This doctoral thesis examines the origins and the historical evolution of Italian national citizenship from 1861 until 1950. Largely based on extensive archival research and on printed documentary historical sources, it focuses on the policies, the debates and the formal notions of citizenship in the pininsula with a view to grasphing the vision(s) of Italian national identity that they illuminate. In particular, starting with the genesis of "Italian monarchical subjecthood" in 1861, this work analyses its historical developments throughout the liberal period and the fascist era and then concludes with the birth and the first developments of post-war "Italian republican citizenship". Highlighting precedents, continuity and discontinuity within Italian national history, this study also incorporates elements of comparison with other European experiences and, by drawing upon French, British and German citizenship traditions, brings out fully the specificity of the Italian case