Prima Civiltà

Prima Civiltà (Vespasian: "First Civilisation") a term used to describe Etrurian exceptionalism, in which it claims that the modern state of Etruria is the political, cultural and spiritual successor to the ancient Solarian Empire and Renaissance Vespasia. It also asserts Etruria's cultural superiority, by claiming that it is the premier cultural entity of the world and thus a natural world leader.

Prima Civiltà first emerged in the early to mid 18th century as a result of Vespasian unification and the subsequent Kingdom's attempt to establish a unifying identity across the various statelets, duchies and maritime republics. It later developed strong enough in the 1860s to pressure the monarchy towards further colonisation. Following the collapse of the Kingdom in 1910 and its replacement with the Transetrurian Federation, the ideal was altered by historians and commentators to focus upon the country's unique ethnic makeup and ability to co-exist peacefully, it returned to its national chauvinist position during the Etrurian Social State period and was later augmented once more to support the multi-ethnic democracy.

Origins

Although the concept of Etrurian exceptionalism dates to ancient Solaria, the term Prima Civiltà was first used in the 1720s.

Some claim that the phrase "Prima Civiltà" originated with the works of Giovanni Ganini, a prominent writer of the early 18th century and the personal biographer of King Vittorio Alessandro I, the founding King of Vespasia. The work most widely cited as the origin of the term is the "Treatise of the Vespasian Man" in which he claimed that the Kingdom of Vespasia was the "first civilisation" or premier civilisation.

Early examples of the term's usage do include a declaration made in the court of King Vittorio Alessandro in 1721, in which Count Della Rovere proclaiming that "the cries of the son of the first civilisation are heard by all". It was used prominently by upper class thinkers and writers were attempting to present the Kingdom of Vespasia as the successor to the ancient Solarian Empire as a means of offering the Kingdom legitimacy among states that violently opposed unification efforts following the collapse of the Floren Empire in 1730.

The term fell out of use by the 1810s, but re-emerged in the 1850s as a term used by imperialists advocating colonisalism and expansionism in "honor of the imperial forefathers" ("onore dei padri imperiali"). Following the fall of the Kingdom in 1910, the term was dramatically altered following the formation of the Transetrurian Federation. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the term was used to describe the country as a "unique fraternal union of three distinct peoples united in joy and love for God and one another". It has since become popular and Etrurian exceptionalism widely accepted and embraced by Etrurian society. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Functionalist regime of the Etrurian Social State utilised the theory to advocate and defend the Solarian War and the "irrepressible right of Etruria to rule the Solarian Sea." Following Etruria's defeat and return to democracy, the term fell into sporadic use.

The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the term used extensively by the right-wing and nationalist movements, eventually being altered again the late 2000s to promote an ultranationalist narrative of cultural supremacy, militarism and veneration of the past.