Two Sicilies, AA Realm between past and future

The first half of '70s does not record particular diplomatic events about Italy. The alliance with France sanctioned at Plombières in 1859 and that with Greece (dating back to 1857) have been periodically renewed without troubles, even if the Hellenic partners have been somewhat disappointed by the new policy of proximity with the Ottoman Empire inaugurated by Foreign Minister Cairoli, whose mark on the Italian foreign policy would be really strong along the entire decade. Aiming at counterbalancing Austro-Hungarian supremacy in the Balkans and French expansionism in the Mediterranean (despite the renewal of the Franco-Italian alliance pact in 1872, frictions between the two allies about North Africa would rapidly mount after the Italian conquest of Tunisia), Cairoli seeks to build a wider diplomatic network for Italy in order to break the traditional, and maybe a bit limitative, pro-French attitude and contribute to the fragile balance of powers. For such reasons, friendly liaisons with the Ottoman Empire (which will eventually evolve in the mutual exchange of military technology during the Russo-Turkish War) and United Kingdom (culminating in the Anglo-Italian alliance of 1880) are established.


The Balkan Question is the diplomatic affair of the decade: ignited by the anti-Ottoman revolts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria in 1876, a vast Pan-Slavic front clusters against the Turkish domination in the region in the following months. Russia encourages Serbia and Montenegro to declare war on Ottoman Empire in summer 1876 but a temporary armistice ensues because of the intervention of European powers. Divergence among the various parties soon emerges: as testified by Czar Alexander II's 11th November speech, Russia sees itself as protector of all the Orthodox Balkan principalities, Austria-Hungary tries to extend its power in the region in a dangerous conflict of interests with both Russia and Italy. On the other side, Prussia and Italy are close friends to the Ottoman Empire (Prussia has even signed an alliance pact), Britain and France – as they did during the Crimean War – are ready to oppose with any measure the Russian attempts to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea. A conference held in Istanbul in December 1876 fails and the word returns to arms. Russia and Serbia sign an alliance on 17 January 1877 and three months later declare war on the Ottomans and Prussia. Other four interested powers stay at the window to avoid a major continental conflict, with Italy and Britain strongly supportive to Turkey, Austria-Hungary to Russia (a secret agreement between Saint Petersburg and Wien foresees in case of Russian victory an Austro-Hungarian protectorate over Bosnia-Herzegovina) and France coldly neutral because of its jealousy of the Turkish-Prussian cooperation.


[From a game perspective, at this specific moment of time, Italy has very good relationship with France (ally), Greece (ally) and Ottoman Empire, good with Britain and Argentina, neutral with Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia and USA, negative with Russia and Prussia, very bad with Austria-Hungary and Papal States].

The war lasts only six months because the pressure posed by Turkey (well-armed by its "Western" friends) and Prussia causes a terrible blow to the badly prepared and equipped Czarist troops. Two counteroffensives led by von Moltke in Poland and Ahmed Muhtar Pasha in Caucasus manage to advance well inside Russian territory and hold their positions despite numerous unsuccessful and bloodily Russian attempts. Under pressure because of the disappointing course of war and the enormous losses, Russia signs the Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano (13th October 1877) which imposes the cessation of Western Poland to Prussia and Armenia to Ottoman Empire, with Alexander II asking pathetically for an international conference to settle the Balkan issue and the Turkish expansionism towards Persia, the Czar's ally in the Middle East area. In fact, three weeks after the Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano Russia would intervene in support of Persia against Turkey and lose a second war, with Persia forced to cede some border provinces to the Ottomans in February 1878, just few months before of the scheduled beginning of the Congress of Berlin, where the reunited Great Powers ratify the negotiations of San Stefano.

Thus, under the chairmanship of a victorious Bismarck (in eleven years Austria-Hungary, France and Russia have experienced the brutal force of the Prussian troops), Prussia, Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Russia, Italy and the Ottoman Empire convene at Berlin in June-July 1878 to ratify San Stefano and settle open issues in the most renowned congress of the century after that of Wien (1815). Supported by the Prussian, Italian and British delegates, the Ottoman Empire is able to convince that the Balkan nationalism is a menace to the peace in Europe. A humiliated Russia sees its own borders receding in two vital areas as Poland and Caucasus but at least its Balkan friends (Serbia, Montenegro, Romania) preserve their territorial integrity and Austria-Hungary renounces to its goals in Bosnia-Herzegovina.


