Italian emigration
The emigration of Italians to various countries in Europe and North and South America is considered to be the largest mass migration in recent history.
Italian diaspora
The mass emigration of around 25 million people lasted roughly from the founding of the Italian state in 1861 to the economic boom of the 1960s, called miracolo economico (economic miracle). The expression " Italian diaspora " is used for this, especially in English-speaking countries .
The main reason for emigration was widespread poverty, especially among the rural population. Until the 1950s, Italy remained in parts a rural, agrarian and premodern society, especially in the northeast and south, the agricultural conditions were not suitable to keep the farmers in the country.
Another reason was the overpopulation , especially in southern Italy (Mezzogiorno). After completing the Risorgimento , the establishment of an Italian nation-state in 1861, the southern Italians had access to running water and medical care in hospitals for the first time. This reduced child mortality and, together with what has long been the highest birth rate in Europe, led to a population increase, which in turn forced many young southern Italians to emigrate at the beginning of the 20th century.
Between 1876 and 1915 a total of about 1.4 million Italians went to Austria-Hungary and about 1.2 million to the German Empire . During 1872, 44,726 out of a total of 140,680 people of all Italian emigrants (or 31.8%) immigrated to Austria, ahead of France and the United States (both 23.7%), Prussia (8.8%) and other states ( 11.9%), which was by far the most important target country. At around 86.5%, the majority of these Austrian immigrants came from northeastern Italy ( Veneto ). Italian emigrants also went to France. Until the early 20th century, Italians moved from the north ( Piedmont , Veneto) and from the center of the country ( Marche and Umbria ) to the neighboring south-east of France. As a result of the Second World War , many people emigrated from the southern regions of Italy to the industrial regions of France such as Lorraine or to the greater Lyon and Paris areas . Today 5 million French people are of Italian descent.
Emigration was lower during the fascist era , when the rulers deliberately settled the excess population of Italy in the newly acquired colonies of Libya , Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa . In addition, there was an internal migration of southern Italians, for example from Calabria and Sicily , to the major cities of the north, such as Rome , Genoa , Milan and Turin , during the entire period .
After the Second World War , a wave of emigration began again, as the booming economies of Western and Central Europe needed workers. Of the total of 4 million Italians who came to West Germany as “ guest workers ” from 1955 as a result of the recruitment agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy , 89 percent returned to Italy. The economic upswing in Italy and the structural change away from agriculture finally largely ended emigration.
Individual evidence
- ^ Favero, Luigi e Tassello, Graziano. Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1861-1961)
- ^ JS McDonald: Some Socio-Economic Emigration Differentials in Rural Italy, 1902-1913. In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. Volume 7, 1958, No. 1, pp. 55-72, doi : 10.1086 / 449779 .
- ↑ Annemarie Steidl: Transitions and intersections. Discussion of work, migration, population and the history of science. Böhlau, Vienna 2008, ISBN 3205778057 , p. 53 f.
literature
- Horst-Günter Wagner: "Mezzogiorno". Series of problem areas in Europe. Aulis, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7614-1352-1