Britannica Concise 2005

Issus, Battle of (333 bc) Battle on the Issus plain near the Gulf of Isk- enderun (in present-day southern Turkey) in which Alexander the Great, on the offensive, defeated Darius III, last king of the Achaemenian dynasty. The Macedonians were said to have lost only 450 men. Darius escaped, but the victory led to Alexander’s victories over Phoenicia and Egypt.

Istanbul formerly Constantinople ancient Byzantium City and seaport (pop., 2000: 8,803,468), Turkey. Situated on a peninsula at the entrance to the Black Sea, Turkey’s largest city lies on either side of the Bosporus and thus is located in both Europe and Asia. Byzantium was founded as a Greek colony in the 8th century bc. Passing to the Persian Achaemenian dynasty in 512 bc and then to Alexander the Great, it became a free city under the Romans in the 1st century ad. The emperor Con¬ stantine I made the city the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330, later naming it Constantinople. It remained the capital of the subsequent Byz¬ antine Empire after the fall of Rome in the late 5th century. In the 6th-13th centuries it was frequently besieged by Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians. It was captured by the Fourth Crusade (1203) and turned over to Latin Christian rule. It was returned to Byzantine rule in 1261. In 1453 it was captured by the Ottoman Empire and made the Ottoman capital. When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930. Many of the city’s historic sites are located in the medieval walled city (Stamboul). Among its architectural treasures are the Hagia Sophia, the

Mosque of Suleyman, and the Blue Mosque. Its educational institutions include the University of Istanbul (founded 1453), Turkey’s oldest uni¬ versity.

The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) with its distinctive ensemble of six mina¬ rets, Istanbul.

© ROBERT FRERCK-CUCK/CHICAGO

Isthmian Games Vis-me-onX In ancient Greece, a festival of athletic and musical competitions in honor of the sea god Poseidon. It was held in the spring of the second and fourth years of each Olympiad at Posei¬ don’s legendary sanctuary on the Isthmus of Corinth. It died out when Christianity became dominant in the 4th century ad.

I stria Peninsula, extending into the northeastern Adriatic Sea. It has an area of 1,220 sq mi (3,160 sq km). Its northern portion is part of Slove¬ nia, while the central and southern parts belong to Croatia. A tiny strip of coast in the northwest is the site of Trieste and belongs to Italy. Istria’s ancient Illyrian inhabitants were overthrown by Romans in 177 bc, and Slavic peoples settled there from the 7th century ad. It passed through the hands of various Mediterranean powers until Austria gained control in 1797 and developed Trieste as a port. Istria was seized by Italy in 1919; Yugoslavia occupied most of the peninsula in 1947. Yugoslavian Istria became part of Croatia and Slovenia at those states’ independence in

Itagaki Taisuke Xe-ta-'ga-ke-'tl-skeX (b. April 17, 1837, Kochi, Japan—d. July 11, 1919, Tokyo) Founder of Japan’s first political party, the Liberal Party (Jiyuto). In the 1860s he became military leader of the domain of Tosa, and under his command Tosa’s troops participated in the Meiji Restoration. He served sporadically in the new government, but dis¬ content led him to found first a political club and then a national “Soci¬ ety of Patriots” in support of greater democracy. In 1881 he formed the Liberal Party. Though he retired in 1900, he remained its symbolic leader. See also Ito Hirobumi; Meiji Constitution; Meiji period.

Italian Communist Party See Democratic Party of the Left

Italian language Romance language spoken in Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia) and in parts of Switzerland and France (including Corsica). Its 66 million speakers worldwide include many immigrants and their descendants in the Americas. Written Italian dates from the 10th century. The standard literary form is based on the dialect of Florence, but many Italians do not speak it, instead using regional dialects. These include Upper Italian (Gallo-Italian); Venetian in northeastern Italy; Tuscan; the dialects of Marche, Umbria, and Rome; of Abruzzi, Puglia, Naples, Cam¬ pania, and Lucania; and of Calabria, Otranto, and Sicily. See also Italic LANGUAGES.

Italian Liberal Party (PLI) Moderately conservative political party that dominated Italian politics in the decades after unification (1861) and was a minor party after World War II. It was formed as a parliamentary group in 1848 by Camillo Benso, count di Cavour; his followers favoured a centralized government, restricted suffrage, regressive taxation, and free trade. Left Liberals gained control of the party in 1876. Its strength declined after World War I, but beginning in 1944 it was a minor partner in most Christian Democratic coalition governments. Drawing its chief support from small businessmen, it favoured free enterprise; it also backed Italy’s involvement in NATO. It was caught up in various corruption scandals after 1992 and was dissolved in the mid 1990s. Most former Liberals joined the centre-right Forza Italia party of Silvio Berlusconi.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Italian Popular Party ► Itami I 967