The scramble for Africa is the unresolved issue of the Congress of Berlin: with Russia, USA and France respectively focused on their expansion efforts in Central Asia (annexation of Kokand, 1873), Central America (Mexico and California are repeatedly defeated in a series of minor skirmishes, 1869-76) and Indian Ocean (annexation of Annam, 1873, and vassallisation of Luang Prabang, 1877), the Black Continent would witness since 1879 an intense colonial activity of Prussia in its Atlantic coasts, followed to a lesser extent by United Kingdom in the Western and Southern part, Italy in the Horn of Africa and Ottoman Empire in the Sahara region (further details on Italian colonisation follow in the dedicated section). For now, it is enough to stress the impact of colonial expansionism of the four powers which apparently got the upper hand at Berlin (Prussia, Ottoman Empire and – to a lesser extent – Britain and Italy) has on diplomacy, because it will be the cause of a long series of conflicts, as the Franco-British War colonial war initiated by the invasion of Madagascar and the continuous tension among various interested parties on the fate of Morocco and Tunis will symbolise.

The latter draws our attention because it's the cause of increasing Franco-Italian divergences (and Anglo-Italian convergences): due to different views expressed at Berlin and the conflicting interests over Morocco and Tunis, the renewal of the Franco-Italian alliance (expected in 1878) fails. The affaire Rubattino (an Italian railway concessionaire for the city of Tunis damaged by French underhand manoeuvres) and the French invasion of Madagascar in February 1880 (opposed by Britain) further exacerbate the situation and convince Prime Minister Cairoli to accept Disraeli' offer for an Anglo-Italian alliance pact (25th April 1880). Economic influence in Morocco is much more contended among various parties and the mutual vetoes at the moment allows it to maintain a shaky independence which will be guaranteed by the Conference of Madrid (June 1880) attended by Britain, France, Spain, USA and Italy. On the other side the French invasion of Tunis and the establishment of a protectorate over the city (Bardo Treaty, 1881) would provoke vibrant Italian protests and a serious rearmament.


PS. Don't worry about the apparently not consistent good relation with France shown in this post ... the Bardo Treaty event will have it plummeting!

I wanted to give an update on military and colonial ventures in the same post of diplomacy, but that's already quite lenqthy.

I'm leaving these issues to the next one which will come in few days, due to Christmas (but I'll be lurking around AARland as always). For now, I sincerely wish everyone of you Happy Christmas and all the best in these days and after. And see you again here later on!

The Seventies, a contradictory decade: military and colonialism​

The Seventies are dedicated to the reconstruction and reinforcement of the armed forces, particularly after the recrudescence of the tension with France over North Africa. The Army, seriously diminished by the losses in the Third Independence War, is gradually restored to its pre-war status but the high commands profit of the necessity to rebuild a number of standing infantry divisions to update their armaments and provide them with high-quality attachment (engineers, artillery). Also the cavalry (simple or with cuirassiers/hussars) receives adequate funds to restore the ranks acutely spoiled during the war (remember the sacrifice of two cavalry divisions at Sopron). With two separate enrolment decrees in 1872 and 1881 (the latter passed as an intimidating act against France during the worst period of the Tunis crisis), also the reserve divisions are increased to 24, which bring the possibility to mobilise up to 240.000 recruits if required.

Starting since 1878, the Navy undergoes an even more radical change both administratively and technologically. It reorganises its vessels in three squadrons: a truly Italian squad joins the Taranto-based Southern (formerly Neapolitan) and the Genoa-based Northern (formerly Piedmontese) Fleets. Based in Venice, the newly formed Eastern Fleet is the most advanced of the three: with the glorious Venetian arsenal rebuilt to its ancient functions, the Eastern Fleet enjoys an impressive progress in armament and propulsion. The first two steamer ships are two transports launched in August 1878 in the arsenal. When they are completed, the commerce raider "Troya" leaves Taranto and joins them at Venice as founding element of the steam-powered Eastern Fleet. Without it, the future colonial ventures, which require rapidity to cover long distances, reliability of the vessels and superior weapons, would not happen. In fact, the 1866 invasion of Tunisia could be accomplished with sailing ships, but the projection of Italian power out of the Mediterranean Sea would not possible without steamers.


