Click here to download

Our daily bread. State, rural classes, and cereals production during the First World War. The regional case of Emilia Romagna
Journal Title: SOCIETÀ E STORIA  
Author/s: Fabio Degli Esposti 
Year:  2016 Issue: 153 Language: Italian 
Pages:  39 Pg. 485-483 FullText PDF:  1082 KB
DOI:  10.3280/SS2016-153002
(DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation:  clicca qui   and here 


The essay takes into account an essential aspect of the agricultural production, that of cereals for human consumption: a sector in which Italy was not able to cover its needs and was forced to resort to massive imports, which had become very difficult during the war. Starting from the basic data the author examines the measures undertaken by the State to try to boost grain production. The focus of the analysis, however, is represented by the attitude taken by the agrarian lobbies towards these demands. The essay underlines how the margins for an effective action were always very close: the landlords were not ready to sacrifice the high income produced by specialized crops to the production of less valuable cereal, while the peasants’ trade unions did not intend to give up their freedom of action in terms of labor relations and wage demands. The Italian rural areas, the most affected by calls to arms, became more and more the stage of strong protests against the war, paving the way towards the harsh political and social confrontation of the post-war years.
Keywords: First World War, Italy, Emilia Romagna, War economy, Agriculture, Agrarian press (Agrarian lobbies).

  1. Audoin-Rouzeau S., Becker J.J. (a cura di) (1999), La prima guerra mondiale, edizione italiana a cura di L. Gibelli, Torino, Einaudi, 2 voll.
  2. Bachi R. (1926), L’alimentazione e la politica annonaria in Italia. Con un’appendice di Gaetano Zingali su «Il rifornimento dei viveri dell’esercito italiano», Bari, Laterza (serie Carnegie).
  3. D’Attorre P.P. (1991), Le organizzazioni padronali, in Bevilacqua P. (a cura di), Storia dell’agricoltura italiana in età contemporanea, vol. III: Mercati e istituzioni, Venezia, Marsilio, pp. 669-732.
  4. Dentoni M.C. (1995), Annona e consenso, in Italia 1914-1919, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  5. De Stefani A. (1926), La legislazione economica della guerra, Bari, Laterza (serie Carnegie).
  6. Donati D. (1973), Aspetti dell’organizzazione agraria bolognese tra guerra e dopoguerra (1915-1919), in «Studi storici», n. 2, pp. 404-429.
  7. Ermacora, M. (2015) Rural Society, in Daniel U., Gatrell P., Janz O., Jones H., Keene J., Kramer A., Nasson B. (eds), 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World, Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin,, DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10530
  8. Giuffrida V., Pietra G. (1936), Provital. Approvvigionamenti alimentari d’Italia durante la grande guerra 1914-1918, Cedam, Padova.
  9. Malatesta M. (1989), I signori della terra. L’organizzazione degli interessi agrari padani (1860-1914), Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  10. Marenghi E. (1917), Vicende della cultura granaria nell’attuale periodo di guerra, Supplemento a «Notizie periodiche di statistica agraria», settembre.
  11. Piva F. (1977), Mobilitazione agraria e tendenze dell’associazionismo padronale durante la “grande guerra”, in «Quaderni storici», n. 3, pp. 808-835.
  12. Procacci G. (1999), Dalla rassegnazione alla rivolta. Mentalità e comportamenti popolari nella Grande guerra, Roma, Bulzoni.
  13. Serpieri A. (1930), La guerra e le classi rurali italiane, Bari, Laterza (serie Carnegie).
  14. Winter J. (ed.) (2014), The Cambridge history of the First World War, Cambridge-New York, Cambridge University Press, 3 voll.
  15. Zattini G. (1914), Il frumento in Italia. Produzione, consumo, prezzi, supplemento a «Notizie periodiche di Statistica agraria», Roma, Bertero.

Fabio Degli Esposti, Our daily bread. State, rural classes, and cereals production during the First World War. The regional case of Emilia Romagna in "SOCIETÀ E STORIA " 153/2016, pp. 485-483, DOI:10.3280/SS2016-153002

   

FrancoAngeli is a member of Publishers International Linking Association a not for profit orgasnization wich runs the CrossRef service, enabing links to and from online scholarly content