This history of modern Italy began in March 1861 when Count Camillo Cavour proclaimed a united Italian kingdom with the goal of creating a prosperous, liberal new power in Europe. For a country whose ancient heritage had placed it at the center of western culture, this late entry into nationhood and rapid reach for power would bring frequent crisis. In this fully revised edition of his classic history of the country, Denis Mack Smith provides a complete and engaging narrative of the fate of Italy from Risorgimento to the present.
For sixty years after 1861 Italy was governed by a liberal oligarchy under a parliamentary constitution. Italy chose the winning side in the First World War, but the enormous costs of victory revealed social tensions and constitutional weaknesses that prepared the way, after 1920, for Europe's first fascist dictatorship.
After the painful civil war that followed World War II, Italy rediscovered liberal democracy, and under a new republican regime became one of the major industrialized countries of the world.
First published in 1958 as Italy: A Modern History, the book has been substantially rewritten with a new section on the period after 1945, a new bibliography, new maps, and updated factual appendices. Stylish, clearly written, deeply informed and often controversial, it remains the definitive account for anyone interested in modern Italy.
". . . an extraordinarily good and concise introduction to the scandals that almost destroyed the Italian Republic." —Alexander DeGrand, North Carolina State University
"No one will be surprised that in this new edition Mack Smith recounts the recent history of the Republic up to 1996 with the same shrewd authorial eye, both distant and perceptive, the deep knowledge, and the skill that made the older edition of this book a classic." —Raymond Grew, University of Michigan
Denis Mack Smith is a Fellow of the British Academy and Wolfson College, Oxford, and a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been awarded a dozen literary prizes in Italy and is a Commendatore of the Italian Order of Merit. Among his recent books are Italy and Its Monarchy (1989) and Mazzini (1994).
| Preface | ||
| Sect. 1 | Italy before 1861 | |
| 1 | The "Geographical Expression" | 3 |
| 2 | The Idea of National Unity | 6 |
| 3 | Mazzini, Garibaldi, and the Revolutionaries | 11 |
| 4 | Cavour and the Expansion of Piedmont | 17 |
| Sect. 2 | The Political and Economic Scene | |
| 5 | The Constitution, the King, and Parliament | 27 |
| 6 | The Social Hierarchy | 34 |
| 7 | Agriculture and Industry | 41 |
| 8 | Immediate Political Problems | 48 |
| Sect. 3 | The First Decade, 1861-1871 | |
| 9 | Ricasoli, Rattazzi, and Mingheti, 1861-1865 | 59 |
| 10 | Counterrevolution and Brigandage, 1860-1865 | 66 |
| 11 | The War for Venice, 1866 | 72 |
| 12 | Financial and Other Problems, 1866-1867 | 78 |
| 13 | The Capture of Rome | 83 |
| Sect. 4 | The Nation Asserts Itself, 1870-1882 | |
| 14 | The Last Years of the Right, 1870-1876 | 95 |
| 15 | Depretis and Transformism, 1870-1880 | 100 |
| 16 | Foreign Policy, 1860-1882 | 108 |
| 17 | Colonial Enterprise, 1860-1882 | 115 |
| Sect. 5 | The Troubled Period of Crispi, 1880-1893 | |
| 18 | Depretis and Crispi, 1880-1890 | 123 |
| 19 | Irredentism and Nationalist Fervor | 129 |
| 20 | Agriculture and Industry, about 1880 | 135 |
| 21 | The Tariff War with France, 1887-1892 | 142 |
| 22 | Corruption and the Banks, 1889-1893 | 146 |
| Sect. 6 | Colonial Defeat and Political Reaction, 1893-1900 | |
| 23 | Social Unrest and Crispi's Last Ministry | 157 |
| 24 | The Ethiopian War and the Eclipse of Crispi | 163 |
| 25 | The Parliamentary Government Endangered, 1896-1900 | 171 |
| 26 | Defects in the Constitution | 178 |
| Sect. 7 | Giolitti and Liberal Reform, 1900-1911 | |
| 27 | Liberal Government Resumed, 1900-1904 | 191 |