The Italian colonial age officially starts in January 1879 with Giuseppe Sapeto's expedition in the Horn of Africa [RH], an area that since the opening of the Suez Channel in 1869 has already witnessed an intense exploration of Italian voyagers and missionaries. Supported by the shipping company Rubattino, Sapeto buys from local sultans the concession to exploit the coastal provinces of Yebuti, Berbera, Alula and Ubbia. Yebuti and Berbera, particularly, would quickly evolve in stable settlements because of the government's support to those who want to settle there: free transportation, funding for initial expenditures, a basic administrative body and military coverage (in Yebuti is established a colonial fortress, in Berbera a coaling station) ensure the necessary protection for the establishment of Italian colonists in these two provinces, directly governed by the Italian Foreign Ministry. The second area of colonial development is Saharan region south of Tunisia, where the colonial fortress of Shamadis and the Catholic mission of El Oured are established in the following months of the same year.


Initially, the government conceives colonialism as a solution to the problem of demographic expansion and unemployment in the metropolitan area: in distant African lands, Italian farmers would have the possibility to settle their own activities and thrive. Only in a second period, colonies assume a more strategic importance: prestige, access to raw materials, availability of manpower for recruitment and conquest of inland markets become other relevant issues. Some opposition mounts in the Parliament when it becomes clear that colonialism is not always gentle and bloodless: from time to time, repression of natives is necessary to establish order in those pristine lands and relationship with neighbouring countries in often nervous. Idealists condemn the military domination over distant lands by hands of a nation, which has fought for its liberty against foreign rule, without taking in consideration, for instance, that the control of the Red Sea would in few years eradicate the slave trade from those coasts. Anyway, the prestige-driven scramble for Africa cannot be arrested and Italy is taking part to the game, despite moralists and high-minds: in 1882, three years after Sapeto's purchases, Yebuti and Berbera are elevated to the status of colonial administrations (named Tigray and Zeila, respectively). A cavalry division is sent from Italy to man Fort Yebuti and the first native division with regulars' attachment is formed in Berbera; cotton and farming activities are started and a governor arrives from Naples, establishing an administration comparable to Tunisia.


If the expansion in Horn of Africa would not interfere with other European colonial powers, it's quite clear that the activities in the Sahara region are probably going to conflict with France in the future, adding more reasons for nervousness with the former ally. Also the Ottoman Empire, which from the coastal base in Libya is expanding into the Sahara, is so interested in the region that in 1879 offers 1.500 pounds for the Shamadis fortress, when it is still under construction; despite the good relation with the Ottomans, PM Cairoli refuses the offer.

The Fate has already established that the colonial fortunes of Italy, Britain, France and the Ottomans will meet on the Suez Channel in June 1882. For now, let's close this long discussion about the Seventies with the depiction of Italy's status among the Great Powers in January 1879, at the time of Sapeto's expedition in the Horn of Africa.

Happy new year, and welcome back!


The enlargement of the electoral base causes a political earthquake at the Parliamentary elections held in June 1881. The Sinistra Costituzionale, ruling party for 20 uninterrupted years under the sequential guidance of Mazzini, Crispi, Rattazzi and Depretis, shows menacing signs of decline and inadequacy, even if manages to retain the majority of 261 deputies in the Lower Chamber (enlarged to 508 members by the reform) and thus the possibility to form the government without assistance of other parties. This regression can be partially explained by the leakage of deputies and voters towards the emerging Partito Radicale that has gradually divided off from the liberal movement to embrace the ideals of individual rights, secularism and pacifism. Unhappy with the governmental proposals for the resolution of issues like workers' rights, emigration, colonialism, radical leaders like Felice Cavallotti want to promote a freer society, unconstrained by the power of the State and closer to the needs of lower classes, unemployed and women, who should receive in the radicals' opinion the universal suffrage as men. At the left of the Radicals, the Partito Socialista Rivoluzionario, led by the Socialist demagogue Andrea Costa after the disaffiliation of the anarchists Cafiero and Malatesta, participates to the election with a local list but is not able to get a seat in the Parliament (the electoral base, still limited by census, for sure does not favour the socialist party and its lower-class reference). On the right, the various factions of the Destra struggle to get slightly more than a meagre 20%.

