The 1904 Italian general strike began on 16 September 1904, making it the first

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

history.Clark 1984, pg. 173–174 Workers from around the country struck in protest of the killing of several strikers. The strike shook confidence in the Italian government and would be followed by more general strikes in the years that followed.

Background

The 1904 general strike was preceded by 1898 bread riots, which was a major civil conflict prompted by bread shortages in Italy. Rioters completely occupied the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

for several days, leading to the Italian government dispatching half an army corps to clear the occupation. Workers from around the country traveled to Milan to participate, joined by workers and peasants from France and Switzerland. Unions from around the country called strikes in support of the bread riots. Among the casualties were hundreds of women who actively participated in the riots. In the weeks leading up to the strike, the government of Italy began to suspect that Italian socialists were planning a "general uprising", intending to order strikes in every city in the country. One Italian-American importer in New York told the New York Times that they had received a letter and cable dispatch from a government representative in Rome warning of an immanent conflict in Naples. Italian newspaper editors reported receiving the same dispatch and decided to publish it without commentary, as had been done during the earlier bread riots, for fear of encouraging more protests internationally.

Strike

Beginning at noon on 16 September 1904, The strike was called by the Chambers of Labor in several cities in response to several killings of striking workers, culminating in the shooting of a miner in Buggerru, Sardinia. Participation in the strike was strongest in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

. The government headed by Prime Minister

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

ordered local authorities to intervene as little as possible, predicting that the strike would die down on its own. During the strike, all telegrams referencing it were blocked. Strikers fought with

gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

resulting in two gendarmes being killed.

Outcome

While the general strike waned on its own, it shook public confidence in the strength of the state and the middle class's support for Giolitti. The country would experience many general strikes in the years following 1904, with additional general strikes in 1905, 1906, 1909, 1911, and 1914.

Background

Strike

Outcome

References

Bibliography

Further reading