Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1946
Italians vote to abolish the monarchy and King Umberto II leaves Italy, refusing to recognise the res-
ult. Sixty-three percent of Lombards vote for a republic.
1961
With low salaries and a booming export business, Milan and its surrounding area attract vast waves
of immigrants from the south - more than 80,000 settle in Milan in 1961.
1982
Umberto Bossi founds the right-wing, separatist Lega Lombarda movement, which in 1991 becomes
Lega Nord and later an ally of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
2001
Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Casa delle Libertà (Liberties House) coalition wins an absolute major-
ity in national polls. The following five years are marked by economic stagnation.
2011
Berlusconi stands trial in Milan in April on charges of abuse of power and paying for sex with an
under-aged Moroccan prostitute called Karima El Mahroug (aka 'Ruby Heart Stealer').
2013
Campaigning on the slogan
prima il Nord
(the North first), Roberto Maroni's victory as President of
Lombardy consolidates the Northern League's hold over the largest regional government in Italy.
