Italy Notes

Social Issues

Political Issues

Economic Issues

Key People:

    Giovanni Giolitti - most influential Italian Politician from 1900 to war. considered                                 to epitomise trasformismo politics.

Legacy of Trasformismo C- trasformismo, the movement of political support based on leader, instead of on party or policy. fluid groups of supporters. this could lead to political instability, as governments changed often, however it was commonly the same leaders in power, who held the same group of supporters.

Industrial Growth - as italy was a new state, low share of europe’s economy, in relation to share of manufacturing, however can be seen as stable (remains at 2.5% share of manufacturing output between 1860 and 1913). italy had a large amount of wealth inequality (north-south), however this decreased as immigration increased [i.e. to usa and south america, 8 million migrants], as remittances sent back to the south assisted development.

    North-South divide - south was less developed, due to weak agricultural     potential,     high levels of disease such as malaria decreased life expectancy. 70%     of calabria     (in south) illiterate compared to 11% in piedmont and 30% nationally.

    Giolitti’s reforms to assist in South - spending on public service increased by 50%     between 1900 and 1907, large amounts which assisted in south. large amounts of     quinine distributed [treats malaria]. sicily primary school attendance increased from     55% to 73% between 1900 and 1905.

Colonial Conflicts - Abyssinia, Ethiopia. nationalist tendencies due to growth of france (by colonising tunisia). francesco crispi launched invasion into abyssinia hoping to unify italy with national pride. however, locals united and italy lost, at the battle of Adowa (1896), 5000 died. military and political disaster, exposing weaknesses and showing national humiliation. Libya. France took control of Tunisia (1881) Italy invade libya in order to prevent french occupation (1911). support from nationalists. italy met little resistance to begin, sciara scat - 500 italians killed by 10,000 turks and arabs. italy responded with brutal response, killing thousands of libyans. war boosted national pride however mixed opinions.

Challenges caused by:

    Socialism - threatened stability, due to altering political beliefs. growth in trade     unions (reached 250,000 by 1902), conflicted with government. led to giolitti’s     reforms, expansion of electorate (all men over 30 by 1912), higher workers rights     (workers had to have one day of rest by 1907), protection of women and children     (working day for women limited to 11 hours, children under 12 illegal to work). red     week (7-14 july 1914) highlights political unrest, government had to deploy 100,000     soldiers in order to deal with rioting. 17 deaths. suggests giolitti’s reforms were not     working

    Catholicism - threatened stability, as led to divide, conflict and tensions between     state and church, due to state wanting rome, and rome not accepting the liberal     state. non expedit (1874) prevented “good” catholics from voting, forcing citizens to     choose the church or the state. opera dei congressi (1891) highlights social     reforms, suggests that italians can live without the state, as the church can provide     support. HOWEVER, threat decreases over time, as gentiloni pact (1913) suggests     collaboration with the state against socialism [suggests that catholics should vote for     more liberal politicians in order to decrease likelihood of socialists gaining power],     suggesting that socialism is a larger threat to the stability of the state.

    Nationalism -