Liberal governments (1896-1915)

Question 1

Why did Italy take such a repressive approach during this period?

Answer 1

They viewed dissent as subversion and concession as a sign of weakness

Question 2

How did the repressive government policy become extremely damaging in 1898?

Answer 2

The poor harvests of 1897, combined with high taxes on imported wheat, pushed up the price of food. Street demonstrations against food prices began in the south and spread across the country. When the attempt to arrest socialist newspaper sellers caused riots in Milan the government thought they had uncovered a socialist plot. The army was brought into repress the riots, leaving 200 people dead. The King enraged people by awarding the Grand Cross of Savoy to the general responsible for the shootings. Martial law was declared, the press were censored and thousands were arrested

Question 3

Why can liberal repression be seen as a failure despite the fact that protestors were silenced?

Answer 3

Opposition did not disappear, it just went underground. Infact, the repression actually served to increase negative opinion towards the liberals. The liberals began to realise that repression was not a viable long term policy and the voices of moderation began to be heard at the turn of the century

Question 4

Who was the figurehead of the more moderate approach at the turn of the century?

Answer 4

Giolitti, he believed that the liberals had brought about much of the unrest they combatted by ignoring the plight of ordinary Italians

Question 5

What did Giolitti warn parliament in 1901?

Answer 5

That there was no way of stopping the popular classes from gaining their share of political and economic influence. He said it was parliament’s choice whether this came about in a piecemeal, conservative way, or through revolution

Question 6

Why did Giolitti disagree with repression?

Answer 6

He thought it would only serve to accentuate class struggle and lead to a revolutionary socialist movement

Question 7

What did Giolitti see as the alternative to repression?

Answer 7

Showing that the government was not the enemy of labour and the urban poor by being sympathetic. He thought that moderate socialists should be allowed to join in coalition and play a constructive role in government

Question 8

List the achievements Giolitti made in terms of social policy

Answer 8

• Forced through laws forcing employers to provide on rest day per week and preventing them from employing children under 12
• Older children and women workers could not work more than 12 hours a day
• Old age pensions introduced
• The government helped in providing housing for the poor
• Government expenditure on public works doubled between 1900 and 1907
• Regressive taxes on food were reduced
• Quinine was supplied free of charge to all areas affected by malaria

Question 9

What had pre-Giolitti governments thought about strikes?

Answer 9

They recognised the right to strike but saw strikers as potentially revolutionary mobs who should be dispersed by police, this was particularly the case in the 1890s

Question 10

How did Giolitti differ from his predecessors in terms of his approach to labour disputes?

Answer 10

He thought that the government should remain neutral, as this was the only way that the liberals could secure worker support. Giolitti believed that employers should be willing to negotiate with their workers. This came into practise when a left wing union called a strike in 1904 but the government held its nerve and refused to crush the strikers

Question 11

What did the Giolitti government do to improve labour relations?

Answer 11

Encouraged the emergence of arbitrators. These were independent officials who listened to the arguements of both employers and employees and recommended a compromise. This encouraged employers to become more conciliatory over time, conceding that workers couldn’t be sacked without good cause or for striking

Question 12

What foreign policy decision did the Giolitti government make in September 1911?

Answer 12

They invaded Libya, hoping to quickly overcome this outpost of the Turkish Empire and set up a colony

Question 13

Explain the reasons why Giolitti decided to invade Libya

Answer 13

Italy had had ambitions in North Africa since the 1880s but France were consolidating their position there and it was thought they may turn their attention to Libya. Public opinion was whipped up by nationalists and the press into thinking that they could not stand for another humiliation. They demanded intervention and Giolitti bowed to the pressure

Question 14

Why was the actual military campaign in Libya a resounding success for the liberal government?

Answer 14

The major Libyan towns and ports were taken within three weeks and and Turkey formally ceded the territory to Italy in October 1912

Question 15

How did the socialists cause problems within Giolitti’s transformismo government?

Answer 15

They PSI condemned the Libyan war. The radicals took over from the moderates as the dominant group within the movement. Avanti, edited by Mussolini, began to advocate for the abolition of private property and violent strikes to overthrow the state. Appalled, conservatives blamed Giolitti’s conciliatory approach towards labour policy

Question 16

How did the nationalists cause problems for the Giolitti government

Answer 16

Some Italians began listening to the Italian Nationalist Association, who condemned Giolitti and the whole liberal political system. The nationalists accused the liberals of neglecting Italian interests and demanded greater spending on defence and more colonial expansion. They insisted that the liberal system must be replaced with an authoritarian state in order for Italy to become a ‘great power’. There influence over conservative groups was polarising

Question 17

How and why did Giolitti expand the franchise in 1912?

Answer 17

As a reward to the soldiers for the victorious Libyan campaign. The franchise was extended to literate men over 21, all men over 30 and anyone who had completed their military service. This expanded the electorate from 3 million to 8.5 million

Question 18

Why did the is the 1913 election not seen as a departure from normal results despite the changes to the franchise a year earlier?

Answer 18

The various liberal factions controlled 318 of the 511 seats and could count on 70 votes from the liberals. Meanwhile the socialists had only 78 seats and the nationalists had just three

Question 19

Why is the idea that nothing had changed due to the results of the 1913 election an illusion?

Answer 19

Because the liberals had only achieved this majority through arranging the Gentolini Pact with the moderate Catholics

Question 20

How did the Gentolini Pact aid transformismo government in the short term?

Answer 20

It meant that liberal candidates who opposed divorce and promoted church schools and religious orders would receive Catholic votes, which allowed Giolitti to secure a majority

Question 21

Why did the Gentolini Pact actually lead to Giolitti’s resignation, despite ensuring electoral success in the short term?

Answer 21

The staunchly anticlerical radicals withdrew support from Giolitti’s government, feeling that they could no longer support an administration propped up by the catholics

Question 22

What would the first world war do to liberal politics in Italy?

Answer 22

Severely weaken it