How Far Was the Rise of Italian Nationalism as a Political Force the Main Reason for the Failure of Giolitti's Programme?

How far was the rise of Italian Nationalism as a political force the main reason for the failure of Giolitti’s programme?

Throughout most of Italy’s history pre 1900’s , it was Nationalist and very Patriarchal . The reality however , was that the country was very divided and there was little hope of any sort of unification. There was a huge split between the north and south linguistically, economically and politically . It wasn't until 1911 when the prime minister of Italy ,Giovanni Giolitti ,who was elected for the fourth time , decided to set out a programme named ‘Giolittism’.

He hoped it would inspire Italian nationalism , thus inviting the Italian people including the Catholics and Socialists , within the framework of Italy’s liberal politics. Subsequently, the strive for Nationalism as a political force within Italy, would ultimately be one of the reasons that Giolitti's programme failed .

One key way in which the rise of Italian Nationalism as a political force led to the failure of Giolitti’s programme was the Libyan War . Giolitti believed that the invasion of Libya would lead to greater cooperation with the nationalists . The Nationalist movement was a dynamic political force, which believed that a national renewal of the Italian nation would stop the rise of Socialism and destroy the corrupt liberal order . The invasion did have the potential to create support for Giolitti and his programme by expanding Italy’s empire, but it actually resulted in increasing support for the nationalists instead of "absorbing" them and further increased their opposition towards the liberal state and Giolitti's programme. The Nationalists made Giolitti look weak as they took credit for the Libyan war ,claiming that Giolitti only launched it under pressure from their movement . The Nationalists also blamed Giolitti's weaknesses and lack of patriotism for why some many soldiers died further creating less support for Giolitti. The invasion failed to achieve any of Giolitti's aims as it only increased Italian support for the Nationalists . His belief that the Libyan war would undermine support for the nationalist movement and help the liberas was clearly unsuccessful and can be seen as playing a large role in the failure of Giolitti’s programme .

Another key aspect of Giolitti’s failure ,was the loss of socialist support due to the Libyan war.. By 1913 they were winning over 20% of the votes in the elections , they were an influential political party and Giolitti had gained their cooperation with the liberals through introducing social reforms eg; government non intervention in labour disputes in 1906. The Libyan war was supported by the PSI who thought that gaining Libya would provide land for the poor peasantry in the south . However it completely destroyed Giolitti's cooperation with the socialists especially Bissolati who in turn supported the war . The socialists opposed the war as they saw it as imperialism militarism and accused Giolitti of trying to create an empire through military meaning . The invasion played