756 The Papal States were established in central Italy.
774 The Lombards defeated by Charlemagne.
800 Charlemagne crowned Roman emperor.
962 Otto the Great, the king of Germany, was crowned emperor establishing the Holy Roman Empire.
1000s - 1400's Independent city-states are established
1519 Charles I of Spain became Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire
1700s Spanish rule passed to Austrian rule
1789 The French Revolution
1796 Napoleon defeated the Austrian rulers
1804 Napoleon declared himself the emperor of Italy
1814 Napoleon abdicated his throne and Italy was broken up into small kingdoms
1820s-1850s Small revolutions in the kingdoms - Venice, Rome and Tuscany declare themselves Republics
1849 Austria regains control of most of Italy
1860 Northern Italy was joined to the Kingdom of Sardinia
1861 The Kingdom of Italy was formed under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi
1861 Victor Emmanuel II crowned king
1911 Italy defeats the Ottoman Empire
1914 World War I
1915 Italy joins the war on the side of the Allies
1918 The Allies win WW1
28 October 1922 The Fascists named Benito Mussolini the Prime Minister of Italy
1925 Benito Mussolini becomes the dictator of Italy
1936 Mussolini and Hitler sign an agreement known as the Roman-Berlin Axis
1939 Italy conquers Albania and Mussolini sides with Hitler and Fascist Germany
8 September 1943 Italy surrenders to the Allies in WW II
13 October 1943 Italy declares war on Germany
1945 Mussolini was shot
August 1945 The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945 End of WW11
10 June 1946 Italy abolishes the monarchy and establishes a republic.