Cabiria

Abstract

Italy is a relatively young nation, as it only achieved unification in 1870. The process of unifying its several regions was far from smooth. It was indeed difficult to find common ground for planning a parliamentary government that would be acceptable to all regions and for formulating a set of satisfactory policies for common political and economic development and growth. Several more or less conservative administrations governed in the first fifty years following unification. In 1915, Italy, under the pressure of the coalition in support of intervention, entered World War I on the side of Russia, France, and England against Austria and Germany. At that point, Italy had to cope with the devastating effects of the war on its population and on its economy. By the end of the war (1918), the cinematic industry, which had been so successful before the war, had reached its lowest level of production ever just like several other industrial and commercial national activities.