- Born:
- Oct. 4, 1819, Ribera, Sicily [Italy]
- Died:
- Aug. 12, 1901, Naples (aged 81)
- Title / Office:
- foreign minister (1887-1891), Italy
Francesco Crispi
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Who was Francesco Crispi?
Francesco Crispi (1819–1901) was an Italian statesman who served as premier of Italy after a life of revolutionary activity and exile.
Crispi's policies included administrative reforms and aggressive foreign policy. He extended suffrage in local elections and reformed charities, excluding the clergy from their administration. Crispi's government also enacted a new tariff in 1887, which led to a trade war with France and economic hardship in Italy.
Accusations of dictatorial tendencies and a disastrous colonial policy, marked by defeat in Ethiopia, led to his downfall in 1896.
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What important role did Francesco Crispi play in Italy's history?
Francesco Crispi was an Italian statesman who served as premier of a unified Italy. Crispi, a former Mazzinian, implemented administrative reforms, extending suffrage at local elections to males over 21 who paid five lire per annum in local taxes, which enabled 3.5 million people to vote.
His government also brought in an effective system of administrative law and reformed charities, often diverting funds to secular purposes. Crispi's most important act was the new tariff of 1887, which protected domestic industries but led to a trade war with France, causing economic hardship.
Accusations of dictatorial tendencies and a disastrous colonial policy in Africa, marked by defeat at the Battle of Adwa, led to his resignation in 1896.
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When did Francesco Crispi serve as Prime Minister of Italy?
Francesco Crispi served as Prime Minister of Italy during two separate periods. His first term began in August 1887 and lasted until 1891. Later, he returned to power again in December 1893, but his second term was cut short due to a defeat in 1896.
During his time as prime minister, Crispi pursued administrative reforms and expansionist policies. Notably, he extended suffrage in local elections and reformed charities, diverting funds to secular purposes. However, his policies also led to economic challenges, including a tariff war with France that significantly damaged Italian trade and agriculture.
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How did Francesco Crispi help shape the Italian government?
Francesco Crispi, a former revolutionary, served as premier of Italy, shaping its government through both domestic and foreign policies.
As prime minister, Crispi implemented administrative reforms, extending suffrage in local elections to males over 21 who met minimum tax requirements, thereby diminishing the control of local elites. His government also established administrative law through provincial councils and the Council of State. They reformed charities, excluding clergy involvement, and Justice Minister Giuseppe Zanardelli introduced a new criminal code that abolished the death penalty and legalized strikes unless violence or intimidation occurred.
Crispi's pursuit of expansionist foreign policy led to Italy's defeat at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, which caused him to resign.
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What foreign policies did Francesco Crispi support during his leadership?
During his leadership, Francesco Crispi's foreign policy was marked by the renewal of the alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany in 1882. He also initiated a trade war with France in 1889, which caused economic hardship in Italy. Crispi expanded Italian possessions in the Red Sea, forming Eritrea, and along the Indian Ocean coast, including parts of Somalia. His ambition to establish Italy as a colonial power in Africa led to conflict with Ethiopia, culminating in the disastrous Battle of Adwa in 1896. This defeat led to his resignation and temporarily ended Italy's colonial pursuits.
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How is Francesco Crispi remembered in Italian history today?
Francesco Crispi is remembered as a complex figure in Italian history. After a career as a revolutionary, he became premier of a unified Italy, pursuing administrative reforms and expansionist policies.
His legacy includes extending suffrage in local elections and reforming criminal law, but he is also known for his unpopular foreign policy, which included renewing alliances with Austria-Hungary and Germany and instigating a trade war with France, causing economic hardship. Crispi's premiership was also marred by a major corruption scandal.
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Francesco Crispi (born Oct. 4, 1819, Ribera, Sicily [Italy]—died Aug. 12, 1901, Naples) was an Italian statesman who, after being exiled from Naples and Sardinia-Piedmont for revolutionary activities, eventually became premier of a united Italy.
Crispi grew up in Sicily, where he studied law; but, disillusioned by conditions there, he went to Naples, where he became active in republican agitation. He helped plan the successful 1848 uprising in Sicily and became one of the deputies in the new government before the island was regained by the Bourbon King Ferdinand II in 1849.
Crispi fled to Turin, where he became a journalist. Suspected of complicity in an uprising in Milan in 1853, he was exiled and made his way to London, where he met Giuseppe Mazzini, the leader of the republican movement in Italy. Crispi and the republicans hoped eventually to unify Italy by beginning a revolution in Sicily, and in 1859 Crispi twice traveled to Sicily, using forged passports, to organize another uprising. After much delay he persuaded Giuseppe Garibaldi to invade Sicily in May 1860 with his band of volunteers, known as “the Thousand,” to assist the popular uprising there. Quickly conquering the whole island, Garibaldi proclaimed himself dictator and named Crispi minister of the interior.
In that powerful position Crispi came into conflict with Count Cavour, premier of Sardinia-Piedmont, who wanted to annex Sicily and Naples, which also had been conquered by Garibaldi. After Crispi’s forced resignation, Sicily and Naples were annexed to the newly created Kingdom of Italy (October 1860).
Elected deputy from Sicily in the new government (1861), Crispi, a temperamental, uncompromising man lacking diplomatic finesse, made many political enemies. He broke with his former ally Mazzini when he decided that unity, even under a monarch, was more important than the establishment of a republic (1865). Because of his past he was nevertheless suspected by the monarchists.
When the leftists came to power Crispi was elected president of the chamber (1876). After a visit to the foreign heads of state in 1877 he began to advocate that Italy should ally with Germany. Invited to be minister of the interior in the cabinet of Agostino Depretis (December 1877), he was within a few months forced to resign over a charge of bigamy.
When Depretis died Crispi formed his first cabinet (August 1887), which was characterized by liberal reform and economic crisis. Holding the positions of minister of the interior and minister of foreign affairs, as well as that of premier, he was accused of dictatorial tendencies. His foreign policy, moreover, was extremely unpopular, both because he renewed the alliance of 1882 with Austria-Hungary and Germany and because he broke off trade with France (1889), causing great economic hardship. A large budgetary deficit, necessitating increased taxes, toppled his government in 1891.
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Nevertheless, in December 1893 Crispi again became premier. While he greatly improved the economic situation, he became increasingly repressive, brutally crushing a socialist uprising in Sicily. He also embarked upon a disastrous foreign policy. He organized Italy’s few possessions on the Red Sea into Eritrea, and then he tried to turn Italy into a colonial power in Africa. The disastrous Italian defeat at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 at the hands of Emperor Menilek II of Ethiopia earned Crispi a vote of censure that caused him to resign in March of the same year.