Why was Italy in the past 400 years shit while the rest of Western Europe was boss
Because being the richest people from 500 BC to 1650 AD made them stop giving a single fuck
>>1357216
I'm a vegan
>>1357211
>the rest of Western Europe was boss
Italy is Southern Europe, not Western
Themoreyouknow.png
>>1357227
They were a big part of the Renaissance dweeb
The Pope/Austria/France fucked any sort of unity
>>1357211
No colonies due to being split into warring city-states. And it depends on how you define shit. They may have never created the vast colonial empires of Britain, France and Spain but life for your average Italian was pretty good and most of them lived in rather progressive republics. Being late for the industrial revolution meant they didn't enjoy the same things Western European nations did in the 19th century, but they also avoided a lot of the shit that came with industrialisation (huge slums, mass inequality, robber-baron type industrialists etc). I'd much rather be a poor 19th century Italian than a poor 19th century Brit.
>>1357335
They WERE the Renaissance.
