Background Flashcards

1
Q

How powerful was the King and PM during this period?

A
  • Head of state w/ executive power
  • Appoint + dismiss ministers and controlled foreign policy
  • PM was head of gov and ran everyday affairs
  • Needed support of parliament to make decisions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What two things did the Italian political system consist of and what were they?

A
  • Senate (appointed by King)
  • Chamber of Deputies (elected every 5 yrs, more political power than Senate, ministers selected from this)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What was the limitation of the Chamber of Deputies and how did this change from 1860 to 1882?

A
  • Very limited franchise( based upon age, education, property ownership)
  • 1860s –> Less than 2% of country had a say on who was elected
  • 1882 –> Extension of franchise to 25% of adult males (from 3 mil to 8 mil men)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is Risorgimento?

A

‘Rebirth’/Unification of Italy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is meridionale?

A

A term used to reference the Italian south eg. Sicily

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did Italians feel that they were defined by?

A
  • Campanalismo –> feeling of pride towards place of birth
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

When was Italy partly unified and then fully unified?

A
  • Partly unified in 1861
  • Fully unified in 1870 w/ Rome
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How did the Catholic Church and socialist politicians react to the 50th anniversary of Italian unification (in what year)?

A

In 1911 the 50th anniversary of Italian unification was celebrated. In retaliation:
- Catholic Church boycotted events and refused to celebrate
- Socialist politicians asserted the idea that an united Italian nation was meaningless

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How divided were the languages of Italy?

A
  • 99% spoke a regional dialect that other areas could not understand
  • Official Italian is dialect from Florence
  • Even the King mostly spoke in Piedmont dialect
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Give two examples of political + economic turmoil in the late 1800s

A
  • 100 protestors killed in Milan due to gov crackdown protesting against growing economic problems + political system
  • King Umberto I assassinated by an Italian anarchist who wanted to avenge protestors’ deaths
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Who made up the Chamber of Deputies?

A
  • Northern professional middle class, who only represented their own interests
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Explain the ‘Roman Question’

A

The question of who the Papal States were given to, as Pope Pius IX was angered in 1870 when it had been taken from them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What was the constitution after unification based upon and what did it guarantee?

A
  • The constitution of Piedmont of 1848
  • Guaranteed equality, rights of free assembly + free press
  • Constitutional monarchy (like UK)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Give features of governments in Italy

A
  • Operated on trasformismo, which was forming political alliances by offering key positions to other deputies (corruption)
  • Governments were short-lived (29 changes of PM between 1870 and 1922) as politicians could change sides whenever they were offered a good deal
  • Inability to pass legislation that could improve Italians’ lives
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What decision in 1886 crucially affected the political system and how?

A
  • Pope Leo XIII forbade Catholics from running for office/voting in elections
  • Prevented the creation of a national Conservative Party based on Catholic values
  • No challenge to liberal middle classes in power due to lack of political opposition ( <25% of men had the vote)
  • Italian politicians feared challenging the Church would alienate the pop
  • Very few formal political parties
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How much did the people have to do with the changes in gov?

A
  • It had very little to do with them
  • Majority of pop was disenfranchised
  • Any protests against the gov were violently repressed by military
  • Divide between Italian people and ruling classes reinforced fuelling more protests and extreme ideologies
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What had happened to the north-south divide by 1911?

A
  • It had worsened due to a focus on the economic expansion of large northern cities like the industrial triangle: Milan, Turin + Genoa
  • Half of 2.2 mil industrial workers were employed in the northern provinces –> what about the south?
  • Rural poverty increase in south
  • Suffered from malnutrition, high rates of infant mortality (40% under 5 yrs) , lack of clean drinking water + malaria (between 1910 and 1911, 25000 people died in Naples due to cholera)
  • More than half of southern pop were illiterate, which is 5x the rate in Piedmont
  • By 1911, income per head was double in the north compared to the south
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How did hospitals change between 1885 and 1902?

A
  • Number of people cured there increased by 50%
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How did life expectancy change between 1861 and 1914?

A
  • 30 yrs to 47 yrs (same as other European countries)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What impact did compulsory schooling have?

A
  • Number of schools increased
  • Illiteracy rates decreased from more than 69% to 37.6%
  • Poor families were still less likely to enrol their children as labour was more important for their survival
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

How many years after unification did an Italian prime minister visit the south?

A

32 years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What were the successes of industrialisation between 1899 and 1914?

A
  • Iron, steel, chemical, mechanical, electrical + car industries grew significantly
  • Production doubled between 1899 and 1910
  • Exports increased at a rate of 4.5% per year
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What were the reasons for the successes in industrialisation?

