The relationship that Italy and France bear is subtle, but
it’s nonetheless there. What this post will explore is the reason why Italy
holds France with such fondness.

Additionally, because they grew up together, France is one
of the select few nations who know how secretly vulnerable and insecure Italy
is, regardless of the cheerful front that the latter puts up to hide this from
others.

Childhood:

The two of them both grew up in Rome’s household. It’s for
this reason that Italy refers to France as “big brother” or “onii-chan.” Again,
it’s important to remember that in this context, the title is an expression of
affection or adoration.

There was a latent period in which Italy had no
contact with Holy Rome and France.

When he does meet them again, Rome had just passed away.

Although France protected Italy from being bullied by Holy Rome,
he himself also bullied Italy and later joins the campaign to conquer the
weakened Italian Peninsula.

After falling under Austria’s rule, Italy didn’t get to see
France for a long time.

He’s still under Austria’s rule and lacks independence
here, but he’s aged considerably since the last time they had last seen each other.

Of course, France has one of two reactions.

One, excitement to see Italy.

Two, an eagerness to make Italy French territory.

Still, having lived with Italy for a considerable time,
France is fully aware of how fragile Italy is.

While this is a deleted strip and should not be taken as
canon, the fact that Hima once depicted France to brave it out and break the
news of Holy Rome’s dissolution to Italy, not to mention the conflicted look on
his face, proves that he cares about Italy’s emotional welfare above his own.

I say this because it was France who caused Holy Rome’s
dissolution. Just imagine the shame and pain he would have had to go through in
confessing this to Italy, who loved Holy Rome. France was a role model for Italy
and to have that image destroyed by the death of the loved one could have put
their entire relationship on the line.

Non-canon material aside, Italy’s canonically noted to be
one not to hold grudges.

Let’s explore how this carries into his adulthood.

World War 2 Relations:

I’ve said this before, but it’s important to recognize that
while the nations’ interactions are influenced by their present political
relations, that doesn’t in whole
affect their personal lives.

As people in their own right, the nations’ opinions of each
other is predicated more on the past. Put another way, they have a personal history
together aside from politics.

This would explain why Italy refers to France as onii-chan both
in his childhood as he was being conquered by the latter and later in the world
wars.

Ex: Both find themselves shipwrecked on Seychelles during
WW2. While France is skeptical at first, the two agree not to pick a fight with
each other and to drop the political personas that would have designated them
as enemies.

Ex: When engaging in a gossiping smear campaign against the
Axis, France stops short and claims that Italy isn’t that bad of a person.

England still implants false ideas into Italy’s head anyway,
claiming that Germany hates him.

The reason that I believe that France is so hesitant to
attack Italy with words is because he knows how sensitive he is. It was incredibly
perceptive and considerate on his part.

Ex: Right after being told this by England, Italy clarifies
with Germany if he really does hate him. Of course, he doesn’t.

The insecurity stems from the fact that Italy needs
reassurance and does not hold a confident opinion of himself. He believes
England when he’s told that he’s useless.

This isn’t the first that we’ve seen of Italy’s insecurity
over his friendship with Germany.

Ex: He worries that he’ll be left behind when
Germany forms an alliance with Russia. He himself fears that he’s useless,
weak, and troublesome to his allies and has a nightmare about this.

That’s a tying theme of Italy’s characterization. He
experiences constant anxiety over the fact that he’s a hetare – a useless and weak individual. You can see why France was so opposed to doing
anything that would influence Italy’s already poor opinion of himself.

The closeness of their relationship further comes to light
when we learn that France is the first person Italy calls to voice his concerns
over Germany not liking him.

Italy trusts France so much that he takes his first
sarcastic piece of advice to heart – he did call in the middle of the night,
after all.

France later gives real advice after Italy calls him again.

The Present:

The two still get along really well, although the hints of
this relationship remain to be subtle in nature.

Ex: When France attempts to get closer with Germany, he
cites that Spain and Italy – his other
close friends –don’t care for aesthetics. What’s important here
is that France appears to consider Italy as a close friend.

Ex: He comes to Italy’s aid when Romano refuses to cooperate
with him.

In sum, France and Italy’s relationship, while not made to
be obvious, remains strong.

