Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943

What Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 covers

Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 is examined in Unit AS 2, Historical Conflict and Change. It covers the aims and challenges of Italian foreign policy after 1871, Colonisation in Africa: Tunisia, Eritrea, Abyssinia and Libya, the Triple Alliance and relations with the Great Powers, Giolitti and Italy's internal divisions, from neutrality to intervention 1914–15, Italy's war 1915–18 and its impact at home, the mutilated victory, the peace settlement and Fiume, the crisis of the Liberal state and the Biennio Rosso, the rise of the Fascist movement 1919–22, the March on Rome and Mussolini's appointment, the consolidation of Fascist power 1922–26, the aims of Fascist foreign policy and the years 1922–34, Abyssinia and the Spanish Civil War, Italy, Germany and the road to war 1935–40 and defeat and the fall of Mussolini 1940–43.

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page. CCEA AS History students sit this topic in the first year.

• The aims and challenges of Italian foreign policy after 1871Three aims of Italian foreign policy after unification, italia irredenta and roman Question.Open →
• Colonisation in Africa: Tunisia, Eritrea, Abyssinia and LibyaConsequences for Italy of losing Tunisia, treaty of Wuchale and consequences of Adwa.Open →
• The Triple Alliance and relations with the Great PowersThe alliance of 1882 and its renewals, the tariff war with France, the Prinetti–Barrère agreement and the Racconigi bargain.Open →
• Giolitti and Italy's internal divisionsGiolitti's approach to strikes and trade unions, three social reforms of the Giolittian period and gentiloni Pact.Open →
• From neutrality to intervention 1914–15Giolitti's parecchio argument and radiant Days of May.Open →
• Italy's war 1915–18 and its impact at homeBattles of the Isonzo, cadorna's approach to discipline and italy's human losses in the war.Open →
• The mutilated victory, the peace settlement and FiumeThe Treaty of London against what Italy received at Paris, the Fiume question and D'Annunzio's occupation.Open →
• The crisis of the Liberal state and the Biennio RossoPartito Popolare Italiano and biennio Rosso.Open →
• The rise of the Fascist movement 1919–22The Biennio Rosso and the fear of socialism, the squads and rural fascism, and the March on Rome.Open →
• The March on Rome and Mussolini's appointmentLegalitarian strike, decided at the Fascist congress in Naples and what the March on Rome actually involved.Open →
• The consolidation of Fascist power 1922–26Fascist Grand Council, acerbo Law and aventine Secession.Open →
• The aims of Fascist foreign policy and the years 1922–34Central aims of Fascist foreign policy, corfu incident and locarno agreement's significance for Italy.Open →
• Abyssinia and the Spanish Civil WarWal Wal incident, stresa Front and hoare–Laval Pact.Open →
• Italy, Germany and the road to war 1935–40Rome–Berlin Axis, mussolini's role at Munich and pact of Steel.Open →
• Defeat and the fall of Mussolini 1940–43The parallel war and its failures in Greece and North Africa, dependence on Germany, the invasion of Sicily and the Grand Council vote.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• The Triple Alliance vs The Treaty of London

  The Triple Alliance: the 1882 defensive treaty with the Central Powers that Italy declined to honour in 1914. The Treaty of London: the 1915 secret bargain that brought Italy into the war on the opposite side.

• Dogali vs Adwa

  Dogali: the loss of a single column of about five hundred men in 1887. Adwa: the destruction of an entire army in 1896 that ended Italian expansion in East Africa for forty years.

• The Treaty of Wuchale vs The Treaty of Addis Ababa

  The Treaty of Wuchale: the 1889 agreement whose two texts disagreed about whether a protectorate had been created. The Treaty of Addis Ababa: the 1896 settlement in which Italy abandoned the claim altogether.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What was Italy's international position in 1871?

   Model answer

   Italy was counted among the Great Powers by virtue of its size and its new unity, but had none of the industry, revenue or armed strength of Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary or Russia, and was routinely described as the least of the great powers.

2. 2

   State three aims of Italian foreign policy after unification.

   Model answer

   Italian governments sought recognition as a Great Power, the acquisition of a colonial empire to match those of France and Britain, and the eventual recovery of the Italian-speaking lands still under Austrian rule.

3. 3

   What was meant by Italia irredenta?

   Model answer

   Italia irredenta, or unredeemed Italy, meant the Italian-speaking territories still outside the kingdom, above all the Trentino, Trieste, Gorizia and Istria, all of them held by Austria-Hungary.

4. 4

   Why was foreign policy expected to help build a sense of Italian identity?

   Model answer

   Regional loyalties, dialect and the north–south divide meant that most inhabitants did not yet think of themselves as Italians, so successive governments hoped that colonies, prestige and shared national triumphs would create a nation out of a state.

5. 5

   What was the Roman Question?

   Model answer

   The Roman Question was the quarrel between the Kingdom of Italy and the Papacy after the seizure of Rome in 1870, in which Pius IX refused to recognise the Italian state, rejected the Law of Guarantees and declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican.

6. 6

   What was the Non Expedit and why did it matter?

   Model answer

   The Non Expedit was the papal instruction that Catholics should neither vote nor stand in national elections, and it kept a large part of the population outside the political system for a generation.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 revision questions

Is Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 examined at AS in CCEA History?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 cover in CCEA AS-Level History?

15 subtopics: the aims and challenges of italian foreign policy after 1871, colonisation in africa: tunisia, eritrea, abyssinia and libya, the triple alliance and relations with the great powers, giolitti and italy's internal divisions, from neutrality to intervention 1914–15, italy's war 1915–18 and its impact at home, the mutilated victory, the peace settlement and fiume, the crisis of the liberal state and the biennio rosso, the rise of the fascist movement 1919–22, the march on rome and mussolini's appointment, the consolidation of fascist power 1922–26, the aims of fascist foreign policy and the years 1922–34, abyssinia and the spanish civil war, italy, germany and the road to war 1935–40 and defeat and the fall of mussolini 1940–43. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943 organised?

By the CCEA 4010 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.