Liberal State History of Italy 1914-1918






Italy 1860-1914

The new Kingdom of Italy in fact was an expanded Savoy-Piemont. The capital was (until 1870) at TORINO, Piemont's capital. The Savoyan-Piemontese constitution of 1848 was extended over Italy, policy in Savoyan-Piemontese style continued.
Northern Italy - Lombardy, the Emilia-Romagna, Venetia - were urbanized regions long integrated into central Europe's economy; they adapted well to the new political and economic conditions, the FREE TRADE policy now pursued. The south, the former Kingdom of both Sicilies, suffered as many of it's businesses relied on protection from imports and, once this had been taken away, had to shut down. Another problem in the south were the LATIFUNDIA - land was owned by a few magnates, while the masses were landless and depended on employment (which was scarce). Hence what in the official terminology was "a bandit problem". For many southerners, EMIGRATION was the only way out of poverty.
Late in the 19th century, the INDUSTRIALIZATION reached Italy. As a country almost devoid of coal and iron ores, Italy hardly had seen the first industrial revolution; the second industrial revolution, which was based on hydroelectric rather than on combined coal amnd steam power, mountainous Italy could make use of it's abundant resources. It was mainly the northern region where industrialization took place.

Italy did not introduce universal adulthood male suffrage until after World War I; Italian democracy was restricted to propertied and educated classes. In the 1860es and 1870es, noblemen and ennobled persons figured prominently in Italian politics; political parties played a dominant role from the 1880es onward; two politicians, FRANCESCO CRISPI and GIOVANNI GIOLITTI stood out.
Italian prime ministers usually sought the support of the southern landowners; thus a land reform never materialized. In the 1880es, Italy sought colonial acquisitions; France's declaration of a protectorate over Tunisia (1881) enraged Italian patriots. Italy gained BENADIR (It. Somalia) in 1889, ERITREA in 1890; an Italian army invading Ethiopia was defeated in the BATTLE OF ADUA (1896). In 1911 the Italians conquered TRIPOLITANIA and CYRENAICA in a brief war from the Ottoman Empire; in 1912, during the FIRST BALKAN WAR, they occupied the DODEKANESE.
In 1906, Italian Giosue Carducci was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1906, Italian Camillo Golgi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiognomy. In 1907, Italian Ernesto Teodoro Moneta was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. In 1909, Italian Guglieilmo Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.


EXTERNAL
FILES
Il Regno d'Italia, 1860-1913, in Italian, rich source of information
Unification, from Windows on Italy
Notes on the Unification of Italy, from York Univ., from Killeenroos.com
Biography of Count Camillo Cavour, from Encyclopedia of the 1848 Revolutions
Charles A. Venturi, History of Europe 1856-1865, chronological list of events in intenational affairs, detailed, from Societe d'Europe, Sardinia, Italy
DOCUMENTS Sources on Italy's Unification, from Modern History Sourcebook
Futurist Manifesto, by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, 1909, from History 202 : Modern Italy, from Dickinson College
Etsi Multa, Encyclical of Pope Pius IX, Nov. 21 1873, on the Church in Italy, Switzerland and Germany, posted by EWTN
Il Fermo Proposito, Encyclical of Pope Pius X, June 11th 1905, on Catholic Action in Italy, posted by EWTN
Etsi Nos, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, February 15th 1882, on conditions in Italy, posted by EWTN
Pieni L'Animo, Encyclical by Pope Pius X, July 28th 1906, on the Clergy in Italy, posted by EWTN
Nullus Certe Verbis, Encyclical of Pope Paul IX, Jan. 19th 1860, regarding unrest in the Papal States, posted by EWTN
Ubi Nos, Encyclical by Pope Pius IX, May 15th 1871, on the Papal States, posted by EWTN
Spesse Volte, Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, August 5th 1898, on the suppression of Catholic institutions in Italy, posted by EWTN
Respicientes, Encyclical by Pope Pius IX., Nov. 1st 1870, protest against the taking of the Papal State, posted by EWTN
Convention between Italy and Ethiopia for the Settlement of the Frontier between the Italian Colony of Eritrea and the Provinces of the Ethiopian Empire, Signed at Addis Ababa, 16th May, 1908, from the Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage
Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage, posts 1 map and 9 documents 1891-1908
Treaty between Hawaii and Italy, 1863, from Hawaiian Independence Home Page
REFERENCE Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, Cambridge Concise Histories, 1994, pp.133-188
VIDEOS



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 10th 2004

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