It would be very interesting to explore more in details the relationship between Italy and France. Historically they are bonded like very few other countries in the world (the Italian flag has been inspired by the French one because of that). They are also culturally incredibly similar… I think Hima gave few hints about it, like when France doesn’t want to talk badly about Italy or Italy getting mad at Germany because of France…

Sure, it’s very subtle, but the two do share a very close relationship. I’d love to explore it in detail!

Post coming up tonight!

Aside from Greece, are there any other pairing hints with Japan?

Mhmm. There’s an instance where Taiwan gives Japan chocolates for Valentine’s Day. Italy and France’s wink-wonk reactions allude to something more.

Considering that the nations are described as “odd beings”,
many aspects of their existence are either left open-ended or unanswered. It’s probably
meant to be like this, as it allows Hima to have more creative leeway.

On the other hand, there’s a consistent logic in the process
of how the nations are born that I’d like to go over.

How Are They Born?

For the most part, the nations are born as babies.

Ex: Egypt and his mother, Ancient Egypt.

This excludes…

1) The micronations, who are noted to be anomalies outside
the rules of nationhood.

2) Germany, who’s born as a young child given that he
already had an existing body (I’ll get back to this in a moment).

We know from Iceland that the nations spontaneously gain
consciousness and come into existence. It’s not a formal birth process. They’re also instinctively able to tell that they’re different from humans.

What signifies them?

What signifies a nation as a baby is the nightgown they
wear. Personally, I don’t believe that the nightgown has any real significance
other than the fact that it acts as a plot device to distinguish the nation’s
young age.

How do they know who they’re related to?

Just like the nations are able to sense each other, the baby
nation is also able to sense their biological sibling.

This is seen with Iceland when he’s born. He sensed that
Norway was his brother upon gaining consciousness.

Norway also senses Iceland.

Likewise, we also know that later on, Iceland takes a DNA
test–in this case, it’s a land excavation–to confirm that there were no
Icelandic natives. Instead, the first people to settle in Iceland were
Norwegian.

That’s why Iceland and Norway are related.

On the other hand, America was colonized by several nations at once, not to mention that there
were already native tribes living there. As such, he’s referred to as an “ingredient.” He represents a mix of several cultures. [x]

Further, America doesn’t ‘sense’ an older brother from the pool of countries colonizing him. Instead,
Finland, France, and England deliberate over who will assume the role of America’s older brother.

It’s also important to mention that “onii-chan” in Japanese
does not always literally mean older brother. It can be an expression of “endearment” or “adoration.”

There are different cultural connotations that are
unfortunately lost in direct translations.

Despite this, America does, in fact, have a biological brother: Canada [x]

Germany’s ‘Existing Body’:

As mentioned above, most nations are born as babies. Germany
is an exception to this rule as he’s born as a young child…or is he?

Disclaimer, I’m going
outside canon now. This next part is theory based on canon fact.

Many people have speculated that Germany’s ‘existing’ body
means that while Holy Rome died, his body remained. Germany then resumed this
body after German Confederation.

The ‘existing’ body, then, would be the fact that Germany’s spirit
inhabited Holy Rome’s old body, hence the reason why he wasn’t born as a baby.

This perspective doesn’t make sense to me, as we know that
it’s possible for nations to live past their date of dissolution. More
importantly, Holy Rome lived past his dissolution.

Another problem with this perspective is that the nations’
bodies don’t remain when they die, but rather, they fade away. The nations are
personality-based, meaning that when their culture dies, so do they. [x]

Put another way, culture doesn’t die definitively. It fades
with time – A nation’s path to death is reflective of this.

This would explain why Holy Rome didn’t die right away, albeit being ill. The
German culture he represented was still alive and well.

Meanwhile, my take on Germany’s ‘existing body’ is vastly
different. I’m of the mindset that Holy Rome lost all his memories when he
became Germany. [post on that here].

In other words,
Germany wasn’t born as a baby because he was already existing, as in he had a living body.

In sum, while many questions about the nation’s existence
are left unanswered, there is a relative level of consistency regarding the
ages in which nations are born as well as the role that evolutionary instinct
plays in how they find their relatives.

