Changes in Italy 1896 - 1914

Nota:

• period of rapid economic development in Italy

1. monetary development
   1. 1893-4: old banking system crashes
      1. 1893: Giolitti founds Bank of Italy
         1. manages currency
         2. better banking system
         3. acts as a lender of last resort
            1. lends to private banks in crisis to prevent them from collapsing

               Nota:

               • Most National Banks do this if they feel it is in national interest to do so. 
            2. prevents further financial crises
      2. new banking system develops
         1. better access to long-term credit
            1. Banca Commerciale Italiana receives investment from Germany and Austria
               1. used for industrial + technological development
   2. new attitude to government expenditure
      1. Sonnino balances state budgets
      2. public spending cut
         1. government deficit disappears
            1. annual surplus 1899 - 1910
      3. raw materials taxed
      4. stabilises currency
         1. foreign investors have more trust in Italy
            1. access to further foreign credit
         2. also due to remittance from emigrants to USA + Argentina
         3. 1914: 5 lire to 1$; 25 lire to £1 despite a trade deficit
2. power and production
   1. result of monetary development
   2. HEP develops in Alpine valleys

      Nota:

      • Hydroelectric power
      1. alternate source of energy
      2. 1898: 50kW energy; 1914: 1 million kW
      3. steel production grows as a result
         1. 1900: 140,000 tons; 1913: 930,000
         2. Terni plant becomes leading steel producer

            Nota:

            • Becomes biggest steel plant dependent on HEP in the world
   3. coal still imported
      1. imports grow: 4 million tons per year ---> 11 million tons per year
   4. increased industrial activity made possible by domestic financial stability and foreign investment
   5. encouraged by government
      1. tariffs
         1. encouraged domestic production
            1. helped HEP reach its potential
      2. commissions ships and railways to be built
         1. encourages steel + iron production
   6. textile industries become mechanised
   7. agricultural industry develops
      1. more wheat production
      2. sugar beet industry
      3. new land made available
         1. land reclamation
         2. drainage schemes
3. widens N/S divide
   1. most industrialisation happens in the north
      1. north united economically
      2. resentment in south increases

1. more people move to cities/ work in factories
   1. emergence of a working class
      1. many unskilled workers rather than few skilled workers
      2. many adopt socialist ideas
         1. spread through trade unions
         2. birth of mass politics
            1. common people participate in politics instead of it being dominated by elites
         3. first time people are introduced to new political ideas
            1. instead of following government
         4. poor living conditions + bad wages prompt workers to campaign for change
   2. 1914: 13,000 people working in sugar refineries
   3. 1914: 6,000 people working in the car industry in Turin

1. 1900: PSI gains 216,000 votes and 32 deputies in the Chamber
2. 1913: gains 25% of votes
3. not very big or influential
   1. never had more than 500,000 members
   2. often argued + split up
      1. 1913: moderate reformist party emerges
         1. kicked out of PSI for showing support for the king
      2. 1908: Syndicalist party emerges

         Nota:

         • Wanted to push for change through strike action
      3. reduced their effectiveness
         1. never a real threat to the government
   3. too small for revolution
4. has little support from working classes
   1. their circumstances would have to worsen significantly for them to turn to socialism