Politica e ceti dirigenti alla vigilia della Grande Guerra : crisi del sistema giolittiano e crisi della sovranità statale

This essay aims to analyse critically the end of Giolitti's government system, by analysing its developments within the more general issue of the crisis of State sovereignty. The political choices, and behaviours of the liberal ruling class, can be more easily understood if we consider these issues in light of their perception of the relationship between state institutions; the emerging party structures, and the enlargement of the basis of social consensus after the electoral reform of universal male suffrage. In this framework, the essay shows how the nationalistic pressures prevail within the anti-Giolitti political group, already before the outbreak of war, focusing on the political debate far beyond mere criticism of Giolitti's government system. [Publisher's text].