I am Italian, I have strong ties with England and it's 2 years I live in France.
I could not agree more with the first post of this thread.
My general idea is that whatever the French revolution, and the "bla,bla,bla" ideas of the French revolution, the French remained basically subjects of the bureaucratic apparatus dominated by the elites.
Ironically, in UK, where there is in theory a kingdom, there is much more respect for the person's own individuality.
Italians then, first with Napoleone and then with the Savoia, borrowed the French model of the State.
So, like in France, we use to compose very long sentences - instead of straight ones, we use for everything the registered mail with return receipt, and the peace of paper you bring in a job "concorso" has more value than your skills and competences.
But for a bad it is Italy, we did not reach the level of our masters... seriously.
Then it came the difference, the big difference. You will never hear an Italian speak good of its own country. Gonna ask it to a French... From the very beginning of school years they are taught that "all the World envy our system", "our health system is the best of the World", "our language is the most beautiful of the World" and "our culture is the richest of the World".
Then, speaking about the world, go to see what happened to the past French colonies vs the British ones..