Emigration was one of the most relevant phenomenon in Italy, in particular during the 19th and 20th century. We can divide emigration in four periods: the first period called BIG EXODUS between the end of 19th century (about 1870) and beginning of 20th century (1915), in which people moved especially to America ; the second, between the two World Wars, recorded a slowdown of migration due to policy against migration of fascism the third, called EUROPEAN EMIGRATION that started around 1947 .the fourth (1950-1970) was characterized by a strong internal migration to the industrial centers of the North, hit by the economic boom.

The big exodus

Italians and USA

Between 1876 and 1900 the exodus involved the northern regions of our Country: Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Piemonte comprised 47% of the total amount of Italian emigrants. The main causes of emigration were poverty and the desire to change life. Northern Italy emigration was specialized and it was usually transitory ITALY

Afterwards emigration increased in the southern regions: Calabria,Campania, Sicilia,Sardegna,Puglia,Basilicata.Southern emigrants were mainly farm workers, forced to emigrate by the poverty of their villages. They were ready to accept any kind of job and a stable emigration overseaITALY

Between 1880 and 1915 four million of Italians arrived in the USA; a lot of them (50/60%) came back to Italy between 1900 and 1914. There were several causes for emigration: the southern population was severely damaged by the war and also millions of victims were affected by natural catastrophes (1908 earthquake), they were depredated by soldiers and exhausted by the feudal system. Therefore most of them were forced to emigrate. Another reason for the exodus was the agrarian crisis started about in 1880, the worsen of taxation after the unification of Italy, the decline of old artisan jobs and of domestic factories and the crisis of mountain farms and rural production.Since 1880 the USA were open to immigration, in order to start their capitalistic development; ships carried goods to Europe and sailed back with emigrants.

Ship transport to America was cheaper than trains to Northern Europe, and so many people chose to cross the ocean.

The journey to America was hard and difficult, due to medical and bureaucrat controls.

Italian people just landed in USA at the beginning of XX century

ITALIANS AND ARGENTINA

Since 1870 in Buenos Aires young couples of farmers were given agricultural fields free, under condition that they planted them and built a house. At the end of the century more than 25% of the landowners were foreign people and among them more than a half came from Southern Italy.

ITALIANS AND BRAZIL

In the colonies of southern Brazil, Italian immigrants at first confined themselves within their own ethnic group, where they could speak their native Italian dialects and keep their culture and traditions. Despite the problems, most Italians in Brazil, after some years working in the coffee plantations, earned enough money to buy their own lands and become farmers themselves. Some of them became big owners and very rich in the process and attracted more Italian immigrants to their possessions. They integrated economically and culturally into the larger society Italian immigration to Brazil was quite significant, especially from 1880 to 1930. The main areas of settlement were in southern Brazil, which enjoys a temperate climate, namely the states of So Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paran, Esprito Santo, and Minas Gerais.

ITALIANS AND CANADIAN

Italians had been arriving in Canada since the late 1800s. The early 1920s witnessed an increase in Italian immigration numbers, but it was only after the Second World War that it became a major movement. The tremendous expansion of the Canadian labour market in the post-war era contributed to many Italians decision to emigrate. Their decision was also influenced by the policy of sponsorship enacted by the Canadian government whereby prospective immigrants could be admitted to the country as long as residing relatives agreed to act as sponsors and assume financial responsibility for the newcomers during the period of their settlement. Of all immigrant groups, Italians made the most of this system. More than 90% of the Italians, who entered Canada between 1946 and 1967 were sponsored by Canadian relatives.

ITALIANS AND AUSTRALIA

1925 Immigration Act created a quota system limiting people from selected countries, and by 1928 the number of Italianimmigrantsallowed into Australia was strictly limited. After World War II Italian immigration increased dramatically, including large numbers of agricultural workers from southern Italian regions, including Sicily and Calabria. The language barrier, isolation and loneliness, social factors such as workplace discrimination and practical difficulties, including the lack of recognition of overseas qualifications, were among problems which Italian immigrants faced. Whereas before World War 2 in Australia, a majority of Italy-born worked in agriculture and independent businesses, many post-war Italian immigrants worked in the construction and manufacturing industries.

EMIGRATION DURING THE FASCIST PERIOD

Fascism faced the problem of migration by introducing new laws to discourage the movement of workers both outside and inside Italy itself, in order to accomplish the military enterprises and the projects of colonial expansion. Mussolini, however, turned the migratory flow of citizens to the African coloniesThe Italian Empire during its maximum expansion in 1942-43.

European migration European emigration, that developed in the second part of 20th century, on the other hand, concerned the movement to European states like France (from 1850) Switzerland, Belgium (from 1940) and Germany.

Many people considered a temporary migration (several months). During this time they found a job to earn money and then to have a better life to return to Italy. But this thing did not happen and a lot of immigrants in France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium remained forever. These countries needed labor for the mining and the construction of roads and railways

Life was very difficult. Many Italian immigrants, come from different regions of the North and South of Italy, lived in a closed community and they were not integrated at all with the people of the host country because the Italian immigrants were considered inferior.

Look out, uncle Sam : mice are landing!

INTERNAL MIGRATION

After the Second World War, in a few years, Italy became an industrial country and this caused a great internal migratory movement. The advent of industrialization in fact demanded strong contingent of workers especially from the countryside: the city became populated and grew so dizzy From 1946 to now about six million Italians emigrated abroad, while in the same year other 17,000,000 Italians changed their residence, moving in the industrial cities of central and northern Italy . It was especially during the sixties that a massive migration wave led many workers from rural areas of the South to the industrialized regions and cities of northern Italy which could secure jobs in their factories..