Difference between revisions 147107850 and 147107851 on dewiki

{{Infobox Former Country
|native_name = ''Regno d'Italia''
|conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Italy
|common_name = Italy
|continent = Europe
|region    = Italy
|country   = Italy
|year_start  = 1861
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|title_deputy = [[List of prime ministers of Italy|Prime Minister]]
|legislature  = <!-- Parliament -->
|house1       = [[Italian Senate|Senate]]
|house2       = [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]]
|house3       = [[Grand Council of Fascism]] (1928–43)
|footnotes    = 1: Unofficial anthem "''[[Giovinezza]]''" ("The Youth") 1922–43 [http://www.nationalanthems.info/it-gio.htm]
}}
The '''Kingdom of Italy''' (
[[Italian language|Italian]]: ''{{lang-it|'''Regno d'Italia'''''}}) was a state forged in 1861 by the [[Italian unification|unification of Italy]] under the influence of the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]; it existed until 1946 when the Italians opted for a [[republic]]an [[constitution]]. The Kingdom was the first Italian state to include the entire [[Italian Peninsula]] since the fall of the [[Roman Empire]].

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Common cultural traits in Italy in this time were [[Social conservatism|social conservative]] in nature, including a strong belief in the family as an institution and [[patriarchal]] values.<ref>Clark, pp. 33</ref> In other areas, Italian culture was divided. Aristocratic, noble, and upper middle-class families in Italy at this time were highly traditional in nature, with the upper middle-class even being known to often settle differences between each other by duels.<ref
 name="Clark">Clark, pp. 29</ref> After unification, a number of descendents of former royal nobility became residents of Italy, numbering at 7,387 nobile families upon unification.<ref>Clark, pp. 29</ref name="Clark"/> Many of Italy's elites were wealthy landowners who maintained a [[feudal society]] in regards to their agricultural system's utilization of large numbers of peasants.<ref>Clark, pp. 29</ref name="Clark"/> Italian society in this period remained highly divided along regional and local sub-societies which often had historical rivalries with each other.<ref>Clark, pp. 30</ref>

Upon unifying, Italy effectively did not have a single national language as official Italian was only commonly used in [[Rome]] while outside of Rome, regional dialects were dominant.<ref> Clark, pp. 36</ref> Even the kingdom's first king, [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]] was known to speak almost entirely in [[Piedmontese]], even to his cabinet ministers.<ref name="Clark_2">Clark, pp. 35</ref> In addition to this, literacy was extremely poor in this era with an 1871 census indicating that 61.9 percent Italian men were illiterate and 75.7 percent of women were illiterate.<ref name="Clark_3">Clark, Pp. 35</ref> This illiteracy rate was far higher than that of western European countries in the same time period.<ref>Clark, pp. 35</ref name="Clark_2"/> Some historians have claimed that census at this time for literacy were very lax as they only rated whether someone could write their own name and read a single passage, which may indicate that literacy in Italy was worse than what census projected.<ref>Clark, Pp. 35</ref name="Clark_3"/> The level of illiteracy was compounded by the fact that Italy had very few public schools upon unification and no popular press was available across Italy due to the language division of the regional dialects.<ref>Clark, pp. 35-36</ref> The Italian government in the Liberal Period attempted to reduce illiteracy by establishing state-funded schools to teach the official Italian language.<ref>Clark, pp. 38</ref> Literacy and illiteracy variated in levels in the different regions of Italy where there were different levels of quality of public education, with the worst being in Southern Italy at the time which received minimal funding.<ref>Clark, Pp. 35</ref name="Clark_3"/>

Living standards were low during the Liberal Period, especially in southern Italy due to various diseases such as [[malaria]] and epidemics that occurred during the period.<ref name="Clark_4">Clark. Pp. 14</ref> As a whole, there was initially a high death rate in 1871 at 30 people dying per 1000 people, though this reduced to 24.2 per 1000 by the 1890s.<ref name="Clark_5">Clark, pp. 31</ref> In addition, the mortality rate of children dying in their first year after birth in 1871 was 22.7 percent while the number of children dying before reaching their fifth birthday was very high at 50 percent.<ref>Clark, pp. 31</ref name="Clark_5"/> The morality rate of children dying in their first year after birth decreased to an average of 17.6 percent in the time period of 1891 to 1900.<ref>Clark, pp. 31</ref name="Clark_5"/>

===Economy===
With unification, the new kingdom faced serious economic problems and economic division along political, social, and regional lines. In the Liberal Period, Italy remained highly economically dependent on foreign trade and the international price of coal and grain.<ref> Clark, Pp. 27</ref>