A
  • Technological advancements
  • Greater financial investment by state eg. subsidies
  • Increase in agricultural productivity
  • Negotiations w/ workers to improve working conditions
24
Q

What were the failures of industrialisation?

A
  • Protests against unemployment, food shortages + high taxation common (between 1901 and 1911, 1500 strikes w/ 350,000 workers)
  • Living standards of both industrial + rural workers remained low
  • Accentuated divide between north and south
25
Q

Why was industrialisation so limited and localised?

A
  • Lack of key resources like iron + industrial machinery resulted in lots of imports
  • Large but unskilled labour force
  • Communications, transport, energy sources were mostly underdeveloped
26
Q

What did southern intellectuals call for to close the divide between the south and north and how was this actually alleviated?

A
  • They called for new fiscal policies and greater economic investment
  • The gov actually depended on emigration to lessen economic strains in south
  • Between 1901 and 1913, 200,000 southern Italians left Italy in search for a better life
  • By 1910, there were 60,000 Italians in New York, which as large as any city in Italy
27
Q

Who was Francesco Nitti and what did he do?

A
  • Minister of agriculture, industry + commerce between 1911- 1914
  • Introduced industrial policies
28
Q

How did the gov attempt to unite Italy economically and how did this end?

A
  • Ended internal tariffs
  • Replaced w/ single economic market that supported free trade
  • Damaged industry in south
  • 1910 –> 48% of Italy’s wealth by North
    27% of Italy’s wealth by South
29
Q

How reliant was the Italian economy was agrarian and how self-sufficient was it?

A
  • 1870 –> 68% of pop depended on land to support themselves financially
  • Not self-sufficient w/ food so had to turn to imports
30
Q

What did Northern farms have that Southern farms did not?

A
  • Irrigation and drainage systems, which meant less land was wasted/ liable to flooding
  • As a result, subsistence farming disappeared
31
Q

Why were the issues w/ Southern farming?

A
  • Goods produced were low value
  • Operated in a less commercial way
  • More open to natural disasters eg. series of disasters in early 1900s like Calabria 1905, Vesuvius 1906
  • Vulnerable to erosion + poor soil quality due to deforestation
  • Disease blighted the pop
32
Q

What impact did the increase in landless labourers have on poverty and why?

A
  • People were more vulnerable to extreme poverty, as w/out enough work, he could not afford to live
33
Q

What did Italian foreign policy focus on?

A
  • Irredentism, which is the belief that Italy should reclaim South Tyrol and Austria
  • These areas fell within the Austro- Hungarian empire but are believed to be Italian as many were ethnically Italian and spoke the language
34
Q

Why was Italy disadvantaged geographically?

A

The French and British navies dominated the Mediterranean

35
Q

Explain Italy’s initial attempts for colonisation and what this resulted in

A
  • It had first focused on Tunisia but in 1881, the French had claimed it
  • The anger within the gov resulted in the formation of the Triple Alliance w/ Germany and Austria aimed at France in 1882
  • Italians were angered as the country had sided with Austria- Hungary who were their original enemies (irredentism in Balkans)
36
Q

Why did Italy’s presence in the Triple Alliance appear pointless?

A
  • They promised to remain neutral in any future war involving France and Britain
  • Austria generals questioned Italy’s reliability in the alliance
37
Q

Explain the attempts to gain Abyssinia in 1884:

A
  • The British gov informed Italy it would agree to Italian expansion in Abyssinia
  • Attempts failed at Battle of Dogali where Italian forces were defeated and 500 Italian soldiers died
38
Q

When was the Battle of Adwa and what happened?

A
  • 1 Mar 1896
  • Italy yet again tried to claim Abyssinia
  • King Menelik of Abyssinia’s army was powerful w/ 5000 Italian troops killed
39
Q

What was the point of the policy introduced in 1906?

A

Arbitration courts would reduce the need for strike action as pay disputes could be settled between the employee and the employer

40
Q

Who are the PSI and what is their significance?

A
  • Formed in 1892
  • Owned Avanti!
  • In general election of 1900, 216,000 votes + 32/508 parliamentary seats
  • By 1913, 1/4 of all votes cast + 79/508 seats
  • Led by Filipino Turati
  • Supported by large number of educated intellectuals who wanted to achieve Risorgimento
  • Held public meetings where working class + rural poor gathered
41
Q

What is one of the reasons for growth in socialism?

