<P> The unification of Italy in 1861 - 70 broke down the feudal land system that had survived in the south since the Middle Ages, especially where land had been the inalienable property of aristocrats, religious bodies, or the king . The breakdown of feudalism, however, and redistribution of land did not necessarily lead to small farmers in the south winding up with land of their own or land they could work and profit from . Many remained landless, and plots grew smaller and smaller and thus more and more unproductive as land was subdivided among heirs . The Italian diaspora did not affect all regions of the nation equally, principally low income agricultural areas with a high proportion of small peasant land holdings . In the second phase of emigration (1900 to World War I) most emigrants were from the south and most of them were from rural areas, driven off the land by inefficient land management policies . Robert Foerster, in Italian Emigration of our Times (1919) says, "(Emigration has been)... well nigh expulsion; it has been exodus, in the sense of depopulation; it has been characteristically permanent . ". </P> <P> Mezzadria, a form of sharefarming where tenant families obtained a plot to work on from an owner and kept a reasonable share of the profits, was more prevalent in central Italy, which is one of the reasons why there was less emigration from that part of Italy . Although owning land was the basic yardstick of wealth, farming in the south was socially despised . People did not invest in agricultural equipment but in such things as low - risk state bonds . </P> <P> Italy had emerged from World War I in a poor and weakened condition . The National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922, at the end of a period of social unrest . During the first four years of the new regime, from 1922 to 1925, the Fascist had a generally laissez - faire economic policy: they initially reduced taxes, regulations and trade restrictions on the whole . However, "once Mussolini acquired a firmer hold of power...laissez - faire was progressively abandoned in favour of government intervention, free trade was replaced by protectionism and economic objectives were increasingly couched in exhortations and military terminology ." In 1929, Italy was hit hard by the Great Depression . Trying to handle the crisis, the Fascist government nationalized the holdings of large banks which had accrued significant industrial securities . A number of mixed entities were formed, whose purpose it was to bring together representatives of the government and of the major businesses . These representatives discussed economic policy and manipulated prices and wages so as to satisfy both the wishes of the government and the wishes of business . This economic model based on a partnership between government and business was soon extended to the political sphere, in what came to be known as corporatism . </P> <P> Throughout the 1930s, the Italian economy maintained the corporatist model that had been established during the Great Depression . At the same time, however, Mussolini had growing ambitions of extending Italy's foreign influence through both diplomacy and military intervention . After the invasion of Ethiopia, Italy began supplying both troops and equipment to the Spanish nationalists under General Francisco Franco, who were fighting in the Spanish Civil War against a leftist government . These foreign interventions required increased military spending, and the Italian economy became increasingly subordinated to the needs of its armed forces . By 1939, Italy had the highest percentage of state - owned enterprises after the Soviet Union . </P>

How did the great depression affect the italian economy
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