ABSTRACT
Italy was a latecomer to the economic transformations which so dramatically changed the face of European societies in the nineteenth century. Unlike the countries which assumed the leadership of the European system, a unified Italian state was formed very late. Prior to unification there were already striking differences between the political units that would come together in 1861, and these differences were to determine the outcome of unification and of Italy's particular economic and political history. When the economic crisis of 1873 encouraged a resumption of protectionism and a reassessment of the role of the State within the economy by Germany, France, Russia, Austro-Hungary and England, Italy followed suit. The disaffection felt by large sectors of the population, the difficult economic situation of the immediate post-war years and the example of the Soviet Revolution encouraged revolutionary restlessness.