Thus, the political contest can keep on for other few years with the same old faces, as if the Seventies had never finished: a widely revered Depretis is elected – or more precisely, acclaimed – by the Parliament as President of the Republic, Francesco Crispi becomes for his first time Prime Minister, with Mancini as Foreign Minister, Nicotera as Interior Minister and Cairoli initially covering the crucial function of Ambassador in London and after acquiring the newly established Ministry for the Colonies. The most important test for the new Crispi's cabinet is the Egyptian affair and, in general, the management of an increasingly important colonial effort, in a period when every few weeks the newspapers report the news of this and that uncivilised nation subjugated by the greedy European imperialism. And Crispi himself is a strong believer in the necessity for Italy to "get its place under the sun". The Egyptian crisis would give him an opportunity in 1882.


The situation of Egypt in the Seventies is similar to that of Tunisia before the intervention of Italy and France. Khedive Ismail Pasha's corrupt and unskilled administration has left a huge burden of debts towards Britain, France and Italy. European officers and businessmen have gradually reached the highest ranks in the civil and economic environment, as have done also the members of the Turkish minority. The status of dependence is fairly symbolised by the company that operates the Suez Canal: initially established with French and Egyptian capital, Ismail Pasha has been forced to sell to Britain the Egyptian 22% stake in 1875, thus transforming Suez in an Anglo-French joint venture, excluding any income for the Egyptian landowners [RH].

Ismail's successor, the feeble Khedive Tawfiq, has to face the mutiny of Arabì Pasha, who seizes the power towards the end of 1881 and starts a ruthless anti-European policy. Urged by its European masters, Tawfiq calls on Turkey to suppress the revolt, but the Ottoman Sultan – which has still a nominal control on Egypt – does not want to use his troops against Muslim brothers. Thus, the European countries are left with the only option of a direct intervention and in May 1882 Britain and France move their fleets in the region, a valuable action because on 11th June 1882 a violent nationalistic riot erupts in Alexandria, with revolters attacking also Italian businesses and killing 50 Europeans. The French do not dare to intervene and the British alone tries to suppress the revolt of Alexandria. In the following weeks, the House of Commons votes in favour of a larger involvement to protect British interests in the region, but an invitation to Paris to cooperate in the war remains unaccepted [RH].

After the refusal of Paris, Italy can play a primary role in the crisis: the Italian communities in Alexandria and Al Qahira are extremely active and influential, economic and cultural exchange is considerable and the Italian interests (which dates back since the pre-unitarian period of the Two Sicilian diplomatic missions to Egypt) particularly cared of by the Naples government. In addition, the Italian close alliance with Britain and the credit towards the Ottoman Empire matured during the Russo-Turkish War and the subsequent Congress of Berlin guarantee the necessary diplomatic support. Also, the possibility of a quick deployment of warships and troops from the bases of Taranto and Fort Yebuti is valuable for the British ally. Finally, from a geopolitical perspective, after the establishment of colonies in Tunisia and the Horn of Africa, gaining an influence in Egypt would seal the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea to Italian predominance.

After Arabì's defiance of a British ultimatum, on 26th June 1882 United Kingdom and Italy begin the hostilities against Egypt. Istanbul issues a note of protest, but its Berlin obligations to London and Naples come due on this day. PM Crispi commits a small number of divisions, but extremely determined and prepared: four divisions embark from Italy towards the Suez Canal zone under the command of Generals Corleone (son of the hero of the First Independence War) and Kapecki, one division, led by General Divito, leaves Fort Yebuti to capture the strategic seaport of Massaua. Supported by a superior armament and organisation (the recent introduction of military statistics and their several field applications has further upgraded the tactical preparation of the invading corps), the Italians prevail in Massaua (7th July) and land their expeditionary forces in Dumyah and Sinai, quickly seizing both sides of the Canal by mid-September.


