Typical Handout I did for students.

They were expected to fill out the significance column on

their own
Weaknesses of Liberal Italy up till 1912
Figures to remember
Figures
Giovanni Giolitti
1903-1905
1906-1909
1911-1914
1920(for a couple months)

Antonio Starabba,
Marchese di Rudini 18961898

What he did
-From the North
-experienced Industrial
Expansion
-Rise of Organized
labor
-Emergence of catholic
political movement
-depended on socialist
at first
-double foreign trade
-Moderate
protectionism
-still have labor strikes,
even though he had
implemented social
security, he had to
violently put down
strikes
-Bowed to nationalist
pressure in 1910s and
fought Turks
-Allied with the
Emerging catholics in
1913, lost leftist
support
-Expanded to universal
male suffrage, lost
votes that way
-opposed entrance into
WWI
-First rose to
prominence under
conservative General
Ricotti
-allied with Radical
Cavalotti
-Mixed Cabinet. more
Left than Crispi

Significance
He tried to reconcile real
italy and legal italy by
siding with Socialists and
promised not to put down
strikes violently. by doing
so he upsets the rich and
the employers because he
fought for minimum wage,
shorter working hours and
workers insurance where
the money essentially
came from the rich.
Created the Electoral
reform where more people
can vote. He thought now
the politicians will have to
cater to everyone and
more people would vote for
him because he has been
helping the poor
throughout his tenure

They changed their political

views quickly so it was hard
to predict. hard to make a
stable government.

Victor Emmanuel III

Francesco Crispi 18931894

-Was conciliatory
towards Socialist unlike
Crispi
-Ultimately turned on
the Socialist though
Ceded Kassala to Great
Britain due to pressure
from Anti Colonial
party
-King(the son of Victor
Emmanuel I/II)
Could appoint Prime
ministers at will
-abstained from day to
day politics

-Born in the South

-Centre Right
-Cracked down on
Socialist in Sicily,
Ruthless
-Pursued alliance with
Triple Alliance
-Alienated France
-increased military
expenditure
-Lost the Abysinnian
war
How stable does the position of prime minister look?

The one that raised

mussolini to power in the
1920s

He changed his political

view quickly so it was hard
to predict.

How can a prime minister remain in power? How does that affect his policy?

What effect does Trasformismo have on the governance of Italy? Stable or not
stable? Does it allow for long term planning?

Are most of the Prime minister's policy reactionary or long term planning?

There were a large amount of strikes in Italy throughout all the prime ministers.
What might it indicate?

How successful was Giolitti in his role as prime minister?

What is Liberalism?
Ideals
Individual above state

Free Market

Basic rule of Law and Freedom

for everyone(legal Italy belief,
but not a real Italy concept)
Enlightened government, Led by
rational educated people
Secular

Bad Side about it

They think of themselves more than the state,
no national identity, regional divisions between
north and south
low tariffs are good for the north. low tariffs are
bad for agriculture because they will have
competitors domestically and nationally
There cant be a policy that satisfies both sides,
so italy was very divided
People dont enjoy the same rights and
benefits. If people are rich then they dont get
penalty as often but if people are poor and
they want to go on strike then they get killed
led by middle class or upper class. They only
represent certain segments of the community,
not the mass population.
separation of state(minority) and
church(majority), only represents a few and not
the majority

What was the governance of Italy like in practice?

Why might individual above state not be a good idea for Italy at the time?

Why might the last ideal be bad for italy?

Significant events
Event
Risorgimento (South)

Bava-Beccaris Massacre

Peasant uprising in Sicily

in 1893 (Fasci Sicilian)

Messina Earthquake 1908

What happened
Unification of Italy
-Initially unify north only
-Garibaldi got volunteers
to invade Kingdom of Two
Sicilies and formed Italy
-Happened in Milan
-Workers striking about
general increase of
price(Inflation)
-City garrison general
order protesters shot
when told by the Prime
minister
-113-400 dead
-General Bava-Beccaris
was given a medal by the
king
Sicilian peasants formed
socialist party
-wanted to address
sharecropping and rental
contracts
-it was rejected by central
government
-lots of striking
-business owners ask for
intervention
-Brutally Repressed
Massive earthquake in
Southern Italy
-Delayed/Small response
-Many left homeless
-50,000 killed in city
alone
-Cases exist where
homeless people are
denied to move to places

Why is it significant
Southern Question:
uneducated peasants
cares about their own
little village more than a
unified italy
the politicians lose trust.
Less unity.
Politicians dont see from
the poors point of view,
Socialist groups fight for
the working class
This made the socialist
group more popular
because they fight for
them

more bad PR for

government
relationship between the
north and the south
worsens. Regional
division.

