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There's always some trouble makers....the alliance of the Left is very shaky and Rome is a big riddle to be solved, both domestically and internationally.

Still, you managed to keep the Anarchists away...
 
1886 Census
It's December 1886: time of census, time of census!

  • Population: with the impressive internal growth pace and the colonial additions, Italy has now more than 76 mn inhabitants (+20 mn than 10 years before, 4° most populated country after China, British India and Russia), just surpassed metropolitan UK! In continental Europe, France and Prussia are completely outshined. Such increase has been obtained despite a rising emigration towards the New World (Argentina and USA the most preferred destinations).

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  • Italian demographics have not been dramatically changed by the acquisition in Africa and Middle East: Catholicism and Italian ethnos are by far the most important confession and nationality. Instead, industrial development has caused a sensible growth in significance of social classes connected to the "second sector" (craftsmen, clerks, capitalists).

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  • As shown above, demand for modern issues like secularism, full citizenship and antimilitarism have grown in parallel with cultural development. On the other side, social conflicts arising especially from the countryside spread reactionarism and anarchism. Consequently, specific rural areas remain coves of instability. As you may note hereunder, social and political reforms – not implemented by hesitant leaders like Depretis and Crispi – are now a necessity for Cavallotti's new radical government to settle down malcontent.

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  • Literacy is now at 58% and technological research is finally taking off thanks to the high spending in education (ca. 90-100% of the relative slider). Industry and army are fields more invested in.

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  • Economy: rather than expanding the quantity of factories, industrial policy has focused more on increasing the scale. Their number is therefore limited (only 24), but the bigger size has helped their productivity and workforce employment. Obviously, when technological advances have made available new types of production facilities the government tried to find the resources to build them. Unfortunately, Italy loses to Austria-Hungary (!!!) the highest production of wine…

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  • The GDP is now almost 200.000 £ (vs. 138.000 £ in 1876 and 92.000 in 1866). GDP per capita has consequently increased by 7% in a decade (despite the inclusion of less developed colonies). Expenses are mainly concentrated in education (66%) and defence (27%).

  • Overall, Italy ranks 7° among the Great Powers, being 6th in prestige, 11th in industry and 7th in military power.

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Not a bad showing on the tables. Overhauling the Netherlands should be easy enough.
 
The Hungarians are flooding the market with Egri Bikaver.

Heh.

Awesome overview! Pie charts are one reason why I love Vicky!
 
The liberation of Rome

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The famous breech of Porta Pia in old photo

The Milanese Felice Cavallotti is a figure quite different from those that have governed a unified Italy for 35 years now. Born in 1842, he was too young for the First Independence War, but fought valiantly under Garibaldi in the Third (1866-70). Generous, turbulent and brilliant, during his adulthood he cultivated poetry, dramas, freemasonry and duels – in his entire life, he would collect 33 duels and also be killed in 1898 [RH] – all activities he did not stop after becoming deputy in the Parliament in 1871 and founder of the Partito Radicale in 1877. Now, being only 44 years old, he finds himself leader of the major Italian party with an ambitious plan of radical reforms for a country that has just witnessed the murder of its biggest statesman in 20 years.

The new government is born with Cavallotti PM and Foreign Minister, Zanardelli Minister of Justice and other radicals appointed to minor Ministries. Several members of the liberal Sinistra Costituzionale gain key roles: Mancini at Interiors, Nicotera at Public Works, a promising Giolitti at Finance. In some way, Cavallotti delegates to those who already know the "state engine" its functioning and retains for the radicals the guidance of really "political" Ministries.

The first sign of rupture with the past comes with the decision to accelerate the end of the presidential term and elect a new Head of State rather than keep the President of Senate as substitute until its end in 1890. The second sign of rupture is precisely the designated Head of State, Luigi Pianciani. Resident in Rome, 76 years old, he shares with Felice Cavallotti the curriculum vitae: Mazzinian, freemason, volunteer in the Independence War (the First, in this case), not exactly a clerical. His election is a clear warning for Pope Leo XIII.

In December 1886, the Guarantee Law (a bill adopted for the first time in 1853 and since then yearly ratified by the Italian Parliament to sanction the inviolability of the Papal borders) does not get the majority for the extension. In the same days, a memorandum sent to other European capitals tries to persuade the partners about the unhistoricalness of the temporal power of Leo XIII over Rome and its evil effects on the Italian stability (as shown by the assassination of Depretis). In January 1887, President Pianciani addresses from Naples a letter to the Pope, in which he petitions a voluntary cession of Rome in the name of patriotism, peace and tolerance. Unfortunately, despite some openings to consider tighter kinds of cooperation in specific areas (like police and postal services in Rome), Leo XIII answered as already did Pius IX – "Non possumus" – and consequently the word is left to the cannons.

