Belgium Imperialism

The liberal order ruled Italian politics from 1860-1922, and centered around the long standing tradition of trasformismo, coalition forming to develop a flexible, centrist party. Unfortunately, this system had the potential for tyranny by the majority to run rampant, which allowed the rise of fascism in Italy. The liberal order existed in a parochial political culture and a church that did not support the government. It allowed for oligarchic rule in a highly centralized, corrupt state, a dangerous combination. Numerous other centers of power, like the mafia, undermined the legitimacy of the regime (Bull, Newell 2005). This political environment was not only limited in its democratic characteristics, but proved to be detrimental to Italy following …show more content…
Following independence, internally Belgium had to remedy a contentious sphere due to the heterogeneous make up within their society. This period serves as an important transitional period where industrialism overthrew previous power structures for a more representative one (Craeybeckx Meynen Witte 2010). Wallonia and Flemish communities linguistic issues led to internal strife. Following WWI Belgium gained an extra piece of land introducing the german community to Belgium. This new ethno-linguistic group led to further internal contention. These issues were set aside amidst WWII, when Germany successfully gained Belgium again. Following liberation from Germany, each community wanted their representation in education and government. Thus, Belgium became a federal state divided into a Flemish region, a walloon region, and the a multi-linguistic capital. Belgium is further divided into three communities (German-speaking, Dutch-speaking, and Francophone) and ten provinces (Craeybeckx Meynen Witte