Liberal Italy

Question 1

What was the Risorgimento?

Answer 1

Italian unification

Question 2

Who were the key people in the Riorgimento?

Answer 2

Garibaldi - guerrilla leader - popular - First March on Rome 1870
Mazzini - critic of the ‘conservative revolution’

Question 3

What were the cultural divides in Italy?

Answer 3

North looked down on the south
South called Mezzogiorno
South - more agricultural, controlled by mafia, seen is illiterate (58% in Sicily) - Politican Nitti tried to develop the south but there was resistance from the local elites.
North - had most politicians, more economically important, more industrialised]
Industiral triangle (Genoa-Turin-Milan) provided 55% of production

Question 4

How was Italy economically backward?

Answer 4

Emigration in 1930 - 3.5 million
Social conditions 1860-96 - Italy increased 4% France, Germany Britain 40-50

Question 5

What domestic policies did Giolitti implement?

Answer 5

Prohibited of child labour - up to 12
Maternity fund
Pension schemes
illiteracy reduced to under 40% by WW1
Centralised primary education

Question 6

What developed economically in Liberal Italy?

Answer 6

Car companies (Fiat, Alfa Romeo) set up.
Hydroelectricity from Alps provided cheap renewable energy.

Question 7

How did health improve in Liberal Italy?

Answer 7

Malaria medicine
Pellagra (vitamin-deficiency) declined as diets improved

Question 8

What is trasformismo?

Answer 8

Idea that deals can be made between politicians to gain support

Question 9

Why were the socialists a problem for Giolitti?

Answer 9

They were gaining support in the industrial areas of Italy. 1913 had 35% of the vote
Minimalists wanted to work with him, maximalists didn’t

Question 10

How did GIolitti deal with the socialists?

Answer 10

Co-opted socialist ideas.
Offered Bisalati a seat on his cabinet, which was declined due to backlash from the maximalists.
Turati pleased with the moderate social reform
‘keeping Marx in the attic’ - introducing enough reforms people forget about the socialists.

Question 11

Why was the Catholic Church a problem for Giolitti?

Answer 11

They had extreme influence and Pope Leo XIII wanted stronger Papal States and disallowed Catholics from being involved in Italian politics
Lateran question

Question 12

How did Giolitti deal with the Catholic Church?

Answer 12

Allowed a divorce bill to disappear
Pius X more willing to work with Giolitti
Gentiloni Pact - Secret deal to keep PSI out & promote catholic interests in education
Not prepared to give any land so didn’t solve ‘Roman Question’

Question 13

Why were the nationalists a problem for Giolitti?

Answer 13

Humiliation of defeat to Ethiopia led to increased popularity
Didn’t like the social reforms
Didn’t want to work with Giolitti
ANI set up 1910 under Corradini

Question 14

How did Giolitti deal with the nationalsits?

Answer 14

Invasion of Libya to try and gain support through winning a battle
-Nationalists took credit saying they forced him to do it led to increased nationalist support
Trying to make himself more popular through stabilising his government.

Question 15

What happend in the invasion of Libya?

Answer 15

Quickly kicked out the Ottomans but got stuck in a guerrilla war with the natives.
Also got the Dodecanese from Turkey
ANI took credit, condemned by the PSI
Led to the extension of franchise, literate men over 21 and all men over 30 - Giolitti hoped it would increase his popularity but it didn’t as most of the new voters were left-wing (Giolitti went from 370 deputies to 318)

Question 16

Why was Italy neutral at the start of WW1?

Answer 16

Were technically in a defence alliance with Austria & Germany but since Austria was the aggressor they decided not to get involved.
Many people prefered pacifism (catholics and socialists)
Nationalists wanted to join the Entente to reclaim the Austrian owned irredente
Mussolini wanted to join the Entente - wanted to overthrow Austrian monarchy - probably payed by the British and French to promote the Entente - Led to his expulsion from the PSI
Not knowing who to join known as the intervention crisis

Question 17

Why did Italy join the Entente?

Answer 17

Treaty of London 1915 - signed by Salandra - they were promised the Irredente lands and Germany’s African colonies.
Britain had naval dominance in the Mediterranean
The British supplied essential goods to Italy (coal etc.)
Entente more likely to win

Question 18

What happened in the Battle of Caporetto?

Answer 18

Austrian army launched an offencethat allowed them to enter most of north-east Italy.
Blunders of General Luigi Cardonna - Ignored intel of where they would attack. - placed reserves too far back - Employed policy of decimation - killing every 10th soldier after they lost a battle (led to low morale)
Around the same time as Russian Revolution - led to increased communist support

Question 19

Why were most Italians unhappy with the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 19

Weren’t given all the irredente or Germany’s African colonies.
Most Italians saw this as a betrayal and the war as a waste of time

Question 20

Why is the idea of ‘mutilated victory’ not fact?

Answer 20

Italy got the most land out of all victorious powers (14.5 thousand square km)
Given a permanent seat on the League of Nations.