In the vain attempt to save himself, Arabì offers Massaua to Italy but Crispi refuses any diplomatic contact until the mutineer has not been defeated on the battlefield and the authority of the Khedive completely restored. In October a strong British expedition lands in the Sinai peninsula freed by the Italians and puts itself under the control of Corleone and Kapecki moving in coordination with them towards Al Qahira, while also the Egyptian fleet is defeated in front of Alexandria, definitively occupied on 1st November.


The ensuing Battle of Al Qahira is the final relevant military event in the short Egyptian campaign and, despite its easiness, the most glorious: more than 90.000 Italian and British soldiers engage the last broken pieces of Arabì Pasha's army, less than 20.000 men in a street-by-street fight lasting two weeks, until the enemy is defeated, Arabì Pasha himself made prisoner and the attackers' control on the capital secured (3rd December).


In January 1883 Khedive Tawfiq, who has taken refuge in Alexandria under Italian protection, is restored in power at Al Qahira and forms a new ministry that condemns Arabì Pasha to exile. On assuming office on 11th January 1883, Tawfiq's government passes a series of decrees that practically transform Egypt into an Italian protectorate. First of all, the shareholding structure of the Suez Canal Company is changed again: among the vivacious and useless French protests, Britain and Italy are respectively given 51% and 19% stakes in the business (while France gets a 30% interest and as recompense the Italian approval for the annexation of Tunis). An Italian division placed under the shadow of the magnificent pyramids is granted the duty of protecting the Khedive's court (a critical task, because the instability of the protectorate would persist for a while), a diplomatic counsellor from Naples will advise Tawfiq on future international issues and economic allowances to the Italian traders are countless. In the meantime, in Italy occurs an eruption of triumphalism: excited by an intense nationalistic campaign and the remembrance of past glories, newspapers arrive to compare PM Crispi to Julius Caesar, both conquerors of the lands around the Nile. In some way, given the swift achievements of the campaign you cannot blame them for the apparently audacious association.

The establishment of the protectorate over Egypt is only a first step in the process of Italian domination of North Africa and Middle East according to Francesco Crispi grand design: as corollary of this capital event, the period 1884-85 records the occupation of eastern Arabian peninsula and the purchase of Massaua. Both events would haven't happened without the Egyptian campaign: first of all because only a Britain grateful for the Italian support against Arabì Pasha would have agreed an assault to the coastal sheikhdoms of Abu Dhabi; secondly, because without the services of the Egyptian puppet-Khedive the logistics of the expedition in the Arabian peninsula would have been a torment.

The invasion of Abu Dhabi and Nejd, accomplished with a straightforward 9-month expedition, receives the British endorsement when London is still engaged in a long-lasting colonial war against France. This conflict drags on since the French raid into Madagascar in 1880 and will end only in 1886 with the mutual acknowledgment of the French possession of the island and the British ownership of South Africa – for a while under partial control of Paris. Obviously, in such complex situation London has a preference for a friendly master for Arabia, like Italy, rather than either France or the Ottomans critically allied with the Prussians.

Thus, in August 1884 [not a perfect date to start a war there, you might think!] the first Italian troops (a division of Somali native soldiers) lands in Mariyyah, while General Kapecki, one of the victorious commanders of the Egyptian campaign, directs with his cavalry group towards Dubayy, defended by 1.000 men.


The disproportion between the two armies is huge and the military chronicle of the conflict is absolutely negligible: both provinces fall to Kapecki in Autumn, followed by Ad Dawhah on Christmas Eve, when the Italian troops have already promptly moved in the territories of Nejd. Here they find at least a ruling dynasty, the House of Saud, even if the resistance of their soldiers is as bad as that of Abu Dhabi's army.

