Makers of Italy? Giolitti, Mussolini, De Gasperi, Berlusconi

The XX century has been the core of the formation of Italy as both a state and a nation. By the first expression, we mean its territorial affirmation and stabilization from 1861 up to modern times, while by the second one, we mean the formation of its cultural and popular identity.
The research investigates these elements by looking at the political mandates of four characters that shaped, more than others, Italian history. These are namely Giovanni Giolitti, Benito Mussolini, Alcide De Gasperi and Silvio Berlusconi.
The aim of this research is to retrace some particular aspects of their way of doing politics in different fields. More specifically, the domains under analysis will regard their historical background, their political ideals and the way in which the population reacted to that. Moreover, they will also deal with their relationship with the Catholic Church and the public works that were realised under their mandates.
By doing so, the final thesis would like to demonstrate how their influence shaped the Italian personality both from a political and social point of view. We are interested in seeing how some of the aspects they introduced could still be efficient and actual if applied to the modern Italian state in order to refresh the actual political world, which seems to be more and more passive and ineffective.