Italy 1870 1914

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Italy 1870 - 1914
The Economy
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The North

• Rich

• Contained commercial farms

• More industry

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The South
Poor soil
Natural Disasters
This all lead to the economic and social
backwardness of the south.
Peasants lacking land and capital
Powerful clans and mafia
High unemployment rate
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Economic Difficulties

• 1880s Italian industry was undercut by foreigners
• 1887 Government responded by introducing tariffs
• This lead to a tariff war
• Whole areas of Italy were ruined

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More Problems

• Leagues that supported socialist ideas were
  formed Fasci

• Inflation

• Strikes, riots and arson broke out

• 1894, the Fasci were banned and a thousand
  people deported

• 1898, political parties and organisations
  considered subversive were banned

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Economic development

• So were there any economic developments
  between 1880-1914?b
• Italy was lacking basic resources e.g. coal and
  iron.a
• Industrialisation in the North worsened the
  North-South divide.a
• High taxes on the poor
• The only positive point was the industrial
  development in the North after 1900.

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Economic development

• Illiteracy fell from 42 to 11

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Impact on Italy
Ultimately, the economic problems mentioned made
it more difficult for the Italian government to
unify Italy. Overall, from 1880 to the 1900s,
Italys economy lagged behind other European
countries due to her limited key resources and
the various problems previously mentioned.
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Presentation by

• Natalie Chiu
• John Lee
• Lawrence Chow
• Helen Yeh