The government or North

looks bad because they
wont accept refugees
from their own country

Invasion of Abyssinia
1896

Control of Libya 19111912

like Milan or Rome

-Abyssinia disagreed
about wording of Treaty of
Wuchale
-Italy wanted it as
protectorate
-Use force to enforce
-Lost the war with the
African power (Battle of
Adwa)
Went to war with the
Turks
Captured the Libyan
province

Showed that the

government was very
weak and that foreign
policy was bad. they were
known as the only
European power to lose to
an African power.

Proposed to seize Libya

from Ottoman Empire

Red Week 1914

This appeals to
Nationalists who wants
more colonies and land
but this upsets the
socialists who doesnt
want to go to war or
waste money because
they already dont have
much. He upsetted the
poor and the moderates
who he had been fighting
for.
The poor became the
ones who were always
fighting and dying.

Socialist uprising
Failed to organize social
strike
Long term weakness of Liberal Italy

Weakness

Lack of National
Identity or
representation (Social
Weakness)

Uninterested
electorate/ No universal
suffrage, only

Significance

Social
italy only grew 4% in
foreign trade, but only the
north benefiting. the South
dont see the colonies as
beneficial for themselves.
the south is always getting
the bad end of this deal
most of the eligible voters
are in the north, only 2.3
million voters in total. Most

Why cant the

government deal
with it
The government
technically only needs
the north because they
are the ones providing
for the trade and they
are the ones voting so
the South are always
ignored

middle/upper class can

vote

Trasformismo

Problems with Catholic

church

Growing unrest with

working class

Dominance of Mafia in
South

of the politicians come

from the north so they
would try to gain votes by
benefiting the north
unstable system,
politicians will make deals
with whoever seems
strongest at the time. they
have to balance between
center right and center
left(opposite ideas). lots of
time where they cant pass
legislations because cant
negotiate. Go with the
political flow so they cant
have long term planning
they do not allow the
catholics to vote and 90%
of Italy is catholic. The
politicians do not represent
Italy but only the rich
people who voted for the
government.
The more uneducated you
are the more likely you
would be religious, so 90%
of the population would not
support the State.
horrible living standards,
all the other countries are
improving apart from
them. Job opportunities are
not growing. want better
social
conditions(unemployment,
social security)
everything is involved with
the mafia, lots of
corruption and extortion
are perpetuated(used
against) on people. creates
lots of crime in the south

unstable government
because of changeable
factions. politicians
only cares about their
own interest.
inefficient reforms and
they cant be
completed because
factions change their
intersets all the time

The Pope is hostile

towards italy because it
took away Rome and
his temporal power.
Makes it harder for the
government to enforce
their laws and
regulations because
Catholics are not willing
to obey

Both the manufacturing

industry(North) and
agricultural
industry(South) wants
to have more trade and
get richer, But only the
North gets a better
trade.
It looks like the
government is working
WITH the Mafia who is
encouraging corruption
because every law that
the government tries to
enforce has to go

through the mafia.