On 1st February, not without some disreputable objections from European chancelleries, 68.000 Italian soldiers, who have already been concentrating along the border, receive the order to move on Rome and land at Civitavecchia, commanded respectively by Generals Acavari and Gucci. On the other side, 48.000 Roman men under the able General Guarino are ready to fight, despite any attempts of conciliation, in defence of the Pope.

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Unexpectedly, Guarino opens the hostilities with an aggressive stance, attacking and capturing Viterbo on 27th February. Even if this achievement gives some satisfaction to Leo XIII and embarrasses Naples, in the longer term it would prove inopportune for the defence of Rome. Actually, when the original six Italian divisions (one of which is inexorably ruined during the advance in the campagna) receive the support of two additional from Northern Italy, the garrison left in defence of Rome's walls would rapidly dissolve and surrender to General Acavari on 17th May.

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Even with Rome entirely occupied by the Italian troops, the stubborn Leo XIII does not issue a capitulation until he knows the last remnants of Guarino's army is keeping Viterbo, where he even plans to retire until it's definitively reoccupied by the Italians on 8th June. On 16th June, encircled in the politically inviolable area of the Vatican, the unyielding Pope is finally convinced by his counsellors to give up.

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The borders of Vatican City, later unilaterally established by Italy

The annexation of Rome really completes the unification of Italy, but the Italian administrators find a city really undersized and outmoded, as the rumours about the incompetent Papal management have been stating for a while. A winery barely surviving with the fruits of the surrounding lands is the only significant manufacturing initiative; unemployed peasants hang around the countryside and railroads are nonexistent. With slightly more than 550.000 residents, Rome is one third of Naples (1.8 million) and half time Milan (1 million). Notwithstanding, none could resist to its evocative name and, as a natural consequence of the annexation, the works to improve its transportation and living conditions begin immediately, with the perspective to move to Rome the Italian capital (as sanctioned by a Law passed on 8th July, the same that leaves Leo XIII with the few square kilometres of the Vatican City but a conspicuous endowment to forgive and forget the sins of the Italian government).

As a gesture of confidence in a fast progress, President Pianciani takes residence into the Quirinale. Later, the two Chambers of the Parliament move to Palazzo Madama and Palazzo Montecitorio and – next to the latter – Cavallotti and his cabinet establish themselves at Palazzo Chigi. These four places represent even now the "houses" of the Italian State.

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Left: Palazzo del Quirinale (President of the Republic), Right: Palazzo Madama (Senate)

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Left: inside Palazzo Montecitorio (Chamber of Deputies), Right: Palazzo Chigi (Government)
 
This move has been a long time coming. Though the surprise loss of Viterbo must have stung.
 
That was logically coming for a while, shame that the Citta Eterna is in such shambles.

But I'm sure it'll give you something to do as you repair it.

Does the new winery put you ahead of Hungary? :p
 
Dr. Gonzo: you know, even the freemason Cavallotti (ehi! he actually existed but in real history never arrived to government even if his party got major electoral successes) has to compromises a little bit and bath himself in the holy waters ...

RGB: unfortunately I'm not yet ahead of A-H in wine production, I'll improve RR to get there before the end of the game. This recalls me of today's Tokaj quarrel between Italy and Hungary.

Ahura Mazda: recalls me the scared face of Leo XIII when knew about the Italian soldiers in Rome!

stnylan: actually I would have done this before. I was scared of 100 prestige loss, but the annexation actually gave back 50, so the damage is not terrible. I'm really trying to catch up the biggest 6 Great Powers, maybe you're right, I can reach Netherlands but other 5 are too much for Italy, if I don't crash them in a war. Ending 4th or 5th in 1920 would be very good, but it's more likely for me 6th or 7th place.

oddman: game considers the Partito Radicale as liberal, like other two parties. I really don't know how it gives voting % when elections come to parties with similar ideology, maybe on the basis of their position on the primary and secondary issues of electors?
 
Oh, right, so they're not really Anarcho-liberal. Not a very bad thing, as game-mechanical Anarcho-liberals seem to want Presidential Dictatorships.

And I don't know how the game prefers one Liberal party over another. One would presume Issues, yes.
 
oddman said:
Oh, right, so they're not really Anarcho-liberal. Not a very bad thing, as game-mechanical Anarcho-liberals seem to want Presidential Dictatorships.

