Germanophobia and Economic Nationalism: Government Policies against Enemy Aliens in Italy during the First World War

The article deals with the emergence of anti-Germanism in the political and public opinion in Italy in the years preceding the entrance in WWI and during the war and the way in which it affected the lives of civilians of German origin or nationality residing in the country. It focuses first of all on the discourses, the verbal violence and the anti-German attitudes of the Italian Government, the nationalistic press, and parties. Secondly, in the aim to understand how a political alliance and a long lasting relationship of friendship, cooperation, admiration and cultural transfers had been transformed in one of hatred, the paper will investigate the measures (expulsions, seizure and confiscation of patrimonies, internment, etc.) taken by the government against enemy aliens and their implementation in the different parts of the country and in particular in big cities like Milan, Rome and Naples (where the largest part of German subjects were concentrated). The article sources are official documents, parliamentary debates, newspapers’ articles, pamphlets and censuses data. Paying particular attention to the discourses and the measures taken in order to accelerate the nationalization of the economy and the expulsion of foreign capital and investments, the paper intends 1) to stress the importance of the role played by both economic and cultural nationalism and 2) to explore the consequences the adoption of the measures had for the foreign communities and for the Italian economy.