Despite the repatriation of a division to quell the revolt of Massaua (the Eritrean town has just been purchased in February 1885 from Egypt by the Italian government), military operations progress steadily in the coastal area and also Riyadh falls on 14th April. The peace treaty is nevertheless clement with the Sauds, because they are left with their capital and the surrounding area as a satellite state, while the coastal provinces of Al Qatif and Ras al Mishab are incorporated in the newly established Italian colony with the unpronounceable name of Hassanhadjan. Furthermore, as a consequence of the occupation of the eastern Arabic peninsula, the Italians begin to build a colonial fortress at Faris (a town on the rim of the hostile desert called "Rub' al Khali") against the assaults of terrible Bedouin tribes.


Foreign Minister Mancini decides to purchase Massaua (6th February 1885) when the operations in Arabia are still in course, also because of the compelling necessity of a bigger harbour in the Red Sea to host the Italian ships. Thus, the town is purchased from the Egyptian satellite in exchange of 5.000 pounds and incorporated in the Tigray colony. Unfortunately also Yohannes IV, Emperor of Abyssinia, claims the town and the surroundings highlands, where the Italian colonists are advancing inch by inch. Funded by Abyssinia, a stiff resistance against Italian penetration in Eritrea develops in the months following the acquisition of Massaua culminating in the massacre of Dogali, where on 11th March a battalion of 600 Italian vanguards is ambushed and almost entirely destroyed. Few days after, rebels even occupy Massaua.


In Italy, the impression after the defeat of Dogali and the loss of Massaua is really large: in the Chamber of Deputies the radical leader Felice Cavallotti puts forward an order of the day in which he commemorates the sacrifice of the victims but at the same time accuses violently the government and the ruling Sinistra Costituzionale about both the inadequate safety measures employed to protect the Italian troops in Eritrea and the poor situation at home, neglected by Crispi for the benefit of his colonial dynamism. Also the socialists, even if not represented in the Lower Chamber, protest again Crispi's colonialism with their leader Andrea Costa coining the famous catchphrase "Nè un uomo, nè un soldo" (translate with "Neither a man, nor a single penny").

For now, let me close saying that Massaua is recaptured only in July even if the upheaval would go on for a while and expand itself to Yebuti. Thanks to additional governmental funding, more troops would be either raised locally or sent from Italy and Egypt to restore peace (even an infantry division with an engineers brigade would reach the region to build basic infrastructures; by the end of 1885, up to four divisions are employed in the area including Horn of Africa and Arabia). But, as openly enunciated by the radicals in the Parliament, it's time to revert to the internal situation of Italy that is rapidly changing and promises to attract the attention of the leaders for years. In the meantime, the golden age of early colonialism is set aside and the acquisitions in Africa and Asia can be consolidated …

Harley Quinn, Raden Shaka: always wonderful seeing new faces around: it's never too late to join an AAR.

RGB, stnylan: don't worry about the highlands of Eritrea. I'll do my best to avoid an Adwa. But the new post (arriving in minutes) will explain what's happened internally during Crispi's term. Enjoy it!

Inorganic chemistry, interchangeable parts, cheap iron and turbines exemplify the biggest innovations of this epoch of increasing positivism about the potential of human advancement. Encouraged by such developments, a countless series of upgrades brings a giant leap in labour productivity, scale of operations and production costs. The introduction of precision works, machine tools and jigs helps those sectors that make use of mechanical components, like food and lumber processing, arms, furniture and ammunition manufacturing and so on. Catalytic fermentative process revolutionises distillery process as the Bessemer process (1884) does with the production of steel, which in the early Eighties has recorded another shortage in the world markets that has concerned the Italian Minister for Public Works and convinced the government to finance an important plan for the expansion of domestic steelworks. Also mining and agriculture receive important improvements with the use of nitro-glycerine, advanced processes for iron ore extraction and artificial fertilisers. In Venice, where the modern Eastern Fleet is located, the demand coming from the Navy's arsenal for faster and bigger steam engines and turbines brings the development of a prosperous steamer shipyard (completed in 1883).

