Italy had finally been united as one kingdom in 1870, with a constitution based on the model of a parliamentary monarchy. Its parliamentary constitution comprised of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, which had its members appointed on a lifetime basis by the King, was usually the less active, if only because of the advanced age of most of its members. The Chamber, elected every five years, was the more powerful of the two houses for, although government ministers were appointed and could be dismissed by the King, they were usually drawn from the Chamber. However the system had many weaknesses and, in years immediately before 1914, became more difficult to manage. Weaknesses were; frequent changes of government (29 Prime Ministers between 1870-1922), trasformismo lead to comprise (soft government – upset Nationalists in particular as they strove for imperial change), Parliament divided by regional loyalties. The government was also under constant threat from strong opponents in the form of the Church, Nationalists and Socialists. Instability effected the Italian people as a result and saw the trasformismo tactic employed by the government as immoral and corrupt. Italy faced many economic problems. There was government debt, high taxes on the poor. In addition the North-South divide was increasing by the industrialisation of the north and there was frequent unrest as a result, especially in Sicily between 1893-94. Italy was had virtually no coal, iron and minerals and oil was only discovered by 1950. The value of foreign trade as a result was significantly less than other leading European countries ($5.7 billion compared to Britain by 1913.) In terms of GDP Italy lacked greatly behind other leading European countries, between 1860-96 Italy’s increased by 4% compared to 10-50% achieved by France and Britain for example.
The Catholic Church in Italy was a very powerful body. The Pope (Head of church) had been the ruler of the Papal States covering much of central Italy. However, between 1861 and 1870 when the Kingdom of Italy was created, most of his land was taken from him. He was left with the area around St. Peter’s Church in Rome, known as the Vatican City. The rift between the Church and the state was a major problem for the Liberal State. In 1874 the Pope instructed all Catholics not to take part in the new state by, for example, not voting. By 1914, however, there had been a reduction in State-Church hostility. The Pope had become worried at the rise of Socialism and by 1904 authorised bishops to advise Catholics to vote in order to help defeat the Socialists. The Marxist Socialists not only criticised the power of the Church but also rejected religion (atheists.)
In the 1890s, the Socialist Party (PSI) had built a base in the northern industrial towns. It was formed through the unity of trade unions, under the development of industry in the north. The moderates wanted peaceful reform whereby living standards would be improved. The Revolutionaries, however, totally rejected the Liberal Regime. They argued that the only way to improve conditions for the workers was to overthrow the Liberal State. They hoped to do this through unions organising strikes. They were known as Syndicalists. There was discontent amongst the working class as the government had taken measures to suppress union activity.
The Nationalist party had its origins in the fact that many Italians felt that the Liberal State had failed to build a proper Italian nation. They wanted vigorous authoritarian government that would inspire the people, end class division and make Italy great. Many Nationalists had felt inferior because Italy had failed to build an overseas empire for example; the French had occupied Tunis in 1881.
The emergence of these new political groups, all appealing in different ways to a new electorate, meant that the Liberal system of coalition politics would be very much more difficult to sustain in the future.
From 1903-14 Giovanni Giolitti, either as Prime minister or from behind the scenes, dominated politics. Giolitti’s aims were to; win support for the Liberal Regime, win the support of moderate socialists, nationalists and Catholics (through trasformismo), make the state neutral in labour disputes and to expand Italy’s empire. He believed in Liberalism, but saw that there had to be a new approach to social problems. Giolitti hoped to win support of the moderate Socialists by granting concessions to the workers. The government introduced a number of measures. For example workers were granted at least 1 day off per week and child labour under 12 was outlawed. The government also spent more money on public works such as road building and farming. Taxes on goods were reduced and quinine was supplied free in those areas where malaria was a problem. Giolitti also tried to keep the state neutral in industrial disputes. For example when the unions called a general strike in 1904 Giolitti refused demands to use troops to crush workers. Within a few days the strikes collapsed and Giolitti’s decision seemed justified. Unfortunately at the same time he angered the industrialists who saw his government as being too sympathetic to workers. Many so a more authoritarian government as a better way forward. Relations with the Vatican remained tense. Giolitti also managed to win some Catholic support. He dropped a law allowing divorce and stood up for the rights of Catholic schools. Giolitti had also managed to gain support from the Nationalists by agreeing to attack Libya. However, many Italians resented the war. They were conscripted and had to pay higher taxes in order to pay for the war. Whilst the war won support of the right it strengthened radical Socialist’s criticisms of Giolitti and trasformismo.
By 1914 the government had succeeded in some areas, but the failures outweighed these. The government had won support of some Nationalists by attacking Libya and Catholics by standing up for the rights for Catholic schools. However the war on Libya upset many Italians as they resented war. Industrialists were upset as concessions were made to workers, there was still unrest amongst the majority of Italy (‘Risorgimento’ hadn’t been achieved.) The general believe was a more authoritarian government was need to pull Italy from its problems to make the nation great and statistically equal to other major European powers.
