Liberal Italy on the eve of WWI

Question 1

What did the liberals claim they had done for Italy by this point?

Answer 1

Italy had made huge progress under their rule and was evolving into a strong and healthy democracy

Question 2

What had been introduced to create a greater sense of nationhood?

Answer 2

National military service and the introduction of free primary education through the Coppino Law

Question 3

List the economic successes by this period

Answer 3

• Progress had been rapid, especially in steel and shipbuilding
• Fiat had become one of the largest producers of cars and trucks in Europe
• Olivetti was prominent in exporting new types of tech

Question 4

What facilitated Italy’s economic success at this time?

Answer 4

The electricity produced by hydroelectric power stations in the Alps

Question 5

Give some stats to indicate the economic improvement at this time

Answer 5

• National income had risen from 61 billion lire in 1895 to 92 billion lire in 1915
• Six fold increase in foreign trade in the fifty years to 1913
• The real wages of industrial workers had increased by 40% in the years between 1900 and 1913

Question 6

Why was economic growth useful for the liberals?

Answer 6

It meant they received more tax and could therefore lower taxes on food and spend money on improving rail, road and water

Question 7

List the foreign policy successes enjoyed by the liberals

Answer 7

They joined to triple alliance, conquered Libya and gained an empire in East Africa, all of which had confirmed Italy as a great power

Question 8

What was the most important success according to the liberals?

Answer 8

The fact that they had create a robust, stable political system

Question 9

What did Giolitti do to stabilise Italian politics?

Answer 9

He became a master of the transformismo, coopting moderate socialists and catholics into his governing coalition

Question 10

What had the liberals done to improve democracy?

Answer 10

They had gradually extended the franchise to the point that there was near universal manhood suffrage by 1912

Question 11

What did Trevelyan, a British historian at the time, say about Italy at this time?

Answer 11

‘Nothing is more remarkable than the stability of the Italian Kingdom and the building is as safe as any in Europe

Question 12

What did the socialists say the liberal regime was a cover for?

Answer 12

Capitalist exploitation of the working classes

Question 13

Explain the socialist arguement that the liberals had failed to cater to working class interests

Answer 13

• Wages, working hours and welfare benefits compared unfavourably with the rest of Western Europe
• Any political change had to be forced out of a state all too willing to use repression against popular protest

Question 14

What did the socialist claim Italy’s wealth had been squandered on?

Answer 14

Failed imperial adventures

Question 15

What did the socialist see Italian emigration to America as proof of?

Answer 15

The failure of the liberals to address the problem of poverty

Question 16

How many Italians underwent transatlantic emigration between 1871 and 1915

Answer 16

5 Million

Question 17

What had the liberals lacked the will to do according to the nationalists?

Answer 17

Make Italy a major force in Europe

Question 18

How many Italians underwent transatlantic emigration each year on average from 1901?

Answer 18

500,000

Question 19

What did nationalists see the Italian diaspora as?

Answer 19

A national disgrace

Question 20

How had the Italians been internationally humiliated in 1896?

Answer 20

The Battle of Adowa

Question 21

Why did the nationalists see the transatlantic emigration as a waste?

Answer 21

Because they were men and women who could have been contributing to the economy and filling the ranks of the military

Question 22

What did the nationalists think the liberals had exascerbated?

Answer 22

Class struggle

Question 23

What was the primary concern of liberal politicians according to the nationalists?

Answer 23

Furthering their own career, which often caused them to favour private interests over public interests

Question 24

What had the liberals failed to instill within Italians according to the nationalists?

Answer 24

National spirit

Question 25

How did Giolitti damage democracy?

Answer 25

He employed corrupt tactics like using government officials to bribe/intimidate opponents in order to win GEs

Question 26

Why did many Catholics find it difficult ton support the liberal regime?

Answer 26

• Because they had they had trampled the Pope’s territorial rights in Rome in 1870
• They thought the liberals had neglected the Catholic peasantry, particularly in the South

Question 27

What was the problem with the grants that the Giolitti government gave the the South to improve irrigation and the supply of drinking water?

Answer 27

They were woefully inadequate

Question 28

Give a statistic to highlight the extent of inequality in Sicily

Answer 28

0.01% of the population owned 50% of the wealth

Question 29

What did Southern peasants form the majority of?

Answer 29

Those Italians undergoing transatlantic emigration

Question 30

What would Catholic groups who were working towards improvement in social policy form after the war?

Answer 30

The Popolari?

Question 31

What were the Popolari determined not to do?

Answer 31

Be absorbed into the liberal government

Question 32

What did Catholics see the liberal politicians as?

Answer 32

An educated elite who had little interest in or understanding of the Italian people

Question 33

Why did the more conservative Catholics accept the regime?

Answer 33

They saw it as preferrable to socialism

Question 34

Why was the Pope not prepared to endorse the formation of a Catholic political party?

Answer 34

Because he feared it might rival his authority

Question 35

Why did conservative Catholics oppose the idea of a Catholic political party?

Answer 35

Because they thought a Catholic party in the hands of radical reformers would be less willing to protect property rights than the liberals