History - Italy 1

What was Italy like from 1870? Key facts

• Economically backwards - little inferstructure

• (Attempted) Resorgimento

• Only 2% had the vote - dominated by liberals

• No national identity - only 2% spoke Italian!

• ‘Brain Drain’ as people migrated to US

Italian political system 1870

• Noble families in decline, middle class on the rise

• New state was liberal

• Constitutional monarch

• Italy divided into 69 areas and these were controlled by ‘prefects’

What is trasformismo?

Where politicians would bribe ‘factions’ to ensure their vote to power

What are the challenges to the political system?

Socialism - better conditions for working class

Pope did NOT support the liberal state due to the removing of the Papal States so he encourages Catholics to not support

Nationalists - demanded an empire, an aggressive foreign policy and entry into WW1

What was the north and south divide?

North = more prosperous, mainly liberal - more people voted as 80% of south were illiterate!

South = poor, felt ruled by the north