Without exaggerating
and as I’ve proven in other posts, the nations suffer from a lot of things; to
name a few, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. One thing that they don’t have and
have never suffered from is Stockholm Syndrome.

Of course, the whole unequal power dynamic between the conquered country and
their conqueror makes for an unhealthy relationship, no doubt. However, it’s
within these relations, problematic as they may be, that the conquered
countries are able to form better personal relationships with their ruling
country.

What needs to be
differentiated here is that the nations have a persona as well as a person. Put
another way, they relate to each other both politically and on a personal
level. This is why you’ll see nations fight over one seeking to obtain sovereignty
and yet still attempt to befriend each other despite their hostile political
relations.

Ex: America wanting
to visit a sick England after the American Revolution.

Regardless if the
nation is conquered and ruled over, what I’ll argue is that they’re still able to
exercise agency and free will. Not only that, but they don’t wholeheartedly
comply, have their own opinions, and their survival is never threatened should
they oppose their ruling nation. It’s for this reason that Stockholm Syndrome
doesn’t compare to what we see in Hetalia.

There are many
problems with the characterization in these earlier strips [x]. Stockholm Syndrome
isn’t one of them.

What is Stockholm Syndrome?:

Stockholm Syndrome
occurs when a hostage forms an emotional bond with their captor. This, in turn,
is at first a survival response that eventually becomes internalized and warped
into an unhealthy attachment. [x]

The victim’s response
occurs in four stages; shock, denial, traumatic depression and recrimination,
and resolution and integration.

The shock stage
occurs when the victim realizes that their life is in danger. On a surface
level, their behaviour appears to be cooperative and friendly when they abide
by their captor. In reality, they’re only trying to stay alive.

The denial stage occurs
as this cooperative rationality further moulds itself into the victim’s
thinking. The victim minimizes and dismisses the abuse committed by their
captor as they spend more time with them.

The traumatic
depression and recrimination stage occurs when the victim begins to see their
captor more and more as a provider. This is called traumatic infantilism, which
entails the victim’s becoming increasingly compliant, obedient, submissive, and
more sympathetic toward their captor. It’s a survival tactic whereby children
are engrained to cling to their caregivers for protection.

The last stage, resolution
and integration, occurs when the victim loses their agency [identity] and
identifies with their captor. In their eyes, their captor gives them life. This
is especially in cases where the victim’s life is saved by the captor.

The attachment grows
so strong that being released from their captor is now seen as the danger
rather than being with them. Again, it’s like a child being separated from
their parent. The trauma causes the victim to develop an infantized mentality. They cling to the figure with the most power, someone who can offer the most protection.

That said, let’s tie
this back to the strips.

Why Italy didn’t have Stockholme Syndrome:

Don’t get me wrong.

The trauma that both
Italy brothers went through in being conquered and fought over by other
countries is not healthy at all.

Holy Rome attempting
to drag Chibitalia against his will is not healthy.

Austria’s harsh
punishments of Chibitalia are not healthy.

Despite all this,
Chibitalia does not have Stockholm Syndrome.

I’ve said this
before, but a lot of the older characterizations of the nations are cruder,
more exaggerated, and not up to par as they are now. Hima’s grown as a
content creator, and it’s important to recognize that.

I acknowledge the
problems of these earlier storylines. All I’m aiming to do is prove that
Chibitalia isn’t a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.

Chibitalia’s life isn’t
ever in danger, unlike a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Although, he is
a hostage in that he has no choice but to live in Austria’s house.

It’s bullying that
Chibitalia fears, not a fear for his life.

The boss and house
system that the series depicts involves the conquered nations acting as a
servant to the ruling nation.

Despite this power differential, they live together and have been seen
to treat each other as family members.

Chibitalia still
exercises agency and opposes Austria and Holy Rome on several occasions.

If Chibitalia’s life
was truly in danger, he wouldn’t have drawn a mustache on Austria’s portrait.

Nor would he have painted,
dressed up in costumes, or spent more time with Holy Rome than he absolutely
had to. Politics and nationhood personas aside, they’re people living in one
house, dysfunctional as the reason that brought them all together was.

Not to mention that
Chibitalia refuses to form an empire with Holy Rome.