Upon unifying, Italy had a predominantly agricultural society as 60 percent of the active population worked in agriculture.<ref name="Clark_6">Clark. Pp. 12</ref> Advances in technology, the sale of vast Church estates, foreign competition along with export opportunities rapidly transformed the agricultural sector in Italy shortly after unification .<ref>Clark. Pp. 12</ref name="Clark_6"/> However these developments did not benefit all of Italy in this period, as southern Italy’s agriculture suffered from hot summers and aridity damaged crops while the presence of [[malaria]] prevented cultivation of low-lying areas along Italy’s [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast.<ref>Clark. Pp. 14</ref name="Clark_4"/>

The overwhelming attention paid to foreign policy alienated the agricultural community in Italy which had been in decline since 1873.<ref>(Smith (1997), p138)</ref> Both radical and conservative forces in the Italian parliament demanded that the government investigate how to improve agriculture in Italy.<ref name="multiref7">(Smith (1997), p136)</ref> The investigation which started in 1877 and was released eight years later, showed that agriculture was not improving, that landowners were earning revenue from their lands and contributing almost nothing to the development of the land. Lower class Italians were hurt by the break-up of communal lands to the benefit of landlords.<ref>(Smith (1997), p136)</ref name="multiref7"/> Most of the workers on the agricultural lands were not peasants but short-term labourers who at best were employed for one year.<ref>(Smith (1997), p136)</ref name="multiref7"/> Peasants without stable income were forced to live off meager food supplies, disease was spreading rapidly, plagues were reported, including a major [[cholera]] epidemic which killed at least 55,000 people.<ref>(Smith (1997), p137)</ref>

The Italian government could not deal with the situation effectively because of overspending by the Depretis government that left Italy heavily in debt. Italy also suffered economically as a consequence of overproduction of grapes by their vineyards. In the 1870s and 1880s, France's vineyard industry was suffering from vine disease caused by insects. Italy time prospered as the largest exporter of wine in Europe. But following the recovery of France in 1888, southern Italy was overproducing and had to cut back, which caused greater unemployment and bankruptcies.<ref>(Smith (1997), p139)</ref>

The Italian government invested heavily in developing railways in the 1870s, more than doubling the existing length of railway line between 1870 and 1890.<ref>Clark. Pp. 27</ref>

Italy’s population remained severely divided between wealthy elites and impoverished workers especially on regional lines. An 1881 census found that over 1 million southern day-labourers were chronically under-employed and were very likely to become seasonal emigrants in order to economically sustain themselves.<ref name="Clark_7">Clark. Pp. 15</ref> Southern peasants as well as small landowners and tenants often were in a state of conflict and revolt throughout the late 1800s.<ref>Clark. Pp. 16</ref> There were exceptions to the generally poor economic condition of agricultural workers of the south, as some regions near cities such as [[Naples]] and [[Palermo]] as well as along the Tyrrhenian coast.<ref>Clark. Pp. 15</ref name="Clark_7"/> The ''1910 Commission of Inquiry into the South'' indicated that the Italian government thus far had failed to ameliorate the severe economic differences and the limitation of voting rights only to those with sufficient property allowed rich landowners to exploit the poor.<ref>Clark. Pp. 17 –18.</ref>

=== Early colonialism ===
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A major hindrance to Italy's decision on what to do about the war was the political instability throughout Italy in 1914. After the formation of the government of Prime Minister [[Antonio Salandra]] in March 1914, the government attempted to win the support of nationalists and moved to the political right.<ref
 name="multiref9">(Clark, 1984. p.180)</ref> At the same time the left became more repulsed by the government after the killing of three anti-militarist demonstrators in June.<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.180)</ref name="multiref9"/> Many elements of the left including [[syndicalists]], [[republicans]] and [[anarchists]] protested against this and the [[Italian Socialist Party]] declared a [[general strike]] in Italy.<ref>(Clark, Martin. 1984. ''Modern Italy: 1871-1982.'' London and New York: Longman Group UK Limited. p.180)</ref> The protests that ensued became known as "[[Red Week]]" as leftists rioted and various acts of civil disobedience occurred in major cities and small towns such as seizing  railway stations, cutting telephone wires, and burning tax-registers.<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.180)</ref name="multiref9"/> However only two days later the strike was officially called off, though the civil strife continued. Militarist nationalists and anti-militarist leftists fought on the streets until the Italian Royal Army forcefully restored calm after having used thousands of men to put down the various protesting forces<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.180)</ref name="multiref9"/> following the invasion of [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] by [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1914, [[World War I]] broke out. Despite Italy's official alliance to the [[German Empire]] and in the [[Triple Alliance]], she initially remained neutral, claiming that the Triple Alliance was only for defensive purposes.

