However, the war impacted Italy in many other ways outside of the political sphere. Although I would argue these other results were not as potent as what happened to the government, they nonetheless are important. As was mentioned earlier, the economy took a major blow. This is linked very closely to the political situation. This was not surprising as the government spent 148 billion lira financing the war. There was also a rise in inflation – prices were four times higher in 1918 than before the war. The government printed more money and the value of the Lira at the end of the war was only a quarter of what it was in 1914.
More evidence of how to government mishandled the wartime economy is found in the national debt figures: after the war it was 85 billion lira. This is a fivefold increase on the 1914 figure. In 1918 the government spent 23.3 billion lira more than it received in tax and the nation was under great industrial strain.
Nonetheless, the Italian economy temporarily befitted from the war. There was a major expansion of industries such as metallurgy, engineering, shipbuilding and vehicles and companies such as Fiat received cheap loans to re-equip factories. As a result Fiat grew fivefold. This was coupled with a short term boom in employment. However, this only benefitted those in the industrial north. The poverty gap between the industrial north and the poor south widened.
The short-term boom was not long lasting. Industry had become too dependent on the war and faced problems in 1919 when the war ended. 2 million were left unemployed in 1919 - to the soldiers this seemed a poor reward for their sacrifice The Italians ended the war with more artillery than the British Army and built over 6500 aircraft in 1918 alone. This overproduction was a result of poor planning and only jeopardised the economic situation further. All these economic effects are direct results of the incompetence of the liberal government, further proving that the political effects were the most important.
Furthermore, we must also consider the inevitable social effects the war would have. There was a massive increase in trade union membership due to the harsh working conditions. Industrial workers were placed under military discipline with men no longer able to move jobs or strike. They worked long hours up to 75 hours a week and there was an increased employment of women to make up for those that had been conscripted. Half of the 5 million conscripts were rural workers but food production was kept up by female workers. The industrial working class was exempt from military service.
The purchasing power of worker’s wages fell by 25% between 1915 and 1918 and eventually there were food shortages due to a lack of consumer goods. During 1917 there were riots over food in Turin, where 50 were killed. Many anti-war protests were staged; the general Italian population did not support the war. Again, all of this can be traced back to the fact that the Italian government did not represent the will of the people.
The only people that reaped some semblance of social benefit from the war were the peasants. Peasant debt was paid off and traditional rent payments became less of a burden. The peasants, unlike the urban workforce, enjoyed new prosperity at the expense of their landlords.
Finally, it has been argued that the military effects of the war were most important. There is some merit to this argument: after all, we must not forget that Italy finished the war on the winning side. The Italian soldiers suffered brutal conditions. They were worn down by a war of attrition over months of trench warfare in the Alps, but their lowest point came after the Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 against Austria. The Italians lost 160km of land and 300,000 men were taken prisoner. General Cadorna blamed the men for cowardice and had many shot. Cadorna was replaced by General Diaz, who was a better leader. Under him facilities improved and discipline was less arbitrary.
5 million men were conscripted, many of whom were poor farmers and had no military training. This resulted in 1.3 million casualties between 1915 and 1918. The Italians mounted only 11 offensives in two and a half years and their maximum advance was 12 miles. 600,000 Italians killed for these seemingly poor results.
However, the Italians did have some success at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in 1918. By this stage Austria was in political ruin and victory was east. Italy made more territorial gains than any other country. By gaining Trentino, South Tyrol and Istria, nationalist claims for Italia Irredentia were met. Dalmatia, however, was claimed by Yugoslavia. Although these military effects are very important I still assert that the political effects were more impactful and long-lasting for Italy.
In conclusion, I definitely agree that the most important effects of the First World War on Italy between 1915 and 1918 were political. This is because politics are central to a country and all other effects – economic, social and military – stem from decisions made by the government. If the government is weak it usually follows that the rest of the country will suffer. Perhaps if the government had have been stronger Italy would have emerged from the war a stronger nation.
by
erinruth99gmailcom (student)
