sep 20, 1870 - Italian Unification

Description:

After hundreads of years of division, Italy united under northern leadership (Sardinia-Piedmont)

Parliamentary monarchy established, beginning the period of Liberal Italy

Rife w/ problems from start:
1. Irredenta - majority Italian-speaking regions not part of Italy, the desire to integrate these regions into the country will drive foreign policy
2. North-South divide - industrialized north w/ smaller family owned farms VS unidustrialized south (Mezzogiorno) w/ inefficient noble-owned estates (latifundia)
3. Mafia - corruption, present mostly in the South
4. Language differences across Italy - makes administration, education more difficult
5. Mass emigration - brain drain (but can also be regarded positively: remmitances, decreased unemployment, wage increases)
6. Military inferiority compared to ther great powers
7. Opposition of the Church - most Italians were devout Catholics, so priests and the Pope stirring up unrest among the peasantry was a problem
8. Economic problems - government debt, high taxes on the poor
9. Political problems - limited suffrage = most Italians didn't participate in politics = dissatisfaction (sort of like "taxation without representation")
10. Conscription = dissatisfaction
11. No colonies - w/out them Italy could not be regarded as a great power, this will also drive foreign policy

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