A

It mirrored Italy’s industrialisation due to mass internal migration eg. Milan increased from 322,000 to 579,000 between 1880 and 1910

42
Q

Give numbers to show the growth in socialism:

A
  • By 1902, 250,000 industrial workers had joined socialist National federations
  • By 1910, 218,000 Italians had joined thousands of socialist agriculture cooperatives
43
Q

How had the Catholic Church’s influence grown between 1904 and 1911?

A
  • They had grown considerably in the north through youth movements and sports clubs
44
Q

What were the aims of the nationalists and who were the members?

A
  • Aggressive foreign policy that expands Italy’s power in Africa and claims irredente lands
  • Unite Italy w/ patriotic love
  • Wanted war to connect Italian people
  • Members were generally urban middle-class men
45
Q

What happened in 1910 that increased the threat of nationalism?

A
  • Associazione Nazionalista Italiana (ANI) formed
  • Leader is Enrico Corradini
46
Q

How did liberalism change between 1861 and 1912?

A
  • 1861 –> Kingdom of Italy founded on liberalism, including parliamentary + constitutional democracy
  • 1870 –> more right-wing, imposing uniformity and ignoring the opinions of different regions
  • Before WW1 –> liberalism dominated political scene
  • 1912 –> After extension of franchise, growing political competition
47
Q

What did Radicals call for and when was this decided?

A

May 1890 –> Felice Cavallotti agreed their priorities
- Parliament must meet when at least 50 deputies call for it
- Guarantee of right to free speech, assembly, press
- Compulsory + free primary education
- Rid King’s power to declare war + make treaties
- Social legislations eg. child labour
- Avoid state intervention in economy

48
Q

Who were the PRI, what were their aims and when were they founded?

A
  • Italian Republican Party
  • Founded in 1895
  • Similar policies
  • Less prepared to work with liberal gov
  • More focus on reducing powers of crown
49
Q

How large were the Radicals and the Republicans (election figs) and why were they viewed as a threat by the political elite?

A
  • Minority groups
  • 1900 election –> radicals: 34 seats, republicans: 28 seats
  • Threat because of credible programme + base in northern Italy
50
Q

What were the PSI’s key policies?

A
  • 8 hr working day
  • Women’s rights
  • Votes for all men
51
Q

Reasons for the war with Libya in 1911:

A
  • Assert its claims in region –> Deal w/ France signed in 1902 for backing of FRA’s invasion of Morocco for Italy’s of Libya In 1911, FRA consolidated control of Morocco so Italy was worried they would expand further out to Libya
  • Powerful business interest –> Banco di Roma (bank w/ powerful connections to Pope + politicians) had established a branch in capital of Libya in 1907. Had significant investments in banking, agriculture etc.
  • Popular enthusiasm –> Outpouring of national enthusiasm that could not be ignored
  • Weaken nationalist support –> Draw them into his influence if victory in war
52
Q

When did Italy declare war on Ottoman Empire?

A

29 Sep 1911

53
Q

Describe the events of the war against Libya:

A
  • Within 3 weeks, 70,000 troops secured Libya’s ports
  • Libyans unexpectedly did not consider the Italians as their liberators, making it harder to gain control
  • May 1912 –> Italian forces had to occupy 13 Turkish-held islands in the Aegean to put pressure on Ottomans elsewhere
  • Ottomans could not continue the war because of this and the pressure of Balkan Wars
  • 8 Oct 1912 –> Surrendered control in Treaty of Lausanne
  • 50,000 troops had to be kept due to guerrilla tactics by the Arabs + cost 3500 Italian deaths
54
Q

How was the war against Libya successful?

A
  • Could take credit for first colony
  • Outpouring of National enthusiasm, even from the socialists
  • Encouraged support of PSI deputies in gov
  • Catholic Church had become less antagonistic towards state
55
Q

What were the failures of the Libyan War?

A
  • Nationalists took credit for war claiming Giolitti had only taken action because of the pressure they put and blamed the liberals for the loss of so many Italian soldiers
  • Cooperation w/ PSI destroyed as they opposed the war as imperialist militarism
  • Revolutionary socialists took over socialist movement eg. expulsion of members who supported war eg. Bissolatti + Mussolini now editor of Avanti! focusing its campaign on corrupt liberal order
  • Franchise also had to be extended including the illiterate
56
Q

What were the negative economic consequences of the Libyan War?

A
  • Drop in domestic crop prices, as Libya produced same crops as ITA
  • Emigrants refused to move to Libya and rather went to USA, as it is familiar
  • Loss of trade links due to expulsion of 50,000 Italians from Libya in retaliation for war