Italian Popular Party (PPI) formerly (until 1993) Christian Democratic Party Centrist political party whose several factions are united by their Roman Catholicism and anticommunism. They advocate programs ranging from social reform to the defense of free enterprise. The original party was founded in 1919 as the Italian Popular Party and quickly won popularity, but in 1926 the Fascists banned all political parties. After Italy’s surrender in World War II, former party leaders, along with Catholic organizations, founded the Christian Democratic Party, which held power in Italy (usually in coalition with other parties) for most of the postwar era. In 1992-93 it was rocked by the involvement of some of its leading mem¬ bers in financial scandals and political corruption. In 1993 the struggling party reverted to its original name, but in the 1994 parliamentary elections it fell from power and was reduced to a minor party. In the late 1990s it participated in elections as part of the La Margherita coalition, which com¬ prised one element of the leftist Olive Tree coalition.

Italian Socialist Party (PSI) since 1998 Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI) Italian political party founded in 1893 by trade unions and socialists. In the early 20th century the left wing of the party clashed with the reformist wing and broke away to form the Italian Communist Party (1921). The PSI formed an alliance with the communists from 1934 until the mid 1950s, when it denounced the Soviet Union after its invasion of Hungary. From 1963 it joined or supported centre-left governments. In 1983 Bettino Craxi became the first Socialist premier, but after political scandals in the 1990s the PSI was reduced to a minor party. The party dis¬ solved itself in 1994, and most of its membership joined a new party, the Italian Socialists. In 1998 the Italian Socialists merged with two other left¬ ist parties to form the Italian Democratic Socialists. In the early 21st cen¬ tury, the party contested elections as part of the Olive Tree coalition.

Italian Somaliland Former Italian colony, eastern Africa. It extended south from Cape Asir to the boundary of Kenya, occupying an area of 178,218 sq mi (461,585 sq km). Italy obtained control of it in 1889 and it was incorporated as a state in Italian East Africa in 1936. Britain invaded in 1941 and retained control until it became a UN trust territory under Italian administration in 1950. In 1960 it was united with British Somali¬ land to form the independent Republic of Somalia.

Italian Wars (1494-1559) Series of violent wars for control of Italy. Fought largely by France and Spain but involving much of Europe, they resulted in the Spanish Habsburgs dominating Italy and shifted power from Italy to northwestern Europe and its Atlantic world. The wars began with the invasion of Italy by the French king Charles VIII in 1494. He took Naples, but an alliance between Maximilian I, Spain, and the pope drove him out of Italy. In 1499 Louis XII invaded Italy and took Milan, Genoa, and Naples, but he was driven out of Naples in 1503 by Spain under Fer¬ dinand V. Pope Julius II organized the League of Cambrai (1508) to attack Venice, then organized the Holy League (1511) to drive Louis out of Milan. In 1515 Francis I was victorious at the battle of Marignano, and in 1516 a peace was concluded by which France held onto Milan and Spain kept Naples. Fighting began in 1521 between Emperor Charles V and Francis I. Francis was captured and forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid (1526), by which he renounced all claims in Italy, but, once freed, he repudiated the treaty and formed a new alliance with Henry VIII of England, Pope Clement VII, Venice, and Florence. Charles sacked Rome in 1527 and forced the pope to come to terms, and Francis gave up all claims to Italy in the Treaty of Cambrai (1529). By the Treaty of Cateau- Cambresis (1559), the wars finally ended.

Italic \i-'ta-lik\ languages Indo-European languages spoken in the Apennine Peninsula (Italy) during the 1st millennium bc, after which only Latin survived. Traditionally thought to be a subfamily of related languages, these languages include Latin, Faliscan, Osco-Umbrian, South Picene, and Venetic. Latin, the language of Latium and Rome, began to emerge as the predominant language as early as the 3rd century bc. By ad 100 it had replaced all dialects (except Greek) between Sicily and the Alps. Until then, Oscan dialects were most widely spoken; Umbrian, in central Italy, was closely related to Oscan. Venetic was spoken in the region of Venice. These languages were written in various alphabets, including the Greek and Latin alphabets and modified versions of the Etruscan.

Italic War See Social War

Italo-Turkish War (1911-12) War undertaken by Italy to gain colo¬ nies in North Africa by conquering the Turkish provinces of Tripolitana and Cyrenaica (modern Libya). The conflict upset the precarious interna¬ tional balance of power just before World War I by revealing the weak¬

ness of Turkey and, within Italy, unleashed the nationalist-expansionist sentiment that guided government policy in the following decades. Tur¬ key conceded its rights to the contested provinces in the peace terms.

Italy officially Italian Republic Country, south-central Europe. It comprises the boot-shaped peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea as well as Sicily, Sardinia, and a number of smaller islands. Area: 116,343 sq

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