Italy after 1870

?
  • Created by: hastr010
  • Created on: 09-06-19 12:00
View mindmap
  • Italy after 1870
    • Politics
      • Positives
        • constitutional monarcy survived - no revolution
        • Extremists kept out of power
        • Despite government instablility - individuals who held power to provide reform and change emerged
        • Crispi and Depritis brough about important improvements and reforms to Italy
        • After Victor Emannuel died in 1878 - Umberto became Umberto I of Italy: this gave a new, Itaian image to the Monarchy
        • Thawed relationship with Papacy by Crispi helped to persuade the College of Cardinals to elect a new pope in Rome which helped to secure acceptance from Leo XIII who was less strict that Pius IX
        • Voting age dropped from 25 to 21.
        • Locally elected councils and mayors were introduced in 1899
      • Negatives
        • lack of stability - shifting in interests and factions: transformismo
          • Produced Political stagnation which made for bad govermnent
        • Opposition to gov. were likely to be offered roles, blunting opposition and seperating them from their followers
        • Critics on the outside believed it was a parliamentary game - critics were bribed into giving their support and ignored the needs of the party.
        • Exclusion of the mass of Italians from voting; this gave the politicians no reason to attend to the wish of the peasants.
        • Crispi and Depritis brought about a period of scandals, corruption and violence
    • Economy
      • Positives
        • 'Grist tax' abolished
        • Wheat produced doubled over 30 years
        • Steel industry expanded
        • 21,000km of new road built btween 1870 and 1883
        • Railways quadrupled in 10 years
        • Land reclamation schemes introduced
        • Mechanisation introduced in Agriculture
        • The defecit was overcome by 1876 - it had previously been 60%
      • Negatives
        • Large amounts of poverty
        • removal of indirect tax made life difficult for the poor.
        • Crispis government were extremely corrupt
        • 1893 - Italian banking system collapsed
        • Other countries were industrialising far quicker than Italy
    • Foreign Policy
      • Postives
        • Piedmont had recieved a considerable amount of success in the 50s with diplomacy e.g. with the Crimean war.
        • Italy still participated in diplomacy in order to win the recognition as a major power in internatioanl affairs
        • Joined 'tripple Alliance' with Germany and Austro-Hungary: this provided protection from a French aggressor
        • Crispi cut a figure on the European stage and met with Bismark multiple ties
        • Crispi was determined to have a great empire thinking it would cause a surge in patriotism
        • Successful campaign had been fought in Africa and Eritrea and the Somaliland had been acquired
      • Negatives
        • Austria only expelled from Peninsula due to help of France
        • Although Italy's economy was expanding, other countriries were industrialising more rapdily
        • Was initially turned down from joining triple alliance by Bismark. he regarede Taly as haeving a 'big appetit and small teeth'
        • Crispi's rivalry with France lead to an unsuccessful trade war in the early 1880s
        • Unsuccessful Battle of Adowa - 7000 Italians killed and 3000 taken prisoner with many being castrated.
          • this was hugely embarassing due to the fac that Ethiopia was perceived as lesser than Italy. - No other European Power had suffered defeat in the scramble for Africa.
          • This resulted in Crispi's resignation and troops had to be used to stop demonstrations through Italy
    • Social Policy
      • Positives
        • 1877 - Free and compulsory primary education introduced
        • Schools and Universities came under state control as part of a policy to provide a unified system of education throughout the peninsula
        • abolishment of Grist tax meant that more peasants could more easily obtain bread.
        • Death penalty abolished and anti-strike legislation removed under Crispi
        • Public health reforms in late 1880s
      • Negatives
        • Large numbers of Italians remained in poverty after 1870 and many suffered from malnutrition, disease and poor working conditions (especially southerners and women)
        • Severe unrest in Sicily - 40,000 troops had to be sent to restore law and order

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all Italy - 19th and 20th century resources »