced himself as king of the new Italian country. It would take several decades before an official Italian identity became the norm of the country, as the people were fiercely loyal to the regions they were from instead of the newly established kingdom.
Initially, people identified themselves as Roman, Sicilian, Neapolitan, etc., instead of Italian.
Italy’s societal evolution continued into the 20th century, especially with World War I. Many consider the end of the Great War as the official unification of the country, with the war often recognized as the Fourth Italian War of Independence. Italy’s monarchy ended after Benito Mussolini rose to power in the 1920s; after his execution during World War II, Italy became a republic in 1946, with the Italian institutional referendum on June 2, 1946. It is celebrated as Festa della Repubblica.
So, put away the green beer, corned beef, and cabbage. Instead, grab some pasta and a bottle of wine. March 17 celebrates the unification of Italy, not some silly Irish holiday.
Or, I guess, celebrate both and enjoy the day as you normally would.