[[Image:Gabriele D'Annunzio.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Gabriele d'Annunzio]], a prominent nationalist revolutionary who was a supporter of Italy joining action in the [[First World War]].]]
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{{Quotation|Italy has awaited this since 1866 her truly national war, in order to feel unified at last, renewed by the unanimous action and identical sacrifice of all her sons. Today, while Italy still wavers before the necessity imposed by history, the name of Garibaldi, resanctified by blood, rises again to warn her that she will not be able to defeat the revolution save by fighting and winning her national war." ''Luigi Federzoni, 1915''<ref
 name="multiref10">(Thayer, John A. (1964). ''Italy and the Great War.'' Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press. p279)</ref>}}
Mussolini used his new newspaper ''[[Il Popolo d'Italia]]'' and his strong oratorical skills to urge nationalists and patriotic revolutionary leftists to support Italy's entry into the war to gain back Italian populated territories from Austria-Hungary, by saying "enough of [[Italian North Africa|Libya]], and on to [[Trent]] and [[Trieste]]".<ref>(Thayer, John A. (1964). ''Italy and the Great War.'' Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press. p279)</ref name="multiref10"/> Mussolini claimed that it was in the interests of socialists to join the war to tear down the aristocratic [[Hohenzollern]] dynasty of Germany which he claimed was the enemy of all European workers.<ref>(Thayer, p272)</ref> Mussolini and other nationalists warned the Italian government that Italy must join the war or face revolution and called for violence against pacifists and neutralists.<ref>(Thayer, p253)</ref> [[Left-wing nationalism]] also erupted in southern Italy, social(contracted; show full) difficulty for Italy, as its border with Austria-Hungary was along mountainous terrain. In May 1915, Italian forces at 400,000 men along the border outnumbered the Austrian and Germans almost precisely four to one.<ref>Seton-Watson, Christopher. 1967. ''Italy from Liberalism to Fascism: 1870 to 1925.'' London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. Pp. 451</ref> However the Austrian defenses were strong even though they were undermanned and managed to hold off the Italian offensive.<ref
 name="Seton">Seton-Watson, Pp. 451</ref> The battles with the Austro-Hungarian army along the Alpine foothills in the trench warfare there were drawn-out, long engagements with little progress.<ref>(Clark, Martin. 1984. ''Modern Italy: 1871-1982.'' London and New York: Longman Group UK Limited. p.185)</ref> Italian officers were poorly trained in contrast to the Austro-Hungarian and German armies, and Italian artillery was inferior to the Austrian machine guns and the Italian forces had dangerously low supply of ammunition, this shortage would continually hamper attempts to make advances into Austrian territory.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 451</ref name="Seton"/> This combined with the constant replacement of officers by Cadorna resulted in few officers gaining the experience necessary to lead military missions.<ref name="multiref12">(Clark, 1984. p.186)</ref>  In the first year of the war, poor conditions on the battlefield led to outbreaks of cholera causing a significant number of Italian soldiers to die.<ref name="Seton_2">Seton-Watson, Pp. 452</ref> Despite these serious problems, Cadorna refused to back down the offensive. Naval battles occurred between the Italian Royal Navy (''[[Regia Marina]]'') and the Austro-Hungarian navy. Italy's warships were outclassed by the Austro-Hungarian fleet and the situation was made more dire for Italy in that both [[France]] and the [[United Kingdom]] refused to send their navies into the [[Adriatic Sea]] which they saw has far too dangerous to operate due the concentration of the Austro-Hungarian fleet there.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 452</ref name="Seton_2"/> Morale fell among Italian soldiers who lived a tedious life when not on the front lines: they were forbidden to enter theatres or bars even when on leave. However when battles were about to occur, alcohol was made freely available to the soldiers in order to reduce tension before the battle.In order to escape the tedium after battles, some groups of soldiers worked to create improvised brothels.<ref name="multiref14">(Clark, 1984. p.187)</ref> In order to maintain morale, the Italian army had propaganda lectures of the importance of the war to Italy, especially in order to retrieve Trent and Trieste from Austria-Hungary.<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.187)</ref name="multiref14"/> Some of these lectures were carried out by popular nationalist war proponents such as [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]]. D'Annunzio himself would participate in a number of paramilitary raids on Austrian positions along the Adriatic coastline during the war and lost an eye one of the battles.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 502</ref> Prominent pro-war advocate [[Benito Mussolini]] was prevented from giving lecture by the government, most likely because of his revolutionary socialist past.<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.187)</ref name="multiref14"/>