However little power that
he had, Chibitalia wasn’t wholeheartedly complying to demands in order to
survive. He didn’t sympathize or adopt Holy Rome/ Austria’s perspective as his
own. Instead, he maintained his individuality and held firm on his opinions.

If anything, Holy
Rome learns from Chibitalia and apologizes for all that he’s done before he leaves for war.

Admittedly, there is
one moment where Italy is taken hostage by Spain in the Maria Theresa Series. When given a choice between
the two, Italy chooses to stay with Austria. This is the closest that we come
to an aspect of Stockholm Syndrome, and yet, it’s distinctly not the same.

Just imagine it.
Italy loses his grandfather, his security blanket and protector, and is living in
a new house with big, scary adult nations. Eventually, they warm up to them and
he grows accustomed to the new niche he’s found. Being conquered and having to
move again would disrupt that environment – his comfort zone.

That’s why I believe
that Italy chose Austria. It didn’t have to do with survival. Spain would have
taken good care of him, probably even better than Austria in terms of emotional availbility. Italy
simply wanted to stick with what he was familiar with, with those whom he had
formed a close personal bond.

It’s also important to mention that Italy is still a child in this strip. He’s
terrified and respectively clings to Austria because that’s who he’s been
raised by ever since Rome’s passing.

Lastly, when he’s not
forced to choose between who he’s ruled by, Italy doesn’t perceive his freedom
from Austria to be dangerous, as would someone with Stockholm Syndrome. He
zealously fights for his autonomy.

In sum, while many
aspects of the older strips are questionable and problematic, applying a label as severe as
Stockholm Syndrome is not warranted. It actually detracts from the discussion
acknowledging how the series has evolved for the better…

There’s nothing wrong with
acknowledging past mishaps of a content creator if they’ve already proven to
have learned from these mistakes.

Anon 1: Well, I’m not going to get into the messiness of the politics, but we do see Hungary messing with France diplomatically when it comes to her wine.

On what you mentioned, we actually have a brief hint of corruption in the EU. Hima touches on the conspiracy that Germany knew letting Greece into the EU would cause the economy to crash.

France also refers to Germany as his #1 partner in the EU.

Which Disney princess is Hungary?: Those are all good choices for Disney princesses! My addition would be Mulan. She’s not technically a princess, but she’s franchised as such 🙂

@petri-choir

I disagree. Here’s why.

We already know from canon that Hungary has a complex over settling down and letting her fighting skills get rusty. [x]

As a previous hunting tribe, for her to say that she has no interest in hunting is clearly tough on her, not to mention a contradiction if we compare this to the above piece of canon information.

Notice how Prussia expresses confusion at her “Girly get-up.” They used to go hunting together. The look on her face doesn’t come across as annoyance to me. Prussia’s egging her on, but she doesn’t snap like she usually would.

Instead, her expression seems more stuck than anything. She wants to hunt but can’t if she’s to fulfill her new role at Austria’s house.

I say this because Hungary’s known to have a short temper with Prussia given their rough history together.

This is what Hungary looks like when she’s annoyed with him.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison…

The time’s come to begin delving into the older characterizations
in the series, those of which owe Hetalia much of its poor reputation today. What
doesn’t help is that those in the fandom either deny the mistakes that Hima
made in the past or ignore them completely. Both of these actions do more harm
than good.

To be as objective as possible, it’s important that we
acknowledge the series’ early, but nonetheless problematic past. In doing so,
this then opens up more avenues to discuss how the characters have evolved and
changed for the better. Put another way, it’s more effective to air out the
dirty laundry as opposed to letting it [rumours/ misconceptions] sit there in
an unresolved mess.

Another point to hit on is that it’s pivotal that we
recognize that Hima has learned from his past errors. The characterization of
the nations has moved way past the unfunny middle school sexual humour that
used to define them. While things went too far in the past, the fact that they
don’t today is enough to hold Hima into account.

Creators grow and learn from their mistakes. If they prove
to learn from said mistakes, there’s really no reason to continue to shame them
for something that was created years ago
– in this case, a decade.

That said, let’s get into it.

I’ll be blunt. The humour in the early strips is incredibly offensive.
I’m often reminded of how this type of humour was normalized back then. Not
only that, but I remember making some of these jokes myself without really understanding
the meaning of what I was saying. Of course, this doesn’t make any of this
right.

