Liberal Italy Flashcards
Italy lagged behind the economy of Europe’s.
How much steel and machine guns did Austria have compared to Italy?
Italy produced 1 million tonnes of steel, Austrians produced 2.6 million tonnes.
For every 2 machine guns per Italian battalion, Austrians had 12.
Italy had a lack of key resources such as iron, steel & coal.
What did this mean?
They had to import them in large amounts, which cost more.
Italy is said to have lagged behind the rest of Europe in WW1.
What evidence undermines this claim?
That by the end of the war, Italian industry had produced around 20,000 machine guns & 7,000 pieces of heavy artillery.
This was a far greater amount than the British.
Why does the welfare of the Italy people & their quality of life matter in regards to WW1?
If there is more unrest, which is likely towards the government, there will be more opposition to war, thus reducing the war effort.
What’s the timeline of prime ministers 1911-19
1911-14: G.Giolitti
1914-16: A.Salandra (WW1 starts)
1916-17: P.Boselli
1917-19: V.E.Orlando (WW1 ends)
Why did Italy’s weak government contribute to Italy’s lack of success in WW1?
The frequently changing factions and coalitions due to transformismo meant it was difficult for the government to make united decisions.
It was also exacerbated by PM’s like Salandra who had unrealistic perceptions of war.
What was the PSI’s stance and what did it mean for Italian politics?
The PSI’s anti-war stance meant there was even greater polarisation between left & right.
What about the actual fighting had likely led to the unpreparedness of the Italian soldiers?
The Italian front was in the mountainous Italian Alps & along the Isonzo river.
They repeatedly found themselves in static trench warfare against the Austrians, making little or no progress.
How did nationalist & some liberals respond to PSI’s ‘neither support nor sabotage’ policy?
Nationalists & many liberals despised the socialist position, seeing it as defeatist, unpatriotic and un-Italian.
This shows the political divide Italy found themselves in which is not great in terms of success for war.
Stats of Battle of Caporetto 24th Oct 1917
- 200,000 lost contact with regiments.
- 10,000 killed, 30,000 wounded, 300,000 taken prisoner.
- 400,000 vanished, in most cases they used the chaos to go home.
What two changes did the defeat at Caporetto bring?
General Cadorna replaced by General Diaz.
PM Boselli replaced by Orlando.
Cardona used harsh punishments on Italian soldiers as a result of the low morale.
What happened more in the Italian army than un any other Western army?
Military tribunals passed 4,000 death sentences on Italian soldiers for desertion & indiscipline.
It was not effective in improving morale. It actually made it worse because soldiers became more fearful.
Evidence of weak military leadership - poor tactics that were ineffective.
Following Italy’s declaration of war, there was two years of stale mate - thousands of soldiers dead just to move a few metres.
1915 - 62,000 died during four attempted offensives against Austria.
It failed to change the situation, military tactics clearly inferior (contributed to lack of morale)
By 1917, bread & pasta were being rationed and meat & sugar consumption was falling sharply.
What is evidence that this causes political unrest?
August 1917
50 workers killed protesting in Turin against bread shortages & continuation of the war.
This further contributes to the reduced war effort and opposition to war.
Who was politics dominated by?
What did the Chamber of Deputies serve?
Politics was dominated by a small and wealthy political elite.
The CoD served local rather than national interests, which went against the idea of trying to create a unified country.
Stats of the north/south division
1910
North - 48% of the wealth, 40% of the taxes
South - 27% of the wealth, 30% of the taxes
1911
Milan, Turin, Genoa - 55% of the industrial income.
Industry mainly in the North, Southern economy much weaker.
Why did Italy’s declaration of neutrality, in August 1914, cause political instability?
Because the issue of whether to enter the war split the country & the political party.
Liberals were divided - some wanted war (Salandra), some wanted neutrality (Giolitti)
Nationalists wanted war.
Socialists & Catholics didn’t.
What did the Libyan war mean for Italy’s involvement in WW1?
50,000 troops were stationed in Libya.
3,500 died.
Cost 1.3 billion lire.
It meant there was a shortage of soldiers and a lack of machinery.
In May 1915, there was only two machine guns per battalion.
What were the four broad reasons for Italy’s failures during WW1?
- Poor military leadership.
- Poor governmental leadership & political instability.
- Economic problems & instability.
- Lack of morale
