Leopoldo Franchetti and Italian Settlement in Eritrea: Emigration, Welfare Colonialism and the Southern Question

Abstract

Emigration, Colonialism and the Southern Question come together in the history of Leopoldo Franchetti's 1891 plan to provide land for Italian peasants in Eritrea. His plan was a political masterstroke in theory, yet despite burgeoning Italian emigration to other parts of the world and rural restlessness at home, virtually no peasants sought land in Eritrea and the plan failed within five years. Two enduring currents contributed the most to this outcome: the deeply-rooted perception of the Italian South as `African', with its consequences for peasant—state relations; and competition from emigrant destinations which already possessed social networks to encourage new arrivals. Both the plan's design and its failure illustrate how these currents spurred and shaped, but also ultimately frustrated, Italy's early colonial ambitions.