Makes the south lose
confidence in the north
Lack of International
Prestige

Political Strife

No solid Leadership

Weak International
trade

Little Economic growth

comparatively

Lack of strong
industrial industry/Lack
of natural resources

Political
weakest of the six greatest
power, dont have that
much colonies compared to
the other countries, bad
military and economy.
politicians would take any
opportunities to take down
their opponents, their
strategies are always
based on personal
advantages rather than
country stability. During 10
years, there were 8
ministers.
Due to the political strife,
there wasnt a political
leader who lasted a long
time. While other nations
had politicians(eg.
bismarck of germany or
gladstone of UK) that
dominated the country for
decades
Economical
the political decisions that
cripi made were really bad
because he went to a tariff
war with France who is
their biggest trading
partner
International trade only
grew 4% while other
countries grew 40%
Italy does not have much
natural resources,
especially in the south

cant satisfy the

nationalists who wants
a greater italy.

the government is very

unstable, the plans are
changed all the time so
people cant adjust

There were 8 prime

ministers over a period
of 10 years. unstable
government with
changeable views

because they lose their

trading partner through
the war so there is a
significant impact on
Italys economy
there is barely any
growth

Italy physically cannot

develop because they
dont have the
resources and their
trades are weak

Lack of Infrastructure

Brain drain

because of lack of
resources, it leads to lack
of infrastructure. Because
of lack of transport links
they also cant travel to
places with resources. lots
of the roads are still mud
roads until the 1910s. Until
Fascism took power they
never developed the South
all the skilled workers
leave italy and go to richer
states like America. Until
the 1920s when there were
major reforms under the
Facists

the government is only

willing to spend finite
amount of resources on
the North because it is
mostly established so it
is easier. But for the
South it is severely
backward so the
government doesnt
want to deal with it.
The labour force is
weakened and they
cant plan policies
because they dont
have enough skilled
workers to carry it out.

The government does not represent the poor, the south, and the catholics, which is
the majority of the country
Opposing forces
Factions
Socialist

Catholics

Nationalist

Liberals

Significance
-Workers right
-Anti-clerical
-anti Colonialism
The moderates doesnt want wars or
uprisings but that changed after the
war with Ottoman empire in 1911
-Wanted revenge for taking Rome
-Banned Catholic involvement with
Italian government till 1913
-Did not like the socialist
-Massively influential, country was more
than 90% Catholic
Expansion of Italy
Wanted more colonies and Dalmatia
from Austria
They want more land around the
Adratic Sea
No solid platform
centrist,
try to isolate extremism
members were bribed to join them

informal group
If the government helps one group, they would upset other groups even more
because they dont share the same interests and ideologies.
Why would big business owners want more Colonies? Why would Socialist
be against it?
Big business owners want more land for international prestige and more natural
resources, the socialists are against it because they dont want war which causes
lots of money when they already dont have enough for themselves and the North
cant guarantee their national security.
What effect did it have when the Catholics entered the political arena?
What consequences might it have with Liberals being in power most of the time?

Terms
Term
Trasformisimo

Definition
constant change in government
due to groups being based on
informal agreements do not plan
long term and only looks at whats
popular at the time

Clientelism

political term for the Italian system

among politicians. Patron+Clients.
The clients owe the patrons
favours and vote for them. the
Patrons gives them high positions
or other benefits in return
everyone that was
excluded(catholics, poor, south)
aren represented in the
government due to the catholic
voting ban, distribution and
regulations for people that can
vote
corrupted government, only

Real Italy

Legal Italy

Significance
creates an unstable
government with
personal interests and
lacks international
relations and a good
economy. Only included
legal Italy and not real
italy
corrupted government.
Only people in the
North(8%) gets favours
because they have the
ability to vote. but the
South are ignored
The difference in how
mass population think
politics should be and
how politicians think
politics should be
creates distrust and
lack of confidence
What Real italy needs

Roman Question

Southern Question

represents a few people, out of

touch with reality, doesnt know
what is really going on
how can they reconcile with the
catholics church

reconciliation with the south, they

were forced into being part of
italy(got conquered by Garibaldi)

are ignored because

they cant vote
the Pope does not
recognize New Italy and
when more than 90% of
Italy are Catholics it is
troublesome to
garuantee their loyalty
South Italy didnt want
to be part of the unified
italy.
They were
economically backward
and they lack
infrastructure. They
always get the bad end
of policies not because
the government
doesnt want to help
them but because they
prefer the South.

Overall how stable was the Italian government?

What are the effects of Trasformismo? Good or bad or both?
To what degree were the problems partly due to the actions of individuals?
To what degree were the problems partly due to how the institutions in Italy were
set up?