As a result of increased demand, government funding for the extension of operations and mergers, another characteristic of this period is the generally bigger scale of manufacturing businesses, sometimes threefold their original size. Analogous developments concern mining and agriculture, with the social costs we will describe later. Finally, the Italian railway network becomes capillary and improves service, particularly in the provinces where factories are located and the needs of commerce are more significant. The development of distribution channels and business banks adds value to firms and facilitate trading activities.


Early Eighties are not a period for dummies: industrialisation brings prosperity, but has social and political costs that not everyone wants or is able to pay. First of all, Crispi's attention to foreign policy and industry makes the agricultural world more and more unfriendly towards the State. Still composed in great part of small conservative farmers damaged by falling prices (due to international competition from big countries like United States and Argentina) and unjustifiably high rents of bigger landlords, the agricultural universe breeds an underground opposition to the liberal ruling parties, often exacerbated by the Church interventions already observed in the Seventies.

Certain reforms that the Church consider anticlerical do not help reconciliation, like the adoption of a new commercial code that severely restrains the benefits for ecclesiastical foundations and charities and the implementation of a Minister Zanardelli's 1884 schooling reform (now compulsory and free for five years) that spectacularly increase education spending but exclude Catholic religion from the study curricula. Thus, from rural areas – mainly in Central and Southern Italy – plagued with poverty, disease (a cholera epidemic hits L'Aquila in 1883) and resentment come two reactions: emigration to the New World and popular revolts inspired by a retrograde anarchism. Combining these troubles with the unresolved Roman Question (which grows to particular acuteness every time Church and State are at odds), you get the explosive mixture that produces the fall of Crispi in 1885 after the Dogali incident, the victory of the radicals in the elections and the shocking assassination of Depretis in 1886.


Despite the increasing use of the Army to restore order in the country, the Sinistra Costituzionale is clearly losing grip. Among the general sorrow after the massacre of Dogali, Crispi resigns in March 1885 and Zanardelli, who is emerging as the new leader of the most progressive faction of the ruling party, unsatisfied with the inattentive domestic policy implemented until now, forms a bridge-government towards the general elections scheduled in March 1886. Farmers' dissatisfaction, response to anarchism and socialism and the Roman/ecclesiastical Question completely dictates the campaign; instead foreign policy is absent, also because the renewal of the pact with Britain and the standstill in colonial war operations imposed by the internal strife give to international relations a tranquillising scenario.

Puzzled with doubts and uncertainties, the ruling Sinistra Costituzionale fails to convey the right messages and even the experienced but ageing Depretis (now Head of State, and consequently 'super partes') disappoints the majority stating the necessity to preserve the temporal power of Pope Leo XIII over Rome. Instead, the radical Felice Cavallotti makes an effective electoral campaign, urging for political and social reforms, extension of rights "in order to take away people from the anarchist and socialist basins", State secularism and above all "a final solution for Rome".

That's the result coming out of the polls, the end of the rule of the Sinistra Costituzionale and the victory of the Partito Radicale, where the most intelligent leaders, like Zanardelli, of the former ruling party begin to pour in; while the Socialists (that in U.S.A. has even become ruling party after the triumphal victory in the 1883 elections) is not able to gain a single seat and the intransigent Catholic deputies are absolutely negligible; the two factions of the Destra profit of the crisis the gain a combined 38% under the new leadership of Antonio Starabba and Antonio Salandra after the leaving of the old guard's leaders Minghetti and Lanza:


Unfortunately, elections do not pacify spirits: during a visit at Viterbo on 1st August 1886, Head of State Depretis is shockingly assassinated by Giuseppe Cirillo, an anarchist who claims to revenge with the blood of the statesman that has influenced Italian politics for 20 years the cold feedback of the former ruling party to the incessant popular demand for a resolution of the Roman Question. Cavallotti, whose radical cabinet still needs Parliamentary support from Zanardelli and those progressive liberals of the Sinistra Costituzionale[/] to reach a majority of circa 60%, large enough to govern in this intricate situation, soon understands that the problem of Rome cannot be postponed anymore.

Distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies elected in 1886:
only viable solution is a radical government supported by the Sinistra Costituzionale​