The Republic of Lombardy (Italian: Republico Lombardo) was an Italian state that existed between 1872 and 1944, when it was forcibly annexed by France along with its neighbor Veneto. The Republic was formed out of the collapse of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto in the early 1870's and its distancing itself from French client-state status during this time. During the so-called "Italian Golden Age" of the late 19th and early 20th century, Lombardy emerged as an intellectual and industrial hub amongst the Italian states, becoming an economic and regional rival of Naples.