Between the war and its aftermath. Industry, science and technology in WWI Italy

 

In WWI Italy, the relationship between industry, sciences, technology and war took shape in several ways. First of all, an improvement in the quality and quantity of armaments was needed, in the light of the extraordinary advances in war technology. Italy's military industry was still fairly outdated in 1914, especially in the production of military hardware and vehicles, so it had to catch up with the other European powers with respect to conventional weaponry, chemical weapons and aviation. Investing in research was the fundamental starting point. At the same time, there were medical advances to heal the physical and mental wounds of those who fought the war. Lastly, environmental transformations were necessary to allow mass armed forces to live and work, by building fundamental logistic infrastructures (streets, aqueducts, railways) and housing that, especially in the Alpine region, led to the construction of high-level engineering works (i.e. the "Ice Towns"). This innovation operation proved to be fundamental when the Reign of Italy was given back the provinces that had been occupied by the Austrian-Germans in the autumn of 1917. In an area of about 18.000 sq km, the war led to thousands of deaths among civilians, the almost total destruction of main infrastructures, the disruption of rural economy, factories as well as most populated areas. The reconstruction of cities, industries and rural economy in the 1920s leveraged not only the opportunity to broaden public competences enforced by war economy, but also the technogical and financial improvements in public (or joint) bodies. 

The project "Between the war and its aftermath. Industry, science and technology in WWI Italy" aims at:

- highlighting the main connection between industrial and scientific advances, by examining especially the transfer of technological competences in the new armaments industry, from a comparative and transnational point of view, that is meant to underline the importance of the "Internazionale of scientific and technological exchanges" established between the Entente countries during the war; 

- highlighting the hegemonistic role played by the State in the construction of a modern industrial system, especially in the early (and almost total) militirisation of war economy throughout the establishment of a Under Secretary (then Ministry) for Weapons and Ammunitions (entrusted to General Alfredo Dallolio) and the adoption of the auxiliary tool, that led to the military control of almost 2000 settlements and one million workers between 1915 and 1918;

- examining the influences and legacies brought about by the war in scientific research and applied technology, especially in the fields of infrastructures, mechanics, communications, chemistry and medicine;

- raising awareness on the methods and results of reconstruction through the analysis of two bodies that were established at the time: the Governmental Committee for war damage reparation (then Commissariat for Reparation) and the Federal Credit Institution for the resurgence of "Venezie". Such bodies were the result of the war experience and the technical and economic mobilisation enacted for the war. As part of a wider network of reconstruction policies enacted in Europe between 1918 and the 1920s, this topic will also be assessed from a comparative point of view in Europe. 

 

The project ended in

October 2018

Scientific coordinator

Giovanni Luigi Fontana

Researchers

Agostini Filiberto (Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies)

Bondesan Aldino (Department of Geosciences)

Bozio Renato (Department of Chemical Sciences)

Burigana David (Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies)

Fumian Carlo (Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World)

Piva Manlio Celso (Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology)

Rippa Bonati Maurizio (Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health)

Munari Tommaso (Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World)

Pellegrino Anna (Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World)

Simone Giulia (Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World)

Tomassini Luigi (University of Bologna)

Horel Catherine (Université Paris Sorbonne - Sirice Sorbonne-Identités, Relations Internationales et Civilisations de l’Europe)

Mondini Marco (Istituto Storico Italo-Germanico Fbk)

Pozzato Paolo (Istituto Storico della Resistenza e dell'età Contemporanea – Vicenza)

Purseigle Pierre (University Of Warwick - International Society For First World War Studies)