Benito Mussolini knew very well that the economy of Italy was poor. He wanted to do two things: attack the power of trade unions to control workers and increase productivity, and increase the birthrate. For economic prosperity, Mussolini introduced the "battles": The Battle for Land, Lira, and Grain.
The Battle for Land was to clear the marshes make it useable for farming, amongst other things, such as new roads. The Pontine Marshes were amongst the lands that were reclaimed for infrastructure. Many see this specific campaign as a success.
Mussolini on a Tractor in the Marshes
The Battle for Lira was for restoring the value of the Italian currency from the past days. The lira as currency was very weak, and Mussolini had to fix it in order for Italy to become a world power. He inflated the value of the lira, making exports expensive in the process. This "battle" was overall a failure, resulting in unemployment when many firms and shops couldn't sell products. Italy was hard hit during the Great Depression, with many industries failing after a bailout from the banks that was the result of worthless purchasing assets. However, since Italy was still heavily agriculturally-based, its economy didn't suffer as much as did the economies of more heavily-industrialized European nations such as Great Britain.
The Battle for Grain was to replace cheaper vegetables and fruits with more expensive grain production. This turned out to be a failure as well, since Italy wasn't industrialized enough to efficiently and productively grow and harvest grain in large amounts.
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