4: Italy 1861–1896

when was the Kingdom of Italy officially proclaimed?

March 1861

in March 1861, which two Italian states were not included in the Kingdom of Italy and were still in the hands of foreigners?

Venetia (in the hands of Austria)

Rome (effectively in the hands of France)

when did Italy sign an agreement with Prussia in 1866 and why?

in April 1866 Italy signed an alliance with Prussia, whose PM Otto von Bismark, was engaged in a struggle with Austria for control of Germany. Italy agreed that if Prussia went to war with Austria, Italy would follow suit and declare war on Austria too

what agreement did Napoleon III make in 1866 with Prussia and when?

in June he signed a treaty with Bismark which involved France staying neutral in the conflict, on the condition that they would receive Venetia if Prussia won, which would then be given by Napoleon to Italy as a reward for providing a second front in the Austro-Prussian war

what agreement did Napoleon III make with Austria in 1866?

he signed a secret treaty with Austria in which it was agreed that if Austria defeated Prussia, Venetia would be ceded to France and passed on by Napoleon to Italy, and in return France would remain neutral during the conflict

what was the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 known as?

-the 7 weeks war

-the third italian war of Italian independence

when did the Austro-Prussian war begin?

24 June 1866

how did Italy perform in the Austro-Prussian War?

ten days after the war began, Italy's army was defeated by a smaller Austrian force at the (second) battle of Custoza

what was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian war and when was it fought?

the battle of Ko:niggra:tz, aka Sadowa

how many men did the Austrians and Prussians lose respectively in the battle of Ko:niggra:tz?

Prussians - 2000

Austrians - 6000

what was the treaty which ended the Austro-Prussian war and when was it signed?

the Peace of Prague was signed in August 1866

when and why did the Franco-Prussian war break out?

1870, because Otto von Bismark managed to manouevre Napoleon III into declaring war on Prussia, so that he could whip up nationalist feeling and unite Prussia

why did Napoleon withdraw his troops from Rome during the Franco-Prussian war?

he needed reinforcements so he brought them in from Rome

when was the battle of Sedan and what was the outcome of this battle?

1 September 1870, decisive Prussian Victory. the French were heavily defeated and Napoleon was taken prisoner

when did the Italian government decide that it was safe to take action to bring Rome into the Kingdom of Italy?

after the battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War which took place on 1 September 1870

what agreement did Victor Emmanuel propose in his letter to the Pope which he sent on 8 September 1870?

he suggested that the Pope would have to give up his temporal power and allow Rome to become the capital of a united Italy, and in return he would be allowed to keep his spiritual power as head of the Church which would be safeguarded by the Italian state

what was the Pope's response to Victor Emmanuel's letter which he sent him on 8 September 1870?

he rejected the agreement

how did the Italian government respond to the Pope's refusal of Victor Emmanuel's proposal that Rome should become the capital of a unified Italy?

the Italian government sent an army of 6000 troops to occupy Rome

when did Victor Emmanuel's army enter Rome after a brief conflict?

20 September 1870

when did the citizens of Rome vote on whether to join the rest of Italy?

October 1870

what was the outcome of the vote in October 1870 about whether Rome should become the capital of a unified Italy?

the citizens voted overwhelmingly for union with the rest of Italy

in the period 1861-70 what were the main problems Italy faced?

-bad politicians

-piedmontese dominance

-the papacy

-economic problems

-civil war

-the declining standard of living

give an example of two of Italy's prime ministers who had to leave office, explain why

Luigi Farini - had a mental breakdown, tried to stab the king, was removed from office in March 1863

Urbano Ratazzi - became involve in Garibaldi's failed attacks on rome in 1862 and 1867 and was forced to resign

give some examples of how piedmontese dominance was a problem for Italy from 1861-70

-the constitution was based on Piedmont's 1848 statuto

-the first King of Italy was Victor Emmanuel II (he retained his name), which symbolises a relcutance to let go of his Piedmontese heritage

-regional governments were forced to accept the piedmontese system of local administration

-the various legal codes of individual states were formed into a single criminal code based on that of Piedmont, with a single system of Civil Law being introduced in 1865 based on the code napoleon

-the majority of officers in Italy's army were from piedmont

-piedmont's debts, incurred during the Crimean War and the war of 1859, became Italy's debts

-the rules derived from Piedmont's constitution meant that the great majority of people who could vote were from the north

who could vote in the unified Italy?

only those who were literate, paid taxes and were over the age of 25 could vote

what was the size of Italy's electorate around 1870?

500,000, no more than 2% of the population, the great majority of whom lived in the north

why was the papacy a problem for Italy between 1861-1870?

-syllabus of errors

-Doctrine of Papal infallibility

what was the syllabus of errors? when was it published? ho by?

in 1864 Pope Pius IX published the Syllabus of Errors, which condemned, among other things, 'progress, liberalism and modern civilisation'. it also condemned freedom of religion

why was the syllabus of errors a problem for Italy?

many italians were devout catholics, so it made the opposed to the Italian government and its modern, liberal and progressive ideals

what was the Doctrine of Papal infallibility, when was it published and by whom?

in 1870 Pius IX published the Doctrine of Papal infallibility which decreed that the Pope's spiritual judgement on matters of faith and morals could not be challenged and he was the supreme judge of truth for the Church

why was the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility a problem for Italy?

three months after the Doctrine was published, the Pope excommunicated Victor Emmanuel and the entire Italian government. he also stated that any catholics who took part in Italian politics would be excommunicated. since the pope had told his followers that he could not be wrong, many Italians, who were devout Catholics, ceased to support their excommunicated leaders

why was life made hard for the peasants in the 1860s?