And I don't know how the game prefers one Liberal party over another. One would presume Issues, yes.

I think the title of Anarcho-liberal is always tricky, I think of them more as French Revolution style Jacobins ie proto-socialists, hence dictatorships but radically commited to ending priviledge, free trade etc.

Hastu: Fair point, he after all lacks the ability of the Sardinian King to ignore Catholic opinio completly.
 
A term quieter than expected

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PM Felice Cavallotti

When PM Cavallotti takes his first speech in the Chamber of Deputies just transferred from Naples to Rome before the summer holidays (1887), there is much curiosity about the next programmatic points of the radical government. Once resolved the Roman Question with such vigour, for which Cavallotti claims "a fortitude not shown by other ministers in decades", he and his team would devote their efforts to the following issues:

  • Equilibrated industrial and cultural development,
  • Liberalisation of workers' rights of association in trade unions,
  • Strengthening of European balance of power and cooperation,
  • Pacific colonialism and support to Italian associates in Africa,
  • Continuing investment in steam-powered ships for the Navy.
Economic scenario in late '80s

Unexpectedly for his liberal and conservative opponents and luckily for him, a more peaceful internal situation and a flourishing budget situation boosted by the impressive industrial expansion of Late Eighties help the radicals in achieving the focal points of their programme. Let's discuss first of all the political and economic situation and postpone the foreign affairs.

The end of a long period of international economic depression (spanning roughly since the Franco-Prussian War to late '80s) finally unleashes the expansive forces of the Second Industrial Revolution also in Italy. Willing to solve definitively the common problems of unemployment, inequality, low wages and social unrest, which perturbed the last years of Depretis' and Crispi's era, the radicals push for a vast program of government spending in both industrial and agricultural fields. Private initiatives blossom all over the peninsula: particularly valuable for the textile industry is the re-launching of the silk production in Lombardy by local small entrepreneurs, as well as the opening of a explosives factory in Southern Italy and the scale expansion of other existing plants, mines and farms. Gradually but inevitably the unemployment rates start to decline to more comfortable levels.

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Railways bonds issued by the Banca Romana

If the continuous expansion of railways network – particularly tangible in areas that had lagged behind during the previous administrations, like the North-East and Sardinia – does not need further explanation, it's the financial system that witness few important changes: money bill printing is still performed by private banks (after the annexation of Rome the Banca Romana joined the five original institutions established at the time of unification), but international monetary coordination has been further enhanced. Not only the Latin Monetary Union is still in place, but the development of fixed exchange rates among interrelated currencies and – particularly during the most severe fluctuations – the adoption of a double standard (gold and silver) allow the Lira to preserve a good level of stability, thus remaining a valuable currency in periods of international crises.

Political and social consequences

Better employment conditions help the government to definitively cut off the link between anarchism and syndicalism. With an bright manoeuvre of appeasement with socialist leaders, but most importantly with trade unionists, the radicals makes fundamental concessions to the workers' associations in order to convince them to renounce to violence. A crucial step is Minister of Justice Zanardelli's act on non-profit workers organisations (28th September 1888) that practically liberalises all kinds trade unions, removing the requisite of the attendance of a local representative of the central government (in the past often appointed in consultation with the factory owners) to the meetings of workers.

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The full liberalisation of trade unions does not immediately resolve the social issues, because anarchism isn't the only form of opposition to the institutions. On the other side of the political spectrum, the problem of reactionary forces remains there, particularly in specific areas of Southern Italy and Sicily, where traditionalism of the masses is rapidly evolving into a fairly amorphous movement of opposition. For the time being, employing the police force is still the preferred way to address spontaneous riots, but the fact that according to estimates these people represent a good 6% of national population (and even more in other regions, like almost 20% in Sicily), suggests the radicals to listen to their instances and maybe address some of them in the next legislature.
 
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All in all it looks you are reaping the benefits now of all that you have done before.

And not before time either.
 
Yes, it's important to keep up with the times and of course with population and consciousness :p

But Italy seems to be doing as well as could be expected in Vicky...
 
Cavallotti's foreign policy: are we really dull farmers of deserts?

