Italy 1896 - 1914

Economic
1. italy was poor and economically underdeveloped
  1. agricultural labourers earned under 50p a week
  2. income per head was under £8 a year
    1. Compared with £31 in Britain
2. Industrial Developement
  1. limited due to lack of raw resources
    1. iron
    2. coal
Political
1. The Catholic Church
  1. after unification the church had significantly less political influence
    1. The Pope locked himself away in the Vatican City in prtest
      1. The next pope (Benedict) allowed Catholics to participate in national elections in 1919
        No pope acknowledged the kingdom of Italy until 1929
  2. liberal governments were constantly locked in conflict with the powerful church over political disagreements
    1. source of instability until the fascists came to power
  3. Pope HAD BEEN the ruler of the Papal states (covered much of central Italy)
    1. most of this land was taken from him (left with Vatican City)
  4. Liberalism was a sin
    1. allowed religious freedom
  5. Catholics could not vote in national elections
  6. didn't like the socialists
    1. disregarded religion
    2. pope allowed Catholics to vote AGAINST socialism to prevent an uprising
2. The Monarchy
  1. NOT CONSTITUTIONAL - King could rule by decree
    1. Head of the army
    2. played a role in foreign policy
    3. selected the PM
    4. approved appointments of government ministers
    5. BUT
      1. parliament had to approve the taxes for the army and government
      2. Kings character limited his power
        (1896) King Umberto
        not intelligent, strong, or popular
        rarely in government
3. The King in power following unification was from Piedmont
4. The Army
  1. during peacetime compromised of 215,00 soldiers
    1. just a third of all available men
    2. trained for three years following 18th birthday
      1. taught a sense of national identity
        most of the 15,000 officers were from Piedmont to keep the army loyal to the monarchy
5. Transformismo
  1. 1896, no strong political parties
    1. groups of politicians would do deals amongst themselves
      1. they tried to win enough support from deputies to form a government
        this might mean winning over former opponents
        they would offer certain jobs, favours, or other services to win over constituencies
  2. "corrupt and ineffective"
    1. politics was all about deals
  3. Crispi (politician, 1890's) - "utter pandemonium"
  4. increased the sense of alienation from the South
  5. corruption
    1. governments appointed "prefects" would ensure that government-supported candidates won elections
      1. bribery was widespread
  6. discredited the Liberal system
  7. gulf between "legal Italy" and "real Italy"
6. copied the British parliamentary system after seeing how well it worked for them
  1. BUT
    1. the vote was only given to the wealthy + educated elites
      1. did not represent the masses
      2. the initial plan was to spread the wealth and education across Italy
        BUT
        the government had to focus on balancing the budget + building up Italy's military
7. many knew little of what went on outside their villages
Social
1. agriculture was the biggest employer
  1. 60% of the population worked in agriculture
    1. compared with 10% in Britain
2. unification challenged the old class structure
  1. aristocracy had to share power with the new middle class elites
  2. intention to build new networks of independant and wealthy peasant farmers never realised
    1. feudal laws were abolished
      1. lawyers and local governments benefited
The North/South Divide
1. industrially developed+ wealthy north
  1. the north held the political power and wealth
  2. nobles
    1. 7387 noble families
      1. considerably more than Britain
      2. Sicily alone had 208 princes
    2. nobility did not = wealth
      1. some relied on income from jobs such as army officers
        (not very well paid)
      2. some owned large estates
  3. after unification there were over 200,000 landowners and businessmen
    1. nobility had to share power with them
    2. doctors and lawyers were landowners
      1. dominated local government
2. poor and agricultural south
  1. didn't feel connected to the new italy
  2. disease
    1. malaria killed 15,000 anually
    2. water was often infected
      1. cholera
  3. poor diet
    1. mostly polenta
    2. couldn't afford luxury foods - tomatoes and cheese
  4. living conditions
    1. large families = 1 - 2 bedroom house
      1. shared with animals
    2. "primitive"

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Italy 1896 - 1914

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	Created by vedabradley almost 10 years ago