Repubblica Italiana
"L'Italia è una Repubblica democratica, fondata sul lavoro."
Capital: Rome
Government: Parliamentary Republic
President: President Marco Lombardi
Prime Minister: Prime Minister Lorenzo Stefanelli
Population: 61.5 million
Major Cities:
Rome (capital)
Milan (largest population)
Naples (largest port city)
Florence (cultural center)
Economy: The economy of Italy is primarily divided into two sections: the industrial north and the agricultural south. After the economic crisis of 2000, the country fell into economic depression and reached unemployment level of 20% or more in agricultural areas. After the election of Marco Lombardi as President of Italy, taxes have been significantly lowered and property value has begun to rise, strengthening the base of the Italian economy. Though Italy has commonly been regarded as the 'sick man of Europe' for much of the 20th century due to its dwindling economy, Italy has recently begun to prosper. With the decline of the United States as a world superpower and the strengthening of the European Union - of which Italy is a member - Italy's economy has begun to slowly improve.
Italy has been the world's sixth-largest exporter of manufactured goods as of 2004, exporting motor - and luxury - vehicles, aerospace and defense tech, firearms, and fashion products around the European Union and the rest of the world. Tourism also serves a major player in Italy's economy, drawing tourists from around the world and making it the fifth major tourist attraction after France, Spain, the United States, and China.
After securing a deal with France to obtain nuclear weaponry, Italy's economy began to plateau. Maintaining and controlling nuclear reactors and weaponry - respectively - is an expensive expenditure. President Lombardi has shifted away from military and governmental reform to concentrate all his efforts on keeping these nuclear plants and facilities running optimally at all times.
History: The dawn of the 21st century had not done wonders for Italy, either economically or politically. Two thousand years before, the Italians were the strongest force in the Mediterranean world, unopposed in their mastery of government, culture, and war. Some sixty years before 2011, Italy was destroyed during combat between the Allies and Nazis. As of the beginning of the 21st century, Italy was still struggling to recuperate from the rule of Mussolini and the destruction by the Nazis during World War II.
Following the death of Giorgio Napolitano in 2009, Italy elected Marco Lombardi of The People of Freedom Party for President, narrowly beating Silvio Berlusconi for the position. After being sworn into office, President Lombardi began the first of many reforms. Reinvigorating the economy by removing the vast majority of unemployment and significantly lowering Italy's notoriously high taxes, President Lombardi quickly became popular among the Italian people.
Though Italy was primarily Catholic, Lombardi himself was a staunch Lutheran and adherent to its teachings. To please the people of primarily-Catholic Italy, he chose Lorenzo Stefanelli as his Prime Minster, a firm Catholic and supporter of Papal individuality from Italy's government; he was the perfect foil for the Protestant President.
Together, Lombardi and Stefanelli began to strengthen Italy's lower class and reduce the country's dependency on foreign nations. After eliminating much of the national debt during his first year-and-a-half in office, Lombardi turned his attention to the Italian military. The military had long since fallen into disarray, so Lombardi and Stefanelli began to hire workers and technicians from around the globe - primarily Japan and the U.S. - to assist them in their construction of aerial and naval machinery. Intent on restoring the naval power that Italy had once been famed for, Lombardi put a special focus on the military, and spent millions constructing two new aircraft carriers to lead the Italian navy.
After repairing the Italian state as much as they could, Lombardi and Stefanelli's focused their time on foreign relations with the Papal state and Malta. Stefanelli, a supporter of Pope Lucius IV - the current head of the Papal See - had desired to strengthen the Vatican state and further separate it from Italy's jurisdiction. After weeks of negotiations and meetings between the two parties, the Pope and Prime Minister Stefanelli reached an agreement. In exchange for more domain in Italy, the Papacy was granted the protection of the Italian military in case of invasion.
Relations with Malta, on the other hand, were carried out in a much less cordial manner. After the Italian government traced mafia funding in southern Italy back to the Maltese government, the Italian government formed a temporary trade embargo around the island. Though it was quickly lifted at the wishes of the European Union, neither countries have forgotten the event, and tension is quickly rising between the two.
In the past few years, President Lombardi's focus has been on improving relations with Russia, Japan, and the rest of the European Union following the United States' decline in power. In addition to improving relations abroad, Italy desires to reach a level of superiority - or at least, acknowledgment - in the European Union. Despite its rich and prosperous past, Italy has done little to prove its power as a nation within the past hundred years. To achieve his ends, Lombardi has frequently pleaded with the European Union for permission to construct and hold individual nuclear weapons not jointly owned by other members of the EU. Though his efforts have primarily fallen on deaf ears, Lombardi has built numerous nuclear reactors around Italy, improving the lives of his people and paving the way toward a nuclear armament. Eventually, President Lombardi secured a Franco-Italian nuclear weapons treaty, which allowed Italy to possess nuclear weapons.
However, these weapons are expensive to maintain, and coupled with the costly nuclear reactors around the country, have put Italy in an economic standstill. While focusing his efforts on keeping the nuclear facilities under control, President Lombardi has granted Prime Minister Stefanelli the authority to carry out foreign policy issues and send military aide and assistance around the globe with presidential approval. In the meanwhile, Prime Minister Stefanelli is hoping to improve Italy's relationship with the democratic states of Eastern Asia and her North American allies. Foreign relations with Malta are also considered top priority.
Military: Though often overlooked by much of the world in terms of military prowess, President Lombardi has instated several proposals that allowed him to strengthen the Italian military, with specific focus on the naval aspect of the Italian armed forces.
Italian Army:
- Active: 287,850
- Reserve: 70,800
- Paramilitary: 293,500
Italian Navy:
- Aircraft carriers (3):
Cavour (Flagship)
Persano
Enrico De Nicola
- Destroyers (7):
5 Orizzonte class
2 Durand de la Penne class
- Frigates and corvettes (22):
10 FEMM class frigate
2 Maestrale class frigate
6 Neptune class corvettes
4 Minerva class corvettes
- Submersibles (8):
3 Type 212
5 Sauro V class
- Smaller craft (50):
10 Comandanti class light corvettes
24 Lerici III class minehunters
9 Cassiopea class patrol vessels
7 Esploratore class patrol vessels
Italian Air Force:
- Transport Jets (82):
4 Boeing 767
34 Aeritalia G.222
21 Alenia C-27J Spartan
25 Lockheed C-130 Hercules
- Fighter Jets (179):
121 Eurofighter Typhoon
32 F-35 Lightning II
19 AMX International AMX
7 Aermacchi MB-339
- Helicopters (161):
55 MD Helicopter MD 500
39 Bell 212
32 Sikorsky S-61 Sea King
35 NHI NH90
- Unmanned Aircraft (7):
7 MQ-1 Predator
Foreign Relations:
Wartime ally
Trade
Autonomous state
Former ally, now neutral
Former ally, now enemy
Wartime enemy
Neutral
Unknown alliance or warzone, thus neutral
PC Countries
Australia
Canada
China
Egypt
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Japan
New Zealand
North Korea
Norway and Sweden
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America
NPC Countries
Belarus
Georgia
Ukraine
Vatican City
Last edited by a moderator: