The rise and fall of Fascism in Italy: The Liberal State, c1911-1918

Question 1

What was Italy like in early 20th century?

Answer 1

In the early twentieth century, Italy was still a fairly new country. It had only been fully united in 1870, and its political system was created at that point. It was a parliamentary system similar to that of Britain, and the constitution was based on that of the formerly independent kingdom of Piedmont. This constitution was created in 1848, and was known as the Statuto. It guaranteed the following important rights:

• equality before the law.
• the right of free assembly.
• a free press.

It also set up the constitutional monarchy and elected parliament that became the basis of Italy’s political system.

Question 2

What about the monarchy?

Answer 2

Unlike in Britain, the King of Italy had wide-ranging political powers. He could:

• Appoint and dismiss govt ministers and senators, including the prime minister.
• Control foreign policy. He was also the face of the govt at times of crisis.

Question 3

What about the Prime Minister?

Answer 3

The Prime minister was the head of the Government, and was responsible for the day-to-day running of the country. He needed the support of parliament to keep his position and to propose laws.

Question 4

What about Parliament?

Answer 4

There were two chambers in the Italian Parliament. The Senate was the upper house. Senators were appointed by the King for life. The Chamber of Deputied was the lower house. It was elected every five years and had more political power than the Senate. Government ministers were chosen from the Chamber of Deputies.

Question 5

What about the electorate?

Answer 5

The chamber of Deputies was in theory, democratically elected, but in reality only a small proportion of the Italian population could vote. There were limitations based on age, property ownership and educational qualifications. Until 1912, only 25% of adult men could vote. This meant that most people did not participate in politics before 1912, meaning that many Italians felt alienated from the political system.

Question 6

What were the political weaknesses of this system?

Answer 6

Apart from the political alienation felt by many Italians, the system was also very elitist, unstable and corrupt. Political parties did exist, but they acted more as labels for groups of ambitious men who wanted to gain power - they did not often have a coherent political ideology. As political parties were very weak, governments were often coalitions of different factions. This system of coalition-building became known as Trasformismo. It meant that Italian political life was very unstable, because coalitions fell apart very quickly, leading to a succession of short-term governments. In the years 1900-11, for example, there were nine governments. Only one lasted more than two years.

Individual politicians often bribed political opponents, and those seeking to build a coalition would offer potential colleagues important jobs or financial incentives. Most of the Deputies were in Parliament to serve local interests, and so they were not very attached to their party or faction.

Question 7

What were the most important political groupings?

Answer 7

• Liberals.
• Radicals and Republicans.
• Socialists.
• Catholics.
• Nationalists.

Question 8

What economic problems did Italy experience?

Answer 8

• Italy’s economy was still developing at the beginning of the period, but there was still problems that made a divide between the North and south of the country even more pronounced.
• Economic growth was mostly in the north, and well-intentioned agricultural policies affected the people of the south negatively Many people did not feel that the government’s economic policied had improved their lives, and this later led to support for increasingly radical political groups.

Question 9

What happened in industry?

Answer 9

• There was considerabble economic growth under Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti. The state invested in industries and encouraged the use of new technologies. Most of the growth was in industry. Cheaper iron and steel imports led to the founding of motor and engineering companies such as Fiat and Lancia. These industries were very profitable and their profits grew by 10.6% between 1896 and 1913.
• Exports grew at a rate of 4.5% per year, and the number of industrial workers inctreased by 2 million between 1901 and 1911. The problem was that these developments were geographically restricted.

Question 10

What happened to industry in the North?

Answer 10

Industry was generally restricted to Northern Italy. The north-west specialised in engineering and textiles, the north produced chemicals, and steel and heavy machinery were produced in the north-east. The north-west was particularly successful because of its geographical closeness to the rest of Europe.

Question 11

Why was industrial development limited?

Answer 11

• A need to import iron, steel and coal because of a lack of resources.
• A large but unskilled workforce.
• Industrial machinery needed to be imported.
• Communications, transport and energy sources were all underdeveloped in most areas.

Question 12

What happened to industry in the South?

Answer 12

The South was far less modernised than the North. They tried to remedy this. Francesco Saverio Nitti, introduced policies to try and encourage development, such as laws to encourage growth,

Question 13

What agricultural developments happened?

Answer 13

Italy’s economy largely depended on agriculture when it was unified in 1870. Most of the population was dependent on the land to support themselves and their families. Despite this, Italy was not self-sufficient in terms of food. Again, the productivity of the north and south differed greatly.

Question 14

What social problems did Giolitti’s governments have to contend with?

Answer 14

Italy had to contend with some serious social problems in the early twentieth century. Many of them were made worse by the economic weaknesses of the country. They included poverty, disease and illiteracy.

Question 15

How did Giolitti address it?

Answer 15

Giolitti’s govt did try to improve the situation for Italy’s poor. They introduced the following policies:

• sickness, accident and pension schemes.
• raising the minimum working age to 12 years.
• placing responsibility for primary schooling on central government, which was more interested in increasing illiteracy than regional authorities.
• Reducing food taxes to make food more affordable.
• Passing laws to establish [ublic holidays and provide free treatment for malaria.

Hospitals also improved in this period.

Question 16

What about migration and emigration?

Answer 16

One consequence of poverty and economic hardship was the desire of many Italians to improve their lives by either movbing abroad or elsewhere within Italy.

Question 17

Who was Giovanni Giolitti?

Answer 17

Giovanni Giolitti was one of the most important political figures in early 20th century Italy. He was involved in the government for a long time, and was Prime Minister for most of the period 1903-14. He held other roles, such as Minister of the Interior. He was a skilled politician who was very good at forming the coalitions neccessary for success in Trasformismo. He was a manipulator.

His reforms included policies related to welfare, literacy and economic prosperity.

Question 18

Giolitti and the Socialists.

Answer 18

• He targeted moderate socialist deputies to join his coalitions.

Question 19

Giolitti and the Catholic Church.

Answer 19

• He was the first Liberal to appeal successfully to the Catholic Church. He saw Catholic support as a balance to the Socialists.

Question 20

Giolitti and the Nationalists.

Answer 20

• The first Nationalist party was set up in 1910, and by 1914 it had huge support. It was the movement most opposed to Giolotti’s policies and methods.

Question 21

Why did Italy invade Libya in September 1911?

Answer 21

• Italy wanted to assert colonial claims in North Africa in response to France’s apparent efforts to expand in the region.
• Powerful Italian business interests pushed for the invasion after establishing investments in Libya.
• Popular opinion was strongly in favour of the invasion.
• Gilotti hoped that a successful Libyan war would weaken Nationalist support.

Question 22

What were the events of the Libyan War?

Answer 22

Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 29 September 1911. Within three weeks, Italian forces had seized many of the ports and coastal towns, but found progress much harder after that point.

Question 23

Growth of Nationalism and socialism.

Answer 23

Socialists and Nationalists became more critical of the Liberal-led govt for different reasons. The Socialists thought the system was being used to protect the elite and intimidate the working classes. Nationalists believed the Liberals were failing to deal with the Socialist threat.

Question 24

What was the impact of the Franchise extension, 1912?

Answer 24

The franchise was extended in 1912. The consequences were not as Giolitti expected. In the 1913 elections, Giolitti’s liberals won fewer seats.

Question 25

When did Giolitti resign?

Answer 25

By 1914, Giolitti was facing opposition from all sides. Giolitti resigned as PM on 21 March 1914.

Question 26

When was neutrality declared?

Answer 26

In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated along with his wife whilist on a visit to Sarajevo. Their murder became a trigger for war in the tense political environment of Europe. The First World War broke out in August 1914 and Italy declared herself neutral.

Question 27

What was the intervention crisis, 1914-15?

Answer 27

At the outbreak of war, most Italians were against military intervention on either side. As the war continued however, opinions changed. By 1915, the question revolved around which side to support rather than whether to remain neutral.

Question 28

What were the reasons for supporting neutrality?

Answer 28

Those who supported entry into the war in 1914 were a minority.

• An alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary was unattractive because of the Italian aim of regaining terrority from Austria-Hungary.
• Neutrality was seen as a better choice economically and militarily.
• The Catholics and the political parties of the left opposed intervention. Many wanted to prioritise domestic issues rather than war.

Question 29

Why the shift towards intervention?

Answer 29

• The Nationalist movement began campaigning for intervention in favour of the Entente Powers as it was hoped that Italy could expand its terrority that way.
• The Nationalists used the press to popularise their views.
• The police and military supported military intervention.

Question 30

What was the Treaty of London, 1915?

Answer 30

The Treaty of London was signed on 26th April 1915 and included a number of significant promises, including terroritorial gains and a share in any future war reparations. As a result, Italy entered the war on the side of the Entente Powers in May 1915.

Question 31

What was the military stalemate?