The Italian government became increasingly aggravated in 1915 with the passive nature of the [[Serbian army]] which had not engaged in a serious offensive against Austria-Hungary for months.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 452-3</ref> The Italian government blamed Serbian military inactiveness for allowing the Austrians to muster their armies against Italy.<ref name="Seton_3">Seton-Watson, Pp. 453</ref> Cadorna suspected that Serbia was attempting to negotiate an end to fighting with Austria and addressed this to foreign minister [[Sidney Sonnino]] who himself bitterly claimed that the Serbia was an unreliable ally.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 453</ref name="Seton_3"/> Relations between Italy and Serbia became so cold that the other Entente members were forced to abandon the idea of forming a united Balkan front against Austria-Hungary.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 453</ref name="Seton_3"/> In negotiations, Sonnino remained willing to allow Bosnia to join Serbia, but refused to discuss the fate of Dalmatia which was claimed by Italy and [[Pan-Slavism|Pan-Slavists]] in Serbia.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 453</ref name="Seton_3"/> As Serbia fell to the Austro-Hungarian and German forces in 1915, Cadorna proposed sending 60,000 men to land in Salonika to help the Serbs now in exile in Greece and Albania to fight off the opposing forces, but the Italian government's bitterness to Serbia resulted in the proposal being rejected.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 453</ref name="Seton_3"/>

After 1916, the situation for Italy grew steadily worse, the Austro-Hungarian army managed to push the Italian Army back into Italy as far as [[Verona]] and [[Padua]] in their Strafexpedition. At the same time Italy faced a shortage of warships, increased attacks by submarines, soaring freight charges threatening the ability to supply food to soldiers, lack of raw materials and equipment, and Italians faced high taxes to pay for the war.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 456</ref> Austro-Hungarian and German forces had gone deep into northern Italian territory, and finally in November 1916, Cadorna ended offensive operations and began a defensive approach. In 1917, France, the United Kingdom and the United States offered to send troops to Italy to help it fend off the offensive of the [[Central Powers]], but the Italian government refused, as Sonnino did not want Italy to be seen as a [[client state]] of the Allies and preferred isolation as the more brave alternative.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 461-2</ref> Italy also wanted to keep [[Greece]] out of the war, as the Italian government feared that should Greece join the war on the side of the Allies, it would intend to annex Albania, which Italy wanted as its own.<ref name="Seton_4">Seton-Watson, Pp. 463</ref> Fortunately for Italy, pro-war advocates in Greece failed to succeed in pressuring the Greek King to bring the country into the conflict, and Italian aims on Albania remained unthreatened.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 463</ref name="Seton_4"/>

With the collapse of the [[Russian Empire]] and the arrival of the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik]] regime of [[Vladimir Lenin]] in Russia in 1917, more Austro-Hungarian and German forces arrived on the front against Italy. Internal dissent against the war grew with increasingly poor economic and social conditions in Italy due to the strain of the war. Much of the profit of the war was being made in the cities while rural areas were losing income.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 468-9</ref> The number of men available for agricultural work had fallen from 4.8 million to 2.2 million, though through the help of women, agricultural production managed to be maintained at 90 percent of its pre-war total during the war.<ref name="Seton_5">Seton-Watson, Pp. 468</ref> Many pacifist and internationalist Italian socialists turned to [[Bolshevism]] and advocated negotiations with the workers of Germany and Austria-Hungary to help end the war and bring about Bolshevik revolutions.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 468</ref name="Seton_5"/> The newspaper ''[[Avanti! (Italian newspaper)|Avanti!]]'' of the [[Italian Socialist Party]] declared "Let the bourgeoisie fight its own war".<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 469</ref> Leftist women in northern Italian cities led protests demanding action against the high cost of living and demanding an end to the war.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 470</ref> In [[Milan]] in May 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries organized and engaged in rioting calling for an end to the war, and managed to close down factories and stop public transportation.<ref name="Seton_6">Seton-Watson, Pp. 471</ref>  The Italian army was forced to enter Milan with tanks and machine guns to face Bolsheviks and anarchists who fought violently until [[May 23]] when the army gained control of the city with almost fifty people killed (three of which were Italian soldiers) and over 800 people arrested.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 471</ref name="Seton_6"/>