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The Scramble goes on

Having been able to delegate to meticulous people as Nicotera, Zanardelli and Giolitti the management of domestic affairs, the Prime Minister retains for himself almost continuously the Foreign Minister and dictates a new foreign policy, more conciliatory with both Great Powers and colonial targets and aiming at a more balanced equilibrium of spheres of influence. The international scenario that Italy has to face has quite changed in the course of the Eighties: the nebulous agreements established at Berlin in 1878 have not been able to manage in a peaceful way the "Scramble for Africa": particularly after the Prussian annexation of Nama (1884), Bismarck's colonial objectives have frequently clashed with British and French interests in Africa resulting in two prolonged colonial conflicts running almost in parallel in these years, with both Paris and London opening hostilities against Berlin in 1886.

The Franco-Prussian colonial war (limited to the Gulf of Guinea, where both Prussian and French colonial holdings coexist with native kingdoms) would be momentarily settled in 1887 just to resume in 1890 because of the so-called Sokoto incident, which erupts when the Prussians move from their colony of Kamerun into the Sokoto State, protected by the French. On the other side, France has already established good footprints in Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Middle Congo from where is putting pressure against the Malinke and Tukulor and the Prussians as well.

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The Prussians have to cope with an even more severe threat to their ambitions in South-West Africa, where the coastal possessions of Namibia have been expanded with the territories subtracted to the Nama tribes and now face directly with the thriving South-African British colony. The Anglo-Prussian colonial war (1886-91) is maybe the only really big conflict among European powers since the Franco-Prussian War. Mainly fought in Africa and on the seas, this colonial war ends with the British conquest of Togo and Namibia, where the British forces inevitably outnumber the weak German colonial garrisons. The outcome of these quarrels would seriously hamper Prussian interests in West and South Africa and cause them to move into the inner Black Continent.

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Despite his profession of pacifism, Cavallotti does not entirely repudiate the foreign policy of his predecessors, just tries to mitigate the warmongering accents. The diplomatic action therefore brings some successes without human losses. In 1887 a serious diplomatic work manages to carry the Italian word in the complex Moroccan situation, where a number of European countries are trying to build a strong position: the guarantee of Moroccan independence against possible French military interventions like that of Tunis strengthens the Italian ambitions in the whole Mediterranean.

Much more important from an immediate point of view is the Treaty of Wichale (1889) with Emperor Menelik II. As already discussed, the Italian acquisition of Tigray (namely the provinces of Eritrea (Massaua) and Yebuti has always been fiercely contested by the Emperor of Abyssinia Yohannes IV. The Italian Governors find a useful ally in Menelik II, King of Shewa (the region around Addis Ababa), whom they habitually supply with arms against the central rule of Yohannes IV.

When the Emperor dies in a combat against other rebellious tribes, for dynastic reasons Menelik II disputes the title of Emperor to Ras Mengesha (nephew of the departed Yohannes) and manages to take advantages of the disagreements among Mengesha's supporters to proclaim himself Emperor of Abyssinia. The fundamental Italian financial and military support to Menelik is therefore treasured at Wichale, leaving to Italy the management of Abyssinian foreign affairs and thus making in effect Abyssinia a protectorate like Egypt.

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During the period 1887-91, the Government funds a series of new colonial ventures. The first is in the desertic South Algeria, in direct competition with France that has already conquered and massively colonised the Northern coastal part of the country. The completion of the colonisation of Tademeit gives Italy the pretext to assert the possession of the whole region, despite the co-existence of French colonial claims. Nonetheless, the morphologic features of this area as well as the even more inaccessible region of Hoggar around Ternassinin, Tuaf and Amgid (the principal oasis villages in that empty space), makes valueless any further discussion about this enterprise.

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New territory claimed in Algeria

The second effort takes place in Arabia, where trading posts are established in Raschid and Sabha, other impractical oasis villages in the Rub' al Khali desert. Also this immense empty space will be claimed by Italy in 1891 and partially assigned to Hassanhadjan and partially conferred to the newly created colonial administration of Hadramaut.

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Extension of Italian colonial territories in the Arabic peninsula

Despite the easy sarcasm of the oppositions that label Cavallotti "a dull farmer of deserts", the territorial additions are there together with the renewal of the alliances with Greece (1889) and Britain (1891) and a brand-new defensive pact with the Ottoman Empire (1889). Altogether, these facts testify a different, but not indolent, approach to national security versus the legacy of the former rulers.
 
In game terms those vast swathes of desert will no doubt bring in high prestige but I think I concur with the Opposition on this one. A few oasis villages in the Sahara an Empire do not make. Still such was the lot of late players in Africa.

To quote Blackadder: "The British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyka" :D
 
I would not be surprised if a future, more combative, administration were to turn on the Ottomans.