It is a little-known footnote in history that Italy fought its last territorial war just 40 years ago: against Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj, or the Republic of Rose Island, a microstate in the Adriatic some 11 kilometers from the Italian coastal resort of Rimini.
The brainchild of industrial engineer Giorgio Rosa, the steel and concrete island measured some 400 square meters and was finally completed in 1967, following many years of preparation and setbacks.
A year later, Rosa declared independence from Italy. Rose Island had its own official language (Esperanto), flag, national anthem (from The Flying Dutchman by Wagner), its own currency (the milo), stamps (now highly collectible), shops, a restaurant, and a nightclub.
The Italian authorities regarded this new republic with suspicion, fearing it would become a safe haven for tax evasion and other illegal activities, and so the carabinieri closed it down.
Early in 1969, it was blown up - a task that proved easier said than done.
Insulo de la Rozoj - Freedom is Frightening looks back at this minor episode in history in the form of interviews with those involved and with lawyers, who explain the criteria for setting up a nation state, and intersperses these talking heads with archive footage.
The founder of the microstate remains something of an enigma.
Was Rosa a naive dreamer, an anarchical, or a crafty business man?
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