The Shadow Kingdom: A Fractured Italy TL

Civil War Breaks Out In Italy!


The Daily Telegraph

May 7th, 1920


In the early hours this morning, the Telegraph recieved word that The Kingdom of Italy, Britains courageous ally in the Great War, has declared a state of war between itself and a new government claiming to be the Kingdom of Sicily, headed in the city of Naples. The new kingdom apparently cites the mistreatment of it's peoples and its industries since the south of Italy was conquered in 1861.The new government claims that the Kingdom of Italy has not given them fair compensation for their role in the war, especially during the Po campaign during the late days of 1918. British citizens have been advised not to travel to Italy, and the King has asked the British people to pray for their Italian allies. The Telegraph will keep reporting up to date events from Italy.
 
Venetismo e il futuro della Serenissima
(Venetism and the future of the Serene Republic)

Originally published in Italian and Venetian, 1919, by Luca Vianello


Good men of Venice, I ask you: Where were you when the Italian ordered retreat?
When your brothers, sons, and fathers fell in the name of the king, and Venice was burning at the hands of the Austrians?

I ask you: What has the Italian done for you?
Where is the compensation that the king promised you would get when the Great War was over?

It is not in your hands good sir, but in the hands of the Italian, who would see us as nothing more than a land to exploit. Who is to say that the Italian will not dismantle our industry next, like they did to the Sicilian?

Would you like to spend every day for the rest of your life as a farmer or a worker, while the Italian owns your land and your factories?

I propose 5 tenets for the restoration of Venice. 5 tenets to return us to greatness that I hope one day will be hung from every signpost in the city:


I. Recognize your brethren: Venice is only a city, but it stands as beacon for all people of our former lands. Men of Trentino, Giulia, Fruli, Istria, and Dalmatia are your brothers, for they speak, or once spoke, your native language. Guide and help them to restore their sovereignty like you would a fellow man from Venice.

II. Speak our language: Many in our former lands have adopted the Tuscan tongue of the oppressive Italian. In order to stand up for ourselves we must return to speaking our mother Venetian.

III. Reopen the Grand Council: In order to stand up to the Italian tyrant, we must form our own government. The common man must one day soon march upon the chambers of the old Great Council and restore democracy to our lands.

IV. Take to the seas: Our once great republic stretched across seas. The Adriatic was our Kingdom and the Mediterranean was our world. I urge every Venetian man to learn a trade of the seas: Fishing, sailing, shipwrighting. Make the sea the lifeblood of our country once again and the sea shall reward you.

V. Remember the Great War: Remember how the Italian generals called us to retreat at Monte Grappa and told us to leave our families so that we may fight on for the king. Remember your lost comrades, and let their sacrifice for Venice motivate you in your daily life, in your prayers, in your fights, and in your dreams.

La Serenissima shall return to greatness! So stand up good men of Venice, and return to greatness with it.

 
I did read this but I interesting missed ththe fact that there was a socialist newspaper. The writer of that manifesto (who I made up) espouses quite a few socialist undertones so perhaps I will use that newspaper as a way to tell the story of Venice going forward.

You know that they are basically the italian equivalent of Calexit and independent Texas, they are and were always are a joke, not considering that a Kingdom of Sicily with capital Naples is like the United Kingdom deciding to have Dublin as capital; sorry but unless there is total collapse of the state the idea that we break italy (unless is a more socialist/monarchist thing) is more for the ASB forum
 
You know that they are basically the Italian equivalent of Calexit and independent Texas, they are and were always are a joke, not considering that a Kingdom of Sicily with capital Naples is like the United Kingdom deciding to have Dublin as capital; sorry but unless there is total collapse of the state the idea that we break italy (unless is a more socialist/monarchist thing) is more for the ASB forum

I don't really see how this is ASB. First, this isn't modern times where an independent Venice is basically impossible, its 1920 after a much more disastrous WW1 for Italy where Venice suffered very heavily, and second, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies was always had its capital at Naples. Their independence is no different from the south declaring Independence in America, and i don't remember the USA every having a complete collapse of the state.
 
I don't really see how this is ASB. First, this isn't modern times where an independent Venice is basically impossible, its 1920 after a much more disastrous WW1 for Italy where Venice suffered very heavily, and second, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies was always had its capital at Naples. Their independence is no different from the south declaring Independence in America, and i don't remember the USA every having a complete collapse of the state.

It's already too late, regionalism as desire for an independent state was already deader than dead in 1920; The Kingdom of the Two SIcilies (enphasis on two because you have homitted it) have the capital in Naples, but Sicily has always had an independence streak towards it and surely will not secede to just go back under Neapolitan joke, plus all the romanticism and the nostalgia filter for the past Kingdom hardly existed at the time, many remembered as the failed state that was.
No, it's totally different from the american south, first the desire for secession and to recreate the Kingdom was non existent and if it will happen it will be akin to a civil war between a socialist north and a more conservative/monarchical south; second the italian identity was stronger everywhere of the regional identity by this time, frankly is like having Germany separate on his past state (sure it happened with Bavaria for a while but was a sick joke)
 
It's already too late, regionalism as desire for an independent state was already deader than dead in 1920; The Kingdom of the Two SIcilies (enphasis on two because you have homitted it) have the capital in Naples, but Sicily has always had an independence streak towards it and surely will not secede to just go back under Neapolitan joke, plus all the romanticism and the nostalgia filter for the past Kingdom hardly existed at the time, many remembered as the failed state that was.
No, it's totally different from the american south, first the desire for secession and to recreate the Kingdom was non existent and if it will happen it will be akin to a civil war between a socialist north and a more conservative/monarchical south; second the italian identity was stronger everywhere of the regional identity by this time, frankly is like having Germany separate on his past state (sure it happened with Bavaria for a while but was a sick joke)

Well I appreciate the feedback. I thought it had done enough research and the scenario was plausible. Constructive criticism is nice but repeated calling someone's TL a massive joke is a little uncalled for.
 
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Can we please know what happened in WWI?

Retreating from Monte Grappa?

Venice burning?

Po Campaign?

Sounds like Italy lost... Like really really hard.
 
Can we please know what happened in WWI?

Retreating from Monte Grappa?

Venice burning?

Po Campaign?

Sounds like Italy lost... Like really really hard.

Italy did lose very hard. The entente won the war still. I'll talk more about what happened on the next chapter, which will be an interview between Luigi Cadorna and Benito Mussoline for his newspaper Il Popolo.
 
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