Question 21

What factors threatened Liberal Italy after WW1?

Answer 21

‘Mutilated victory
Occupation of Fiume
Post-war economic and political crisis
Growing socialist and Catholic parties
Impact of 1919 elections

Question 22

What was the occupation of Fiume?

Answer 22

Gabrielle D’Annunzio (Far-right leader) led invasion of Yugoslavia Fiume with 2,000 men, (ex-soldiers, nationalists). 12/09/1919
First signs of fascist imagery
Ended with Giolitti ordering a naval bombing of the city (Bloody Christmas)
Treaty of Rapallo 1920 set Fiume as a free city
Showed Mussolini that force works

Question 23

Who negotiated for Italy at the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 23

Vittorio Orlando

Question 24

What was the impact of the 1919 election?

Answer 24

PSI won with 156 seats
PPI (Catholics) 101 seats
Weren’t willing to work together so the PPI formed a coalition with the Liberals meaning that Giolitti became President again

Question 25

What was the bienno rosso?

Answer 25

Red years (1919-1920)
Revolution appeared imminent many went on strike.
1920 - 1,268,000 workers participated in industry strikes, 1,046,000 in agricultural strikes
Government brought in reforms in hopes to please them - minimum wage, 8 hour working day. Wages grew 115%
PSI voted not to take power in this time as the minimalists want to take power peacefully - led to the formation of the communist party (PCI)
Strikes ended as they realised no revolution was coming from the PSI

Question 26

What was the Bienno Nero?

Answer 26

Black years (1921-1922)
Fascists began being violent. Destroying unions and causing mayhem.

Question 27

How did the government combat the bienno rosso?

Answer 27

Brought in socialist reforms - minimum wage, 8-hour working day, wages increased 115%

Question 28

What was the fasci di combattimento?

Answer 28

Fascist milita group set up 23/03/1919. Only 118 present.
Failed in the 1919 election - less than 5000 votes in Milan

Question 29

What is the dual strategy?

Answer 29

Gaining power through politics and through violence (suits and boots)

Question 30

What were the differences between the 1919 and 1920 fascist programmes?

Answer 30

1919 - more socialist - anti-church, republican, minimum wage, female suffrage
1920 - more right-wing - imperialistic, no mention of church
Changed as the biennio rosso ended so they needed need to appeal to the left as much

Question 31

What was the pact of pacification?

Answer 31

Mussolini attempts to form a pact between socialists and fascists.
Fails and the fascists try to find a new leader but couldn’t so Mussolini remained leader.

Question 32

Where does the word fascist come from?

Answer 32

Roman symbol of sticks called fasces.

Question 33

What was happening in the countryside during the biennio rosso?

Answer 33

Farmers were promised land after WW1 and didn’t get it so claimed unused land as their own. Rural unions (federterra) gained popularity

Question 34

Who was Giolitti?

Answer 34

Liberal Italian politician who was known as a master of trasformismo. He was Prime minister on 5 different occasions

Question 35

How was the Risorgimento incomplete?

Answer 35

No sense of national identity - people would associate themselves with their city/region (Neapolitan, Florentine, Roman etc.) (D’Azeglio ‘We have made Italy, now we must make Italians)
Many regional dialects - difficult in the army for soldiers (from the south) to understand the northern generals
Irredente
Political instability - Umberto I assassinated 1900 by an anarchist

Question 36

What was the political structure like in Liberal Italy?

Answer 36

Constitutional monarchy
Bicameral - chamber of deputies (more important) - senate
Until 1912 only 25% of adult men could vote.
9 governments 1900-1911

Question 37

What were the domestic impacts of WW1 on Italy?

Answer 37

Strikes, shortages, debt, inflation, nearly 1million killed

Question 38

What was the post-WW1 economic crisis?

Answer 38

2 million unemployed
Occupied land by former soldiers who were promised land for fighting which they were never given.
400,000 on strike in the Bienno Rosso
Giolitti made concessions - minimum wage, 8 hour day
Middle class hit with inflation - annoyed about the concessions to the working class

Question 39

What were the political developments after WW1?

Answer 39

Orlando introduces universal male suffrage 1918
Nitti introduces PR
Growth of the PSI, but had no clear leader
Trasformismo stops working - politics more ideological
November 1919 - PSI and PPI the biggest parties

Question 40

What improved the Fascist popularity?

Answer 40

Paranoia from the bienno rosso
Many still thought Mussolini was left-wing - those disappointed with the PSI after not taking power in 1920. may have joined Mussolini
Many were scared of them so supported them (would pour caster oil down people’s throats)

Question 41

What was the Red Week?

Answer 41

7-14 June 1914
PSI proclaimed a general strike after 3 protesters were killed by police.
Most of northern and central Italy was in chaos - Italy appeared to be on the verge of revolution.
Ended after Trade Unions agreed to call of the strikes

Question 42

Who were the Squadrismo?

Answer 42

Militia groups who would attack socialists