For centuries, since the fall of the Roman Empire (476 A.D.) until the end of the eighteenth century, Italy has been the victim of war and strife with neighbors or within its borders, being divided into numberless commonwealths, almost each city being independent. Hence, no economic improvements could take place until, under the influences of the French Revolution, the regeneration period began. Not, however, until the seven or eight states, which the Congress of Vienna (1815) had established, were moulded into one united Italy under Victor Emmanuel, during the years 1859 to 1870, could an effective reconstruction be inaugurated. It is true that some of the republics in earlier times paid attention to their forest property. Notably in Venice, old forest ordinances[14] date back to 697, and, in 1453, a regular forest administration was instituted, especially to take care of the large forest area in Istria and Dalmatia, which fell into the hands of the Venetians about 1420. A tolerably conservative management continued here until the beginning of the eighteenth century when, in consequence of political complications, supervision became lax, and devastation began which continued through the century, leaving to the new century, and finally to the Austrians, the legacy of the Karst (see p. 173). [14] BERENGER, Saggio storico della legislacione Veneta forestale, 1863. An excellent source. Florence too, managed to prevent the deforestation of the summit of her mountains until the beginning of the eighteenth century, and in other republics, kingdoms and duchies, similar efforts at forest administration existed. Yet Genoa, which in Strabo’s time was the principal timber market of Italy, had by 1860 nearly all its mountain slopes denuded. Before the general legislation for all Italy was enacted there were at least a dozen laws in operation in the various provinces; in Lombardy, the law of 1811; in Naples, the law of 1826; in Rome, of 1827; in Umbria, of 1805; in Bologna, of 1829; in Tuscany, of 1829; in Piedmont, of 1833; in Sardinia, of 1851; etc. If these had been heeded much better conditions would have been inherited by the new kingdom. With the arrival of a national spirit, many schemes for the promotion of forestry and of forest policy were discussed. The academies of Florence, Milan, Modena, Palermo, and Pesaro offered premiums for reforesting of mountains, and called for popular treatises on silviculture. A forestry journal came into being, furthering the propaganda. In 1860 a very well written account of “Present Conditions of Forestry and Production of Sulphur in Sicily,” a collection of reports, was published by Shiro. In 1860 also, an investigation of forest conditions in each province was ordered by royal decree, and propositions for their improvement were called for, which led to legislative proposals, introduced in 1862, and legislation enacted in 1863.