-the Italian government allowed the small number of landowners in the South to add land to their estates (Latifundia). When the old Common Land disappeared into the Latifundia, the already malnourished and starving peasantry could no longer feed themselves in the way they had before, since they no longer had land on which to graze cattle or grow crops

-government raised taxes, making life even harder for the peasants

-conscription took young men away from the farms where they were needed

how did peasants react to their deteriorating standard of living in the 1860s?

in 1861 25,000 men took to the hills to avoid conscription

what happened to the government's total expenditure copmared to its income when Venetia was added to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866?

the government's total expenditure exceeded its income by 60%

what did the Italian government do in order to overcome the economic problems it faced after Venetia was added to the Kingdom?

in 1868 the Grist tax was revived

when was the Brigands' war?

1861-65

what was the Brigands' war?

a civil war between the discontented peasantry in the South and the Italian government

what was the scale of death like in the Brigands' war?

more people died in the Brigands' war than in all the revolutions and the wars of the unification period put together

what did the Italian government do to suppress discontent in the South?

sent an army of 100,000 men

what did Luigi Farini write about Naples?

"What bararism! This is not Italy! This is Africa: copmared to these peasants the Bedouin are the very flower of civilization"

give an exmaple of an atrocity which occurred during the Brigands' war

the August 1861 Pontelandolfo massacre

what was the August 1861 Pontelandolfo massacre?

in August 1861 General Pier Elenoro Negri moved against the town of Pontelandolfo and, smarting from the loss of 41 comrades, ordered his men to shoot everyone in the village except women, children and the infirm. the violence lasted for several hours. Around 400 people died.

what actions were taken which stopped the status of women increasing in the Kingdom of Italy?

women were discouraged from joining the new mutual aid societies (which provided some financial benefits in times of hardship)

give an evidence to show how many women were discouraged from joining the mutual aid societies

in 1862 only about 10,000 women as opposed to about 100,000 men, were members of mutual aid societies

what were some pros and cons of the new work available to women in the Kingdom of Italy?

-their work was no longer restricted to outwork in the home or labouring in quarries, fields or on the roads

-most jobs that women turned their hands to brought them ilness and deformity, like factory work which due to poor ventiliation and a lack of medical treatment, caused large numbers of female workers to die

what issues did Italy deal with after 1870?

-political instability

-economic challenges

-foreign policy

give an example of Italy's political instability from 1870 onwards

there were 29 changes of prime minister in the 50 years following 1870

what was the name given to the corrupt system of Italian government from 1870 onwards?

transformism

what was transformism?

a parliamentary game, with critics being bribed into giving their support. it generally ignored the needs of the country

which two key figures in Italian politics from 1870 onwards achieved a great deal despite political instability?

-Agostino Depretis

-Francesco Crispi

what were some of Depretis' key achievements and reforms?

-introduced free and comulsory primary education

-ensured Victor Emmanuel's successor took the title of 'Umberto I' of Italy to ensure Italian unity

-widened the Franchise from 500,000 to 2,000,000

-abolished the Grist tax

what were some of Crispi's key achievements and reforms?

-abolished the death penalty

-revoked anti-strike legislation

-councils and mayors were to be elected

-public health reforms

What is an indication of the level of poverty that still plagued the south after 1870?

In 1894 crispy had to send 40,000 troops to Sicily to restore order following unrest

What four areas illustrate Italy's economic expansion after 1870?

-wheat production doubled

-steel production

-road expansion

-railway expansion

Give evidence to illustrate the increase in wheat production in Italy after 1870

Wheat production doubled from 1873-1913

Give evidence to illustrate the increase in steel production

steel production increased 3825% from 1880-1890, from 4000-157,000 tonnes

Give evidence to illustrate the expansion of Italy's roads from 1870 onwards

Between 1870-83 21,000 km of new roads were built

Give evidence to illustrate the expansion of Italy's railways from 1870 onwards

The amount of rail track expanded 655% from 1870-1900

By when had the deficit been overcome by the Italian government?

1876

When did the Italian banking system crash?

1893

When did Bismark for the Triple-Alliance and which countries were part of this alliance?

1882 - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

How significant was the Triple Alliance?

-on one hand Bismark joked that Italy had "a big appetite but little teeth"

-on the other hand it provided security for Italians against French aggression

What was the result of crispi's rivalry with France?

An unsuccessful trade war with France in the early 1880s

How successful was Italy's campaign in Africa?

-successful in 1880s, conquering Eritrea and Somaliland

-hugely unsuccessful in Ethiopia

Give evidence to illustrate the scale of defeat at Adowa

7000 Italians killed, 3000 taken prisoner by King Menelik

Colonial expansion in Africa

1885- the seizure of port Massawa and 1890 joined East African colonies to form Eritrea