Italy's Republic Day

Today was the parade to celebrate the day that Italy became a republic. It is a nation wide holiday and today was the 63rd anniversary. Until June 2, 1946, Italy was run by a monarchy, the House of Savoy. Then began the facism reign of Benito Mussolini which resulted in Italy becoming engaged with Germany in World War II. After World War II Italy was a mess. It was occupied with foreign soldiers and no central government and was suffering the loss of the empire they had worked so hard to gain. So in a nationwide referendum, the Italian people rejected the monarchy and chose a republic form of government in June of 1946.

It was an awesome parade that lasted about an hour with a grand finale of the fighter planes flying overhead, leaving a trail of green, white, and red smoke behind it. The parade was mostly a display of Italy's different branches of the military and also the police, red cross, and fire departments. It started with the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, and then the different international armed forces including the United States. The crowd's spirit was infectious! Every branch of the military was greeted with applause and many shouts of "Brava!" especially the military nurses.