1904 in Italy

Decades:	1880s; 1890s; 1900s; 1910s; 1920s;
See also:	History of Italy; Timeline of Italian history; List of years in Italy;

Events from the year 1904 in Italy.

Kingdom of Italy

Monarch – Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946)
Prime Minister – Giovanni Giolitti (1903–1905)
Population – 33,237,000

Events

This cartoon in the satirical magazine *L'Asino* (The Donkey) in May 1911, described the policy of Giolitti: on the one hand, dressed in elegant suit, he reassures conservatives; on the other, with clothes less elegant, he is addressing the workers. (L'Asino, May 14, 1911)

The Giolittian Era. During his second and third tenure as Prime Minister (1903–1905 and 1906–1909), Giovanni Giolitti courts the left and labour unions with social legislation, including subsidies for low-income housing, preferential government contracts for worker cooperatives, and old age and disability pensions. Economic expansion was secured by monetary stability, moderate protectionism and government support of production. Foreign trade doubled between 1900 and 1910, wages rose, and the general standard of living went up.^[1] Nevertheless, the period was also marked by a sharp increase in the frequency and duration of industrial action, with major labour strikes.

February

February 17 – The opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, premieres at La Scala in Milan. It was withdrawn after a disastrous premiere and Puccini substantially rewrote it.^[2]^[3]

April

April 24 – Official visit of French President Émile Loubet to Rome.

July

July 4 – Piero Ginori Conti tests the first-ever geothermal power generator at the Larderello dry steam field in Italy.^[4] It was a small generator that lit four light bulbs.^[5]

September

Series of strikes, including a general strike in September. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti refuses to intervene and this attitude prevents the movement to take revolutionary dimensions. Pope Pius X gives tacit permission to Catholic candidates to stand in parliamentary to counter the red menace.^[6]
September 27 – Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti visits the German Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow to allay concerns in Berlin by the French-Italian rapprochement in relation with the Triple Alliance.

November

November 6 – First round of the Italian general election.^[7]
November 13 – Second round of the Italian general election. The "ministerial" left-wing bloc of the Historical Left led by Giovanni Giolitti remains the largest in Parliament, winning 339 of the 508 seats.^[8] The papal ban on Catholics voting was relaxed for the first time, and three Catholics were elected.^[9]

Births

February 3 – Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (d. 1975)^[10]
April 18 – Giuseppe Terragni, Italian Rationalist architect (d. 1943)^[11]
August 28 – Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (d. 1980)
November 25 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (d. 2000)

Deaths

Emilio Comba, Waldensian pastor and historian (b. 1839)
February 12 – Antonio Labriola, Italian Marxist theoretician (b. 1843)

References

^ Life World Library: Italy, by Herbert Kubly and the Editors of LIFE, 1961, p. 46
^ "Madame Butterfly Gets Cool Reception – First Production of Puccini's Opera Given at Milan". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. XXXI, no. 142. 18 February 1904. p. 3, col. 1. Retrieved 12 January 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
^ Jenkins, Chadwick. "The Fiasco of Madama Butterfly's First Performance: Feb 17, 1904". New York City Opera Project: Madama Butterfly. Columbia University. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
^ Luhr, J.F. (2003). Earth. Dorling Kindersley. p. 205. ISBN 1-4053-0018-3.
^ Tiwari, G.N.; Ghosal, M.K. (2005). Renewable Energy Resources: Basic Principles and Applications. Alpha Science International Ltd. ISBN 1-84265-125-0.
^ Clark, Modern Italy: 1871 to the present, p. 176
^ "Italian Conservatives Gain; Power of Extreme Parties Diminished by Elections Yesterday" (PDF). The New York Times. November 7, 1904.
^ Nohlen, D; Stöver, P (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. p. 1083.
^ Nohlen & Stöver, p. 1031
^ "Luigi Dallapiccola (biography, works, resources)" (in French and English). IRCAM.
^ Notice de personne "Terragni, Giuseppe (1904-1943)" [Person notice "Terragni, Giuseppe (1904-1943)"] (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

Clark, Martin (2008). Modern Italy: 1871 to the present, Harlow: Pearson Education, ISBN 1-4058-2352-6

[1] Life World Library: Italy, by Herbert Kubly and the Editors of LIFE, 1961, p. 46

[2] "Madame Butterfly Gets Cool Reception – First Production of Puccini's Opera Given at Milan". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. XXXI, no. 142. 18 February 1904. p. 3, col. 1. Retrieved 12 January 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.

[3] Jenkins, Chadwick. "The Fiasco of Madama Butterfly's First Performance: Feb 17, 1904". New York City Opera Project: Madama Butterfly. Columbia University. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

[4] Luhr, J.F. (2003). Earth. Dorling Kindersley. p. 205. ISBN 1-4053-0018-3.

[5] Tiwari, G.N.; Ghosal, M.K. (2005). Renewable Energy Resources: Basic Principles and Applications. Alpha Science International Ltd. ISBN 1-84265-125-0.

[clark176-6] Clark, Modern Italy: 1871 to the present, p. 176

[nyt071104-7] "Italian Conservatives Gain; Power of Extreme Parties Diminished by Elections Yesterday" (PDF). The New York Times. November 7, 1904.

[8] Nohlen, D; Stöver, P (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. p. 1083.

[9] Nohlen & Stöver, p. 1031

[10] "Luigi Dallapiccola (biography, works, resources)" (in French and English). IRCAM.

[11] Notice de personne "Terragni, Giuseppe (1904-1943)" [Person notice "Terragni, Giuseppe (1904-1943)"] (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

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v t e Years in Italy (1861–present)
19th century	Pre-1861 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 1904 in Europe
Sovereign states	Andorra Austria-Hungary Baden Belgium Bulgaria Denmark France Germany Greece Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Ottoman Empire Portugal Prussia Romania Russia San Marino Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Cyprus Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Malta