A Century of Change

During the 19th century, Italy was divided politically, economically, socially and culturally.  The unstoppable energy of the Risorgimento dominated politics for about twenty years.

The movement brought territorial and administrative unification, but did not lay down the groundwork for an effective, unified country.  At the beginning of the 19th century, Italy was preparing to enter the circle of powerful European countries.

During this time, the beginnings of a democratic relationship between varying political forces developed, as did the base of future institutional, economic and industrial growth. However, the lack of a good, well-supported plan led to the growth of Nationalism in Italy.

The new movement was considered anti-parliament, anti-liberal and militaristic. Nationalism glorified war as the “world’s hygiene,” obscuring the true spirit of loving one’s country with unrealistic and unwarranted desire to conquer.

World War I (1915-1918) was the inevitable result of this desire for national power.  Following the war, Europe found itself drained of its men and resources. Europe was destined to loose its supremacy to the United States of America.

Poorly conceived peace agreements caused people to become selfish and differences to develop. This was true especially in Italy where people described the war as a vittoria mutilata, or a “crippled victory,” and in Germany where the country was under major sanctions. In just two short decades, the nations entered into a disastrous war of revenge.

The volatile situation became even more unstable due to intense post-war social tensions, caused by the economic crisis.  In 1929, the crisis reached its peak with the collapse of Wall Street; repercussions were felt throughout the Western world.

Between the two wars, the political and cultural life in Italy was dominated by the fascist regime. Benito Mussolini, or Il Duce, took the reigns in 1922 with his March on Rome in 1922, and remained in control through WWII. During those twenty years, known as the Ventennio, Italy was stuck in conditions of profound backwardness: the country lacked a modern, entrepreneurial mentality; economic choices were made based on desire for immediate returns rather than long-term strategies; the liberal state revealed its weaknesses due to the lack of common agreement; the per capita income was low; cultural education was a privilege of few and illiteracy, despite the mandatory schooling, was widespread among the poorer classes.

World War II (1940-45) marked a drastic change from the previous period; in fact, never before had a war caused catastrophes of these proportions. Italy was seriously wounded by the war, but persisted thanks to a strong reconstructionist movement in both materially and spiritually. Reconstructionism completely renewed the country.  First came industrialization and the birth of tertiary sectors and then strong cultural and social transformations. Italy became a new country.