Italy's Global Citizens - Migrants of the Imperial Project, 1880-1920

By the First World War 14 million Italians had left their homes. Such a loss at an embryonic stage in nation-building was catastrophic for Italy’s imperial designs, but gradually the government recognized the diaspora as an untapped source of potential wealth and patriotism. Investing in the development of diaspora colonialism transformed emigration from a negative problem to a positive solution. This book asks why Italian migrants responded to opportunities emerging from Italy’s imperial ambitions, and how.