Some of these jokes would include France stripping and groping
other nations.

A good part of this content was owed to the fans as well, who
encouraged and requested nations to do these sort of things [x]. At the time, the
humour was supported because that was the joke culture. It wasn’t as connotatively
aware as it is today.

Briefly, as I’ve already touched on, France’s stripping
doesn’t stem from a French stereotype of sexuality. Instead, it stems from the
stereotype that the French tended to swoop in for fresh pickings of territories
after European conflicts. The best way I can describe it is that they were like
scavengers; they stripped the losing nations to the bone.

Ex: This is seen when France strips Austria clean after the
War of Austrian Succession.

The reason I’m going over this is simply to point out that
France’s stripping did occasionally have a logic to it, bizarre and problematic
as it was.

Likewise, since a nation’s body is a physical embodiment of
their geographic landmass, each body part respectively represents a certain
territory (e.g., Austria’s ahoge represents Mariazell).

This would explain why France ‘rubbed’ Italy’s chest when
his economy was doing poorly. He was seeking territories to profit from.

Like I said, bizarre and problematic.

Even so, there were still boundaries in place for France’s
early characterization. The running gag of the old humour was predicated on
recognizing that France’s behaviour was outlandish.

Ex: He was once arrested for his lewd behaviour.

Ex: In the first chapters of the original webcomic, he states plain
as day that love shouldn’t be forced on anyone.

Ex: For a supposedly territory-happy nation, he’s once shown to have grown uncomfortable at the prospect of imperialism.

Ex: Similarly, when Italy hadn’t covered himself properly,
France had no trouble pointing this out to him.

The humour may be perverse, but France wasn’t always
perverted. This is especially the case in
later strips, where this lewd behaviour has disappeared completely and for a
good reason.

There was a clear recognition that France’s characterization
was not up to par, and over the years, he’s blossomed into something truly beautiful.

The present France is the mouthpiece for exploring several
dark subjects in the series.

Let’s go over a few.

France gives us the best insight into the reason why nations
exist.

…

We implicitly learn from him [his citizens] the pain of constantly seeing loved ones die should a person possess immortality.

The angle then shifts to France, who gazes at a young family. How just a handful of panels can convey so much emotion, longing in particular, is beyond me.

There’s this one moment with Lisa, Jeanne d’Arc’s
reincarnate, that always sticks with me.

France felt betrayed by God in how
unforgiving history was for letting Jeanne die so tragically. When he first saw
Lisa, he believed God was playing a cruel trick on him.

When he realizes that Jeanne has been born into a much
happier life, the peace of mind on his face is undeniable.

It took remarkable strength for France to confront this resentment
and pain, let alone to have the heart to let go and accept that history has
paved a better course for Jeanne, albeit it being in a different life.

Given how rough his own history has been, the ability to
forgive and love reflects on how truly resilient and strong he is as a person.

France also acts as a great father figure to America, having
originally helped the latter gain their independence.

He comes to America’s centennial celebration. The genuity of
the gesture is what truly matters here. America wasn’t just a vessel for France
to spite England, contrary to how his government perceived this conflict as an
opportunity for. There’s a true supportive relationship here.

I’ll end on this. While France’s character may have been
poorly characterized in the past, that shouldn’t take away from how he’s
enjoyed now. He went from a character ‘stripped’ of meaning to a personality
teeming with complicated thoughts, emotions, and life nuances.

There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the prior mishaps
of how he was depicted so long as it’s recognized that he’s since changed and
grossly at that.

France: I’m not THAT high maintenance

England: *looks at the camera like he’s in the office*

Okay but France and England clearly hate each other

No, they don’t. They’re long-time frenemies that bicker a lot but are nonetheless able to get along with each other. [x]

Sure thing. I think it’s about time that I started covering this. It’s important to acknowledge the series’ controversial past if we’re to get anywhere with recognizing how far it’s evolved.

Earlier depictions of some of the nations were far from okay. That said, I find it pointless to hold a creator accountable for mistakes that they’ve presently shown to have learned from. You can like a series and still recognize past mishaps that it’s overcome.

Post on the evolution of France’s character coming up tonight!