Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A
comune
(town council) was formed by all social classes in the 11th century, and,
from the mid-13th century, government passed to a succession of dynasties - the Torri-
anis, Viscontis and, finally, the Sforzas. It fell under Spanish rule in 1525 and Austrian
rule in 1713. Milan became part of the nascent Kingdom of Italy in 1860.
Benito Mussolini, one-time editor of the socialist newspaper
Avanti!,
founded the Fas-
cist Party in Milan in 1919. He was eventually strung up here by partisans after he sought
to escape to Switzerland in 1945. Mussolini joined Germany in WWII in 1940. By early
1945, Allied bombings had destroyed much of central Milan.
At the vanguard of two 20th-century economic booms, Milan cemented its role as
Italy's financial and industrial capital. Immigrants poured in from the south and were later
joined by others from China, Africa, Latin America, India and Eastern Europe, making for
one of the least homogenous cities in Italy. Culturally, the city was the centre of early
Italian film production, and in the 1980s and '90s it ruled the world as the capital of
design innovation and production. Milan's self-made big shot and media mogul, Silvio
Berlusconi, made the move into politics in the 1990s and was then elected prime minister
three more times - scandal and economic armageddon finally forced him from office in
2011.
The city's next big date with destiny is Expo 2015, when Milan is hoping to wow 20
million visitors with a world exposition based on the theme 'Feeding the Planet, Energy
for Life'.
