Italy remained poor and backward, despite all Mussolini's attempts to promote economic growth. Consider the validity of this judgement on the Italian economy in the years 1924-1936.

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Italy remained poor and backward, despite all Mussolini’s attempts to promote economic growth.

  • Consider the validity of this judgement on the Italian economy in the years 1924-1936.

Mussolini had inherited an Italy with limited resources. The industrialisation of the north and modernisation of agriculture left the south behind with its mass poverty and lack of education. Mussolini believed in will power as a driving force in society. The battle for the lira, grain and marshes were used to mobilise the Italian people who struggled to achieve these targets.

In 1926 Mussolini engaged in the Battle for the Lira. In October 1922, the lira was fixed at 90 to the pound and had been falling rapidly since. In 1927 the quota of 90 was achieved by returning to the gold standard. The economy was deflated to drive up the value of the lira, however this drove up the price of Italian exports seriously harming the economy. Small firms were taken over by larger ones. This serious deflation caused government imposed wage cuts of 20%. The battles’ good intention of returning economic stability was a lost cause that forced the government to devalue the lira in 1936.

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The battle for grain in 1925 aimed to promote economic growth with autarky to reduce the need for grain imports and make Italy more independent. To make this possible high tariffs were imposed on imported grain and government grants were made available to farmers for machinery and fertiliser. Although cereal production doubled other forms of agriculture were hard hit, which raised the need for imports of meat and eggs. Italy became almost self-sufficient in grain but not fertiliser so cereal production fell during the war due to the restrictions on fertilisers.

The corporate state was created as ...

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