Milan was known as the new cultural and economic capital of Italy. It played a key role as a centre of industry during the World War II and suffered incessant bombing as a result. The government leader Pietro Badoglio surrendered to Allied Powers in 1943, but the city continued to be bombed. Milan was part of Mussolini’s fascist state and a key command centre of the German Army. The end of the war was declared in Italy on April 25, 1945, but many of the city’s neighbourhoods were completely destroyed, including Turro and Precotto. Consequently, all the heavily damaged buildings were torn down in the first years after the war, but hundreds of buildings erected in the last millennium were lost.

Despite this excessive damage, the city was reconstructed and today is once again a hub of finance and industry in Italy. Throughout the 20th Century, Milan held numerous international events, from the 1906 World Exposition to the 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, and 1980 UEFA European Football Championship. Italy has also placed their bid to host the Universal Expo 2015 in Milan, with its motto 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life'. The city is the seat of the Italian Stock Exchange, founded in 1997 as the Borsa Italiana. Like Paris and New York, it is called the world's fashion capital and one of the richest cities in the European Union.