VENICE (VENEZIA)
Small groups of fishermen and hunters inhabited the muddy shores of the Venetian Lagoon at the beginning of the Christian era, but it was not until the Germanic invasions of the 5th century that larger colonies of settlers began to emerge here. The first mass migration was caused by the arrival of Attila's Hun hordes in Veneto in the year 453, and next, a hundred years later, in year 568, the Lombard raid on northern Italy.
Loose union of island communities, which began to emerge in the 6th century, was politically linked to the Byzantine Empire and until the end of the 7th century its leaders were under the effective supervision of the Byzantine hierarchs of Ravenna. But as the population of the islands grows, which resulted from the strengthening of the Lombard power in Veneto at the end of the 7th century, control of the empire was weakening over the years 726 the settlers elected the first leader of the provincial government - the Doge.
Byzantium sovereignty soon became nominal, and the lagoon merchants and boat owners marked their independence with one symbolic act - stealing the body of Saint Mark of Alexandria in the year 828. St. Mark replaced the Byzantine St.. Theodore as the city's keyboard, and a basilica was built next to the Doge's Palace, that the place where his relics are kept looks dignified. These two buildings, basilica of st. Marka i Palazzo Ducale (doge's palace), were to become symbols of the Venetian state and the place of ruling the city for almost a thousand years.
Even before the end of the 10th century, Venice's trade network was well developed, thanks to the concessions on eastern markets guaranteed by the city by the Byzantine Empire and the use of waterways in northern Italy for the distribution of goods from the East. By the end of the 12th century, Venetian merchants were exempt from all customs duties in the Eastern Empire, and out of chaos, as a result of the declaration of the first crusade of the year 1095, they only made a profit. Fourth Crusade, which, thanks to the Venetians, ended in Constantinople, she sealed the success of their maritime empire. From looted in a year 1204 From Constantinople they brought whole ships full of treasures (including horses, which today are above the basilica's portal), but more important than this was the division of territorial gains. "A quarter and a half a quarter” the Roman Empire fell into the hands of Venice, and the Republic had captured the entire chain of ports, which stretched almost continuously from the Venetian Lagoon to the Black Sea.
For most of the fourteenth century, the rulers of Venice subordinated all their efforts to a single goal: defeating the city's main rival in the eastern markets, Genoa. Eventually, the defeat of the Genoese at the Battle of Chioggia gave the Republic economic and political advantage. (1379-80).
It was during the wars with Genoa that the Venetian constitution was created, which was to survive unchanged until the fall of the Republic. The most important act, leading to its creation, was passed in the year 1297 Serrata of the Maggior Consiglio, right, which limited the participation in government over the city of the families that held it so far. Rise of dissatisfied aristocrats a year 1310 led to the creation of the Council of Ten, which was to oversee the internal security of the Republic. It was originally intended to be a time council, but in a year 1334 it was permanently included in the state management system and became the most secret and most terrifying state institution.
From the outset, Venice's foreign policy was dominated by Eastern trade issues, but some degree of territorial control was also necessary for the maintenance of trade routes across the continent. Established in the mid-15th century, the land empire of Venice was to remain virtually intact until Napoleon's time.
During the European successes of Venice in the east, the Ottoman Empire grew in strength, which over time became a threat to the Venetian colonies. The army of the sultan captured Constantinople in a year 1453, and with the fall of the Peloponnese main fortresses in the year 1499, The Turks gained access to the Adriatic Sea.
Reluctance to Venetian ambitions in Europe and fear of Turkish expansion led in the year 1508 until the League of Cambrai was founded. League take, led by Pope Julius II, French King Louis XII, Emperor Maximilian I and the king of Spain, brought together literally all European powers in the hostile camp of Venice and decided to destroy the Venetian empire, and then beat the Turks. When in the year 1516 the war is over, clever Venetian diplomacy guaranteed the city control over territory almost equal to the old one, but many Veneto cities have been sacked, great tracts of land destroyed, and financially, Venice has become bankrupt.
But the worst was yet to come. After Vasco da Gama's journey to India via the Cape of Good Hope, the slow and expensive land route through Asia to the ports and to the Venice fair began to lose competition with the new one, frequented by merchants from northern Europe along the sea route. Economic advantage in Europe was beginning to pass into the hands of the Portuguese, English and Dutch.
After sacking Rome in a year 1527 the entire Apennine Peninsula, except Venice, came under the influence of Emperor Charles V.. In addition, limiting the influence of Venice in the area closest to it, as time passed, the overseas territories of the Republic were slowly conquered by the Turks. In year 1529 the Ottoman empire already encompassed the entire southern shores of the Mediterranean as far as Morocco and even the great success of Venice at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 he did not stop the loss of Cyprus, which followed shortly thereafter.
Dispute with Rome, which concerned the extent of papal authority in the Republic, peaked in the year 1606 along with the exclusion of the inhabitants of the entire city from the Church. After a year of negotiations, the excommunication was lifted, which seriously damaged the prestige of the papacy throughout Europe. Relations with the Habsburgs were not much better. Representatives of their Austrian line provoked the incidents, because they encouraged pirates to raid Venetian merchant ships, and the Habsburgs, who enjoyed great intrigues, took up the Spanish line in a year 1618, henceforth known as the Spanish Conspiracy, as ambitious as crazy an attempt to coup the Venetian state. However, the Turks did the most damage, who a year 1669 they took over the last Venetian stronghold in the Eastern Mediterranean, Crete.
In the 18th century, Venice completely lost its political significance and was forced to pursue a policy of peaceful neutrality. The economy of the Republic still had a healthy foundation, although the gap between the layer of aristocracy and the ever-growing layer of the poor continued to widen, and all efforts, seeking to alleviate discontent in the city by introducing a more democratic system of governance, they were consistently strangled by the conservative aristocracy.
Such politically ossified Venice has gained the fame of many of the greatest powers in Europe, but a city of gambling and never-ending fun. Napoleon finally ended the existence of the Republic. 12 May 1797 the council of Maggior Consiglio met for the last time to agree to Napoleon's demand to abolish the existing system of government in the city. In October of the same year, France ceded Venice to Austria, but already in a year 1805 Napoleon incorporated the city into the Kingdom of Italy he created, in which it remained until the defeat of the French at Waterloo. It was then handed over to the Austrians and remained the Austrian Province for a year 1866, when it entered the emerging independent Kingdom of Italy.
During the French occupation, a large number of buildings were destroyed in order to modernize the city, which continued under Austrian rule. The Austrians created the majority of the ria (buried channels), they built two new bridges across the Grand Canal and a rail link with the mainland. Despite this, in the nineteenth century the city remained almost destitute. As a port, Venice was relegated to the background, ahead of Trieste, favored by Austrians, on the other hand, it has achieved great success in the field of tourism, because Lido has become Europe's most popular bathing resort. The need for a more solid economic footing led to the creation of a processing and processing center for sea-imported raw materials in the marshes on the other side of the lagoon after World War I., Marghera.
In year 1933 a new road was built, which Venetian workers were to commute to this ever-growing industrial complex, but Marghera's development did not take off until after World War II. The production of the plants there is necessary for the economy of the region, but it causes very serious problems. The lagoon has been polluted, and many people have moved out of Venice to cheaper housing in Mestre, which contributed to the territorial growth of Mestre-Marghera to a size three times larger than the area of the historic center of Venice. By contrast, the number of permanent residents in old Venice has declined since the last war with 170 do 80 thousands. No city has suffered similarly from the development of tourism (annually, approx. 20 million people, half of which don't even stay in the city for one night), but without it, Venice could not exist today.