Timeline / 1900 to 1910 / ITALY
Date
Country
Theme
1900 - 1909
Italy
Economy And Trade
Annual per capita income increases by 18.5% during the decade because of
industrialisation.
1900
Italy
International Exhibitions
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Italian companies participate in many international
exhibition, such as the 1900 Paris World Fair.
1900 - 1909
Italy
Migrations
Average annual Italian migration (temporary and permanent, to nearest 1,000):
France 57,000; USA 233,000; Argentina 73,000; Brazil 30,000.
1900 - 1909
Italy
Migrations
Italians who had migrated to the USA, Argentina and Brazil repatriate to Italy in
large numbers during the 1900s: the annual average is 119,857 from the USA;
31,712 from Argentina; 19,864 from Brazil.
1900
Italy
Reforms And Social Changes
Law on “state quinine” passed: in order to fight malaria, the state will produce
quinine and sell it at a low price not only in the 5,000 pharmacies, but also in the
27,000 tobacconists.
1901
Italy
Fine And Applied Arts
Date
Country
Theme
Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo paints The Fourth Estate, showing workers on
strike. The painting will become an icon of the workers’ movement.
1901
Italy
Migrations
Comprehensive law on migration creates the Commissariato generale per
l’emigrazione and introduces other measures aimed at ensuring migrants’ welfare,
such as medical inspections on boats.
1901 - 1910
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Giacomo Puccini consolidates his reputation. He develops a very personal
language that is deeply rooted in the Italian melodic tradition, despite his attention
to international trends and his choice of exotic subjects (Madama Butterfly, La
fanciulla del West, Turandot).
1901
Italy
Travelling
Liguria (the region of Genoa) is the Italian region with the highest number of
foreigners (12,000). It has a mild climate that attracts foreigners escaping north
Europe’s harsh climate for health reasons. All through the 19th and early 20th
centuries, many foreigners affected by tuberculosis and other illness resided in Italy
for extended periods.
1902 - 1909
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
First Italian national laws on the protection of cultural heritage. The new laws
establish the principle of inalienability of national heritage and create a state
administration (with national and local branches) dedicated to caring for cultural
heritage.
1902 - 1903
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
The Italian state buys the 15th-century building of Villa Borghese in Rome and
the park around it, including the astounding collection of paintings and sculptures
that the villa housed. The villa will be transformed into the Borghese Gallery and
Museum.
Date
Country
Theme
1902
Italy
International Exhibitions
First International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in Turin, featuring the best
production of architecture, furniture and applied arts.
1902
Italy
Reforms And Social Changes
Legislation passed prohibiting children under the age of 12 from working, women
from working in mines and under-age women from working at night. First provisions
for maternity leave (four weeks after delivery).
1904
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), Italian dramatist, novelist, poet and short story writer,
publishes the novel Il fu Mattia Pascal. In 1934, he will be awarded the Nobel Prize
in Literature.
1904
Italy
Reforms And Social Changes
First general strike at a national level held as a protest at police violence against
workers (in repeated instances, the police had opened fire against workers on
strike, killing several of them).
1904
Italy
Reforms And Social Changes
Law on free distribution of quinine to peasants and workers in malaria-infested
areas.
1905
Italy
Economy And Trade
Nationalisation of the railways.
1905
Italy
Travelling
Date
Country
Theme
The Automobile Club d’Italia is founded.
1906
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
Ethnographer Lamberto Loria (1855–1913) creates an Ethnography Museum in
Florence.
1906
Italy
Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Simplon Tunnel between Domodossola (Italy) and Brig (Switzerland) inaugurated.
The construction works had started in 1898. At the time, it was the longest tunnel in
the world (19.7 km).
1906
Italy
International Exhibitions
International Exhibition in Milan to celebrate the opening of the Simplon Tunnel.
The main focus is on transport. There are 35,000 exhibitors, coming from dozens
of different countries, and more than 5 million visitors.
1906
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Italian poet Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907) is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1906
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Sibilla Aleramo (pseudonym of Rina Faccio, 1876–1960) publishes Una donna
(A woman), a fictionalised memoir that describes a woman’s desperate struggle
to assert her individuality in a male-dominated society. The book is considered a
feminist manifesto.
1906
Italy
Reforms And Social Changes
The Confederazione Generale del Lavoro (CGL – national confederation of trade
unions) is founded. Argentina Altobelli becomes Secretary General of the Farm
Workers Union (the first woman to become national union leader).
1909
Italy
Fine And Applied Arts
Filippo Marinetti publishes the Futurist Manifesto in Le Figaro.
1909
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (b. Alexandria, Egypt, 1876, d. Bellagio, Italy, 1944)
publishes the Futurist Manifesto. The Futurist artistic movement emphasised
Date
Country
Theme
speed, energy, vitality, and the power of machine and technology. Marinetti also
glorified violence and war, which he considered “the world’s only hygiene”.