After the [[Battle of Caporetto]] in 1917, Italian forces were forced far back into Italian territory, and the humiliation led to the arrival of [[Vittorio Orlando]] as Prime Minister who managed to solve some of Italy's wartime problems. Orlando abandoned the previous isolationist approach to the war and increased coordination with the Allies and the use of the convoy system to fend off submarine attack, allowed Italy to be able to end food shortages from February 1918 onward, and Italy received more raw materials from the Allies.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 486</ref> Also in 1918, began the official repression of enemy aliens and Italian socialists were increasingly repressed by the Italian government. The Italian government was infuriated with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's [[Fourteen Points]] as the advocation of national self-determination meant that Italy would not gain Dalmatia as had been promised in the [[Treaty of London]].<ref name="Seton_7">Seton-Watson, Pp. 493</ref> In parliament, nationalists condemned Wilson's fourteen points as betraying the Treaty of London, while socialists claimed that Wilson's points were valid and claimed the Treaty of London was an offense to the rights of Slavs, Greeks, and Albanians.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 493</ref name="Seton_7"/> Negotiations between Italy and the Allies, particularly the new Yugoslav delegation (replacing the Serbian delegation), agreed to a trade off between Italy and a new Yugoslav state, which was that Dalmatia as claimed by Italy would be accepted as Yugoslav, while Istria as claimed by the Yugoslavs would be accepted as Italian.<ref>Seton-Watson, Pp. 495</ref>

At Piave the Italian army managed to hold off the Austro-Hungarian and German armies. The opposing armies repeatedly failed afterwards in major battles such as [[Battle of Asiago]] and the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]]. The Italian Army crushed the Austrian offensive in the latter battle. Austria-Hungary ended the fighting against Italy with the armistice on [[11 November]] [[1918]] which ended World War I.

[[Image:Battle of Vittorio Veneto.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Map of the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]], in which the Italian Army decisively beat the invading Austro-Hungarian army]]
[[Image:Carabineri in Palestine - cockhats.jpg|thumbnail|300px|right|Italian [[Carabinieri]] (seen in cocked hats) served in [[Palestine]] during the [[First World War]].]]

During the war, the Italian Royal Army increased in size from 15,000 men in 1914 to 160,000 men in 1918, with 5 million recruits in total entering service during the war.<ref>(Clark, 1984. p.186)</ref name="multiref12"/> This came at a terrible cost: by the end of the war, Italy had lost 700,000 soldiers and had a budget deficit of twelve billion lira. Italian society was divided between the majority pacifists who opposed Italian involvement in the war and the minority of pro-war nationalists who had condemned the Italian government for not having immediately gone to war with Austria in 1914.

===Italy's territorial settlements and the reaction===
(contracted; show full) far fewer deaths of political opponents. However Fascists methods of repression were cruel which included physically forcing opponents of Fascism to swallow [[castor oil]] which would cause severe diarrhea and dehydration, leaving the victim in a painful and physically debilitated state which would sometimes would result in death.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
  |title=Italy The rise of Mussolini
  | encyclopedia =Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  |volume=
  |pages=
  |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica
  |
dateyear=2007
  |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-27762/Italy
  |accessdate=2007-08-03  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
  |last=
  |first=
  |coauthors=
  |title=Benito's Birthday
  |work=
  |pages=
  |language=
  |publisher=Time, in partnership with CNN
  |date=Monday, Aug. 0August 6, 1923
  |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,716284,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
  |accessdate=2007-08-03  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
  |last=Bosworth
  |first=R. J. B.
  |authorlink=
  |coauthors=
  |title=Mussolini
  |publisher=Arnold/Oxford Univ. Press
  |dateyear=2002
  |location=New York
  |pages=
  |url=
  |doi=
  |id=
  |isbn=0340731443 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_028.html The Straight Dope: Did Mussolini use castor oil as an instrument of torture?<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref>

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Even prior to the rise of the Fascists, the monarchy was seen to have performed poorly, with society extremely divided between the wealthy north and poor south. World War I resulted in Italy making few gains and was seen as what fostered the rise of Fascism. These frustrations compacted into a revival of the Italian republican movement.

Following Victor Emmanuel III's abdication as king in 1946, his son, the new king [[Umberto II of Italy|
  Umberto II]], was pressured by the threat of civil war to call a referendum to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. On [[2 June]] [[1946]], the republican side won 54% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic. Umberto II abdicated the Italian throne, and a [[Birth of the Italian Republic|new republic]] was born with bitter resentment against the [[House of Savoy]]. All male members of the Savoy family were barred from entering Italy in 1948. This ban was only repeale(contracted; show full)[[pt:Reino de Itália]]
[[ro:Regatul Italiei (1861-1946)]]
[[ru:Королевство Италия (1861—1946)]]
[[sl:Kraljevina Italija]]
[[fi:Italian kuningaskunta (1861–1946)]]
[[th:ราชอาณาจักรอิตาลี]]
[[vec:Reino d'Itałia (1861-1946)]]
[[zh:意大利王国]]