Answer 31

Problems began to emerge soon after Italy’s entry into the war in May 1915, and a military stalemate quickly developed:

• Italy was unprepared for the war. Many of its best soldiers were in Libya, the mobilisation of troops was disorganised and there was some serious shortages of arms and munitions.
• General Cadorna pursued a strategy of massed infantry attacks against entrenched positions. In the first two advances in 1915, 62,000 men were killed and 170,000 injured without any notable change in the military situation.

Austria’s first major offensive in Northern Italy took place in 1916. It was contained by the Italian army but the scale of the threat caused discontent in both the army and government, and it caused the fall of Salandra’s government.

Question 32

What happened in the defeat at Caporetto, October 1917?

Answer 32

In October 1917, Austrian and German forces mounted a sudden attack at Caporetto. They shelled the Italian artillery and used gas against their opponents. Italy’s response was chaotic. Two hundred thousand soldiers lost contact with their regiments, and thousands of troops streamed down from the hills in a frenzy of confusion.

Cadorna blamed the defeat on cowardice, and had several thousand soldiers executed. The government responded by removing Cadorna, replacing him with General Diaz.

Question 33

What were the socialist responses to the war?

Answer 33

The Socialists had been opposed to the war from the outset. The PSI was committed to peace, and gained growing support from opponents of the war. However, many socialists became involved in the war effort, establishing local councils to organise rations and welfare, and co-operatives to prevent profiteering. Trade unions helped to safeguard jobs, wage rises and worker exemption from military service. Their opponents claimed that the socialists were responsible for sabotaging the war effort, ignoring the fact that industrialists were making huge profits from the war.

Some socialists did stay aloof from the war, and socialism as a movement became more divided in the war years. The Russian Revolution of 1917 sparked a new wave of unrest and the Socialist party tried tried to use this as a model of change of Italy. These messages appealed to the workers but not to the army, who remained unsympathetic to the workers.

Question 34

What happened to the war economy of Italy?

Answer 34

The armed forces had begun the war with limited equipment and supplies, and the economy was unprepared for war. By 1918, this deficit had been made up. Italy had more cannons in the field than Britain, had created an aircraft industry, and the company Fiat became the leading manufacturer of trucks and lorries in Europe. This was achieved by a strategy of production at all costs. The state bought whatever industry could produce at whatever price. Industrialists were celbrated and amassed huge personal fortunes.

Workers were placed under military disclipine during the war. They could not change jobs or take strike action, and the working week was increased. Discontent among the workers led to increased support for the Socialist parties.

Peasant soldiers were promised that they would be granted land at the end of the war. Millions of men returned to the countryside in 1918-19, but the promised land reform did not materialise.

Question 35

What were the consequences of the war economy after the war?

Answer 35

• An enormous govt budget deficit.
• A huge rise in the national debt.
• Debts of more than 15 million lire to Britain and 8.5 billion to the USA.
• Inflation, large price rises and significant economic instability, after the government printed more money when it realised it could borrow no more.

The economy was still short of natural resources, exports were low and the consumer market was weak. All of these factors would make economic recovery after the war extremely hard.

Question 36

The significance of victory.

Answer 36

General Diaz introduced a number of reforms to improve both morale and the military situation. Relations were improved, troops were given more days’ leave and a servicemen’s association was established to look after the welfare of troops and their families. Diaz was far more cautious in battle than Cadorna had been, and lost fewer men in action.

The military situation stabilised in 1918, when Austria-Hungary and Germany were struggling, In October 1918, German forces were in retreat after a concerned attack by Entente forces, and the Italian army attacked Austro-Hungarian fforces near the site of the battle of Caporetto. The battle of Vittotorio Veneteo resulted in the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian front in Italy. The Italians took 500,000 prisoners of war and the defeat caused the Austrians to seek peace. An armistice was signed in November 1918. Italy lost approximately 700,000 men and made enormous sacrifices for the war effort. In return, she gained terrority, a sense of unity and national pride - but this was only in the short term.

Question 37

What was the peace settlement of 1919-20?

Answer 37

In 1915, the Treaty of London had promised Italy substantial terroritorial gains from the Austrian and Ottoman empires. At the peace settlement of 1919-20, Italy gained Trentino, South Tyrol and Istria from Austria-Hungary along with part of Dalmatia and the port of Trieste. The Prime Minister, Vittorio Orlando, had expected to gain the port of Fiume, the whole of Dalmattia andsd a number of colonial terrorities. He left the peace conference in disgust. Italian Nationalists saw the peace as a betrayal of the country’s efforts during the war and regarded the settlement as a mutilated victory. The peace settlement was a significant factor in causing post-war instability in Italy.