Pius IX and his successor, Leo XIII, did not give up the pretense of still possessing tem poral power and threw obstacles of every kind in the way of the reign of the so-called usurp ers. In France the republic was not yet upon a firm foundation and might at any time fall into the hands of the clericals, who were in favor of pontifical vindication. To this should be added the occupation of Tunis, made pro visionally by France in 1881, which awakened great wrath south of the Alps. Italy believed herself in danger; and at the same time Aus tria threatened her from the other side, because she was irritated by the agitations of the Italian party, called the Redemptionists, who desired the speedy liberation of Trentino, Trieste and Istria ; they felt the need of relying upon Germany, which was already united with Austria; and thus in 1882 arose the Triple Alliance (see under ITALY - HISTORY FROM 1907 TO 1919). Later, her wrath being appeased, Italy again approached France, and her consequent agree ments with this power and with England safe guarded her interests in the Mediterranean.
Her colonial possessions in Africa com menced with the acquisition of Assab in 1882, then with the occupation of Massaua in 1885. Wishing to occupy the high plateaus in Ethio pia, the Italians came into conflict with Emperor John of Abyssinia; but he, after a victory at Dogali in 1887, was forced to withdraw. Some years afterward, Italy wished to exercise a sort of protectorate over the new Emperor Menelik, because of her occupation of some territory; he refused and war again broke out and this, after some honorable defeats for the Italians, ended with the disastrous conflicts of Adua and of Abba Garima (1 March 1906). Thus the dream of a vast African Empire vanished, and Italy was obliged to content herself with a more restricted territory, called Colonia Eritrea, which is being peacefully developed with hopes of a prosperous future. Besides this colony, there have been acquired upon the shores of eastern Africa the colonies of So malia (Somaliland) and Benadir, and upon the northern (Mediterranean) coast territories ac quired as a result of the war with Turkey. (See under ITALY —HISTORY FROM 1907 ro 1919).
The reign of Humbert I had a tragic ending. In consequence of a serious disagreement be tween the ministry of Gen. Luigi Pelloux, which wished to restrict certain liberties, and the more advanced party of the Chamber, which defended them, a conflict which became most acute and which at length reached obstructionist tactics and produced great resentment, an Ital ian anarchist left the United States, in order to revenge upon the king the retrogressive at tempts of the Minister, and killed Humbert I at Monza 29 July 1900, awakening horror against the murderer and sympathy for the victim throughout the entire world. His young son, Victor Emanuel III, ascended the throne; he had been educated with the greatest care in re gard to his exalted position, and he has proved that he respects liberty and is worthy of the esteem and affection of the Italians.
This nation, which has already given two civilizations to the world, when her redemption from foreign oppression and her own unifica tion commenced., could already in certain as pects stand upon equal footing with the most progressive of the civilized nations, but in others she was inferior to all. In fact, even in those centuries of slavery Italy was always the coun try of science, literature and art; but in those same centuries her economic conditions were deplorable. Liberty not only made it possible for her to preserve those requisites which she already possessed, but also put her in a position to acquire those which she lacked. In science, the national genius which had produced Leon ardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Allesandro Volta, and many other distinguished persons, continued to manifest itself ; to mention only the principal names, there were the astronomers Angelo Secchi (1818-78) and Giovanni Schiapparelli (1835-1910) ; the great psychologist, Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909), founder of criminal an thropology; the physiologist, Angelo Mosso (1846-1910), and the electricians Galileo Fer rario (1847-97), who discovered the rotary magnetic field, and Guglielmo Marconi (1875 —), who gave us wireless telegraphy; the philologist Graziadio Ascoli (1829-1907), the chemist, Stanislav Cannizzaro (1826-1910), the mathematicians Eugenio Beltrami (1835-1900), Luigi Cremona (1830-1903) and Giuseppe Veronese (1854—). In letters, the country of Dante, of Petrarch, of Boccaccio, of Machia velli, of Ariosto, of Tasso, after having seen her redemption assisted by the works of so many famous authors, whom we have already mentioned, having become free could already boast of writers like Giosu2 Carducci (1836 '907), Edmondo de Amicis (1846-1908) and Gabrielle d'Annunzio (1862—). In the fine arts, of which Italy had produted for many centuries so many masterpieces, it was difficult to keep heiself on the heights to which she had formerly risen and to which so many other countries had arrived. Especially in archi tecture are there many examples worth men tioning, as regards originality, grandeur and purity of style, for instance,— the Gallery Vic tor Emanuel in Milan by Giuseppe Mangoni (1827-87) ; the National Museum of Italian Renaissance in Turin, called Mole Antonelliana from its author, Alexander Antonelli (1808 :':) ; the monument to Victor Emanuel in Rome by Giuseppe Sacconi (1854-1905). In paint ing, we may mention, as among the most illus trious, Domenico Morelli (1826-1901), Giacomo Favretto (1849-97), and Giovanni Segantini (1858-1900). In sculpture those worthy of mention are Giovanni Dupre (1817-82), Vin cenzo Vela (1822-91), and Giulio Monteverde (1837—). In music, after Rossini, Bellini and Donizzeti, who attained their greatness dur ing the period of struggle for Resurrection, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) continued his ad mirable productions, and Pietro Mascagni (1863 ) commenced to make himself heard of, as well as Ruggero Leoncavallo (1853—), Giacomo Puccini (1858), and Umberto Gior-! dano (1870—).