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Home / history / the last century

Local History

[ Origins /Roman Age ] [ The Middle Age ] [Venice ] [The austrian rule ] [The last century]

The italian government

In 1866 Belluno, together with Veneto, became part of the Kingdom of Italy: the new administrative from Piemonte took the place of the old austrian one (which was more efficient). The burgeoisie of Belluno, quite enthusiast about the annexation to Italy was also politically very naive, because of the many years of servitude to Venice and Austria. The administration was not capable of defining a clear farming policy: the farmers remained extremely poor, and no increase in production took place.

A phase of slow social and economic decline started, in which the province of Belluno became more and more isolated from the rest of Veneto. Because of the lack of new investments, the phenomenon of emigration gradually increased, reaching its maximum towards the end of the century.

The emigrants moved to the more developed France, Belgium and Germany; however, many people went as far as Argentina, Brazil and northern America. It was an emigration of epic proportions, marked by great difficulties and immense sacrifices: in many cases, those emigrating to America were victims of ruthless people and ended almost in the condition of slavery. "Those who lost America" is a book written by the descendants of the people who left Veneto and Friuli to move to Argentina and reports the tale of their fates.

Emigration was the cause of social desegregation and made the regions the emigrants left even more poor: the human resources that are necessary to start and maintain any development were totally lacking. Belluno suffered from population decrease more than any other province in Veneto (including Rovigo); this phenomenon has slowed down considerably any process of economic emancipation.

Among the positive aspects of the union to Italy: the diffusion of primary education, the bridge on the river Piave (1884), the railway (1886), the military district (1909). Nonetheless, it was mostly up to the people of Belluno to develop locally forms of collaboration to face the dire straits. 
The "Asilo Cairoli" (a nursery) was open mostly to the children of the workers. Don Antonio Sperti took care of the orphans, leading them towards study or work in his workshop, which was built with the support of the town council and the help of donations.

Belluno was on the front line during WWI, as many towns of the province were involved in military operations and the city itself was in the zone behind the front.

After the Caporetto defeat, Belluno was subject to a very hard occupation, had to face starvation and the spreading of diseases such as tuberculosis and pellagra that decimated the population, and especially the young.

During the post-war period, the emigration phenomenon was quite prominent, until the rise of fascism that limited it during the years, not because of a better quality of life, but for its political agenda. The autarchic policy brought on by the fascist regime was harmful for the economy of Belluno, a city poor of resources.

In Belluno, public squares got an important political role, as they became the places where totalitarism was most celebrated.
"The theater was a common meeting point, not just the place where one could best show his social status. Several opera seasons were organised (...). Theatre was not neglected either (...). Movie projections were organised for the students, with "instructive" movies (...)." (F. Vendramini, Da una guerra mondiale all'altra, in Piazza dei Martiri - Campedel, I.S.B.R.E.C., Belluno 1993).

During WWII, the people of Belluno paid a terrible toll of blood and, by the end of the war, a very extensive migration took place, especially towards european countries (coal mines in Belgium etc.), but also to Argentina and Australia as in the past. During the post-war years, a slow industrialisation took place that became more significant after the Vajont disaster, with the help of the reconstruction laws. Agricolture, that had always been neglected to some degree, had a crisis, while tourism was enhanced. In Belluno, the service sector got a preminent role, and for a long period the resources were managed from outside (electric energy, but also mass tourism with the inevitable devastation of the territorial equilibria).

One of the great resources of the people of Belluno is their exceptional will to work; a resource that cannot be fully employed as long as human resources are taken away by migration. Perhaps something has changed today: the industrial crisis of the 70's and the 80's, with the decentralization that followed, has benefitted areas like that of Belluno. Manufacturies like Costan and Zanussi moved in the Belluno area. The greater productivity of small factories, in times in which the market demands are constantly changing and the technological evolution makes structures rapidly obsolete, has encouraged the diffusion of highly specialised manufacturies (spectacles) and the diffusion of small but technologically advanced crafs (see the industrial area in Paludi in Alpago).

You can help to keep this history up-to-date and to fill in the missing parts.

Display of the italian tricolour in Belluno, 1866, as painted by Alessandro Seffer (1831-1905). The Piazza Duomo with the Court, the Town Hall and the Prefecture.

Durant 1882: the flood of the Piave sweeps away the stone bridge. The iron bridge is inaugurated in 1884.

Station

Belluno under occupation: the austrian bridge

Victory Bridge, inