1896-1914 History of Italy 1914-1918






Italy, 1896-1914

Administration . Foreign Policy . Domestic Policy . The Economy . Demography . Cultural History

Administration . King Umberto I. 1878-1900, succeeded by Vittorio Emanuele III 1900-1946. The office of PM was held by Antonio Starabba 1896-1898, Luigi Pelloux 1898-1900, Giuseppe Saracco 1900-1901, Giuseppe Zanardelli 1901-1903, Giovanni Giolitti 1903-1905, Tommaso Tittoni 1905, Alessandro Fortis 1905-1906, Sidney Sonnino 1906, Giovanno Giolitti 1906-1909, Sidney Sonnino 1909-1910, Luigi Luzatti 1910-1911, Giovanni Giolitti 1911-1914. General elections were held in 1897, 1900, 1904, 1909 and 1913. Capital Rome.

Foreign Policy . In 1905 the Benadir Co. went out of business; the Italian government took over her possessions, proclaiming the Colony of Somalia. Following the signature of an agreement with France, in which the latter conceded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania with the Fezzan and Cyrenaica as Italian sphere of interest, in a brief war in 1911-1912 (Italo-Ottoman War) the Italians dislodged the Ottoman forces from North Africa and occupied the Dodecanese, initially to be treated as a pawn. To effectively occupy the newly conquered colonies would take longer and meet determined resistance.

Domestic Policy . The franchise discriminated against the poor and uneducated (literacy clause); because of the hostility of the Catholic church toward the liberal state, practising Catholics did not participate in elections, did not accept office; parliament thus was dominated by various factions of liberals.
Italy experienced political unrest (Sicily, Lunigiana in the late 1890es) and numerous labour conflicts; the government (Zanardelli) temporarily pursued a policy of non-interference, resulting in the escalation of strikes, which caused the administration to fall and the next administration (Giolitti) to take measures to restore order.

The Economy . Italian politicians long advocated free trade, a policy which benefitted the insdustries of the north, but harmed those of the center and south.
In 1896, Italy had 16,053 km of railroads, in 1914 19,125 km [IHS p.658]. In 1896 Italy produced 7,000 metric tons of pig iron, in 1913 427,000 metric tons [IHS p.449]. In 1896, wheat production was 3.99 million metric tons, in 1913 5.69 million; rice production in 1896 207,000, in 1913 609,000 metric tons [IHS p.283].

Demography . In 1896 Italy's population was estimated at 31.1 million, the figure for 1913 was 35.2 million. In 1880 Milan had a population of 322,000, in 1910 of 579,000; Turin 1880 254,000, 1910 427,000, Rome 1880 300,000, 1910 542,000, Naples 1880 494,000, 1910 723,000 [IHS pp.72-74]; Italy experienced urbanization. Emigration reached a climax in the years between 1901 and 1910, on average 600,000 Italians left their home country every year for permanent.

Cultural History . Composer Giuseppe Verdi died in 1901. Opera singer Enrico Caruso gained worldwide fame; in 1903 he moved to New York. The first national football championship was held in 1896, the Italian Football Federation established in 1898.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Cronologia, Italian language site on Italian and World History
History of Italy : Monarchy, from Wikipedia
Il Regno d'Italia, 1860-1913, in Italian, rich source of information
Articles : Umberto I. of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. of Italy, List of Prime Ministers of Italy, Antonio Starabba, Luigi Pelloux, Giuseppe Saracco, Giuseppe Zanardelli, Giovanni Giolitti, Tommaso Tittoni, Alessandro Fortis, Sidney Sonnino, Luigi Luzzatti, Elections in Italy, Giuseppe Verdi, Enrico Caruso, Football in Italy, from Wikipedia
Article Victor Emmanuel III. Italy, Giovanni Giolitti, Tommaso Tittoni, Luigi Pelloux, Rudini, Antonio Starabba, Giuseppe Zanardelli, Sidney Sonnino, Luigi Luzzatti, Giuseppe Verdi, Milan, Turin, Bologna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Palermo, from EB 1911
History of Italian Anarchism, from Anarchist Archives
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Italy
Historical Population Statistics : Italy, from Population Statistics, Univ. Utrecht
Il Fermo Proposito, Encyclical of Pope Pius X, June 11th 1905, on conditions in Italy, posted by EWTN
Graves de Communi Re, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, January 18th 1901, on Christian Democracy, posted by EWTN
Pieni L'Animo, Encyclical of Pope Pius X., July 28th 1906, on the Clergy in Italy, posted by EWTN
Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage, posts 1 map and 9 documents 1891-1908
REFERENCE History Book Reviews : Italy : Liberal State, 1860-1922

Article Italy, in : Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol.22 pp.165-247, KMLA Lib.Sign. R 032 B862n v.22
Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, Cambridge Concise Histories, 1994, pp.133-188
Luciano Cafagna, The Industrial Revolution in Italy 1830-1914, in : Carlo M. Cipolla (ed.), The Fontana Economic History of Europe, Vol.4 : The Emergence of Industrial Societies [G]
IHS : B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics, Europe 1750-1988, NY : Stockton Press 1992 [G]
Entry : Italy, in : Statesman's Year Book 1898 pp.670-716, 1901 pp.758-806, 1902 pp.778-824, 1905 pp.827-869, 1907 pp.1121-1164, 1910 pp.942-974 [G]
Entry : Italy, in : Britannica Year Book 1913 pp.1042-1054 [G]
Entry : Italy, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.441-446, 1899 pp.454-457, 1900 pp.494-499 [G]
Entry : Italy, in : New International Year Book 1907 pp.411-416, 1908 pp.373-377, 1909 pp.381-387, 1910 pp.386-389, 1913 pp.370-374, 1914 pp.381-386 [G]
VIDEOS Bernardo Bertolucci, 1900 (1976) [G]