Giovanni Giolitti“Laws are applied to enemies, but only interpreted as

regards friends.”

Background

• Giovanni Giolitti was Prime Minister 5 times, between 1892 and 1921, making him the second-longest serving Prime Minister.

• He created an accepted government which adopted elements of the extreme sides of the politically right and left.

• He was a left-wing liberal with strong ethical concerns. Whilst in office he implemented a wide range of progressive social reforms, improving living standards.

• He was a master of the political art of Trasformismo – making a flexible coalition of government including both the left and right. The term ‘Giolittan Manner,’ was used to refer to Giolitti’s well-known tactics of manipulation and control over party combinations.

Leader dates & parties

• First Term – 1892-93

• Second Term – 1903-05

• Third Term – 1906-09

• Fourth Term – 1911-14

• Fifth Term – 1920-21

• He was part of The Left party, until 1913 when he formed The Liberals (an alliance between the Left and the Right, merged into a single Liberal coalition)

Strengths of PM tenure

• Improved social issues – banned child labour

• Introduced male suffrage

• Gained Libya in Italo-Turkish war

• Gained Catholic support

Weaknesses of PM tenure

• First term full of problems – Banks struggled due to france conflict

• Liquidation of Banca Romana – corruption, forced resignation

• Ignored strikes – chaos and disruption

• Lost socialist/nationalist support due to war/social improvements

Why Giolitti left in 1921

• Giolitti opposed Italy entering WW1 in 1915, as he believed Italy’s military was unprepared.

• In 1919 he accused the aggressive minority of dragging Italy into the war, opposing Fascists who supported the war.

• Giolitti believed that fascists would become more moderate, so allowed their support and did not attempt to stop their violent actions.

• He called for new elections in 1921 but poor results led to him stepping down.

• He later withdrew his support for the fascists in 1924, voting against a law that restricted press freedom.