| 28 | Clerical and Radical Co-operation, 1904-1906 | 200 |
| 29 | The "Southern Problem" and Emigration | 206 |
| 30 | Economic and Cultural Revival | 216 |
| 31 | The Last Years of Liberal Reform, 1909-1911 | 225 |
| Sect. 8 | The Onset of War | |
| 32 | The German Alliance, 1896-1911 | 235 |
| 33 | The Libyan War, 1911-1912 | 241 |
| 34 | Giolitti's System Collapses, 1912-1914 | 249 |
| 35 | Italy Remains Neutral, 1914 | 255 |
| 36 | Intervention Against Austria, 1915 | 260 |
| Sect. 9 | The War and Its Aftermath, 1915-1922 | |
| 37 | The Conduct of War, 1915-1918 | 271 |
| 38 | The Peace Settlement, 1918-1920 | 276 |
| 39 | New Political Currents, 1919 | 282 |
| 40 | Nitti and the Rape of Fiume, 1919-1920 | 288 |
| 41 | Giolitti and the Suicide of Liberalism, 1920-1921 | 295 |
| 42 | Bonomi and Facta, 1921-1922 | 302 |
| Sect. 10 | Mussolini's Revolution, 1922-1925 | |
| 43 | Italy on the Eve, Summer 1922 | 311 |
| 44 | The March on Rome, October 26-30, 1922 | 316 |
| 45 | Dictatorship Emerges, 1922-1924 | 322 |
| 46 | The Defeat of Parliament and Press, 1924-1925 | 329 |
| Sect. 11 | The Theory and Practice of Fascism | |
| 47 | The Machinery and Personnel of Fascism | 337 |
| 48 | Economic and Social Policy | 347 |
| 49 | Fascist Doctrine | 354 |
| 50 | The Standardization of Culture | 359 |
| 51 | Persecution and Its Effects | 367 |
| 52 | Surviving Institutions | 374 |
| Sect. 12 | Decline and Fall of a Roman Empire | |
| 53 | Foreign Policy, 1922-1936 | 383 |
| 54 | Lack of Restraint, 1936-1938 | 389 |
| 55 | The Drift Toward War, 1938-1940 | 397 |
| 56 | Military and Political Defeat, 1940-1943 | 404 |
| Sect. 13 | The Transformation of Italy, 1943-1969 | |
| 57 | Liberation, 1943-1947 | 417 |
| 58 | Postwar Recovery | 425 |
| 59 | Constitutional Problem in the 1950s | 434 |
| 60 | A Move to the Left: the early 1960s | 443 |
| Sect. 14 | Italian Democracy in Crisis | |
| 61 | Terrorism, Corruption, and Consociation, 1968-1981 | 455 |
| 62 | The Old Regime Begins to Collapse, 1981-1992 | 467 |
| 63 | Four Attempts at Reform, 1992-1995 | 479 |
| 64 | An Interim Solution, 1996 | 491 |
| App | Prime Ministers of Italy, Heads of State, Popes | 498 |
| Bibliography of Books in English | 501 | |
| Index | 513 |
Anonymous
Posted December 29, 2003
THis book is an account of Italian Politics rom 1860 to the present. It details the rise of Liberalism in italy and the subsequent rise of fascism and then the Christian Democratic control of Italy following the war. Luminaries include politicians like Craxi and Mussulini. Unfortunatly Mr. Smith is far to harsh in his criticism and almost purpously humorous accounts of Italy's role in political and military affairs. unfortunatly there are few books that document Italy's political history for such a long period 1860-present. Theirfore it is a worthwhile read to understand the long passage of Italian political history. Unfortunatly I think Mr. SMith underestimates the great Italian politicians like Craxi and Mussulini and Crispi, the many faces of Italian politics, he makes fun of Italys military adventures(against the Ethiopians, Austrians, Americans, and Libyans among others). It is unfair to pretend that Italy was totally incompetant when in fact it played a major role in this centuries many wars.
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Overview
This history of modern Italy began in March 1861 when Count Camillo Cavour proclaimed a united Italian kingdom with the goal of creating a prosperous, liberal new power in Europe. For a country whose ancient heritage had placed it at the center of western culture, this late entry into nationhood and rapid reach for power would bring frequent crisis. In this fully revised edition of his classic history of the country, Denis Mack Smith provides a complete and engaging narrative of...