History of Italy |
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The military history of Italy chronicles a vast time period, lasting from the ancient Etruscans, to ancient Rome, through the expansion of the Republic of Venice in medieval period, the Renaissance, the defense of the ancient Italian states during the Italian Wars, the Italian unification, the campaigns of the colonial empire, the two world wars, and into the modern day, with world peacekeeping operations under the aegis of NATO or the United Nations. The Italian peninsula has been a centre of military conflict throughout European history due to its geostrategic position: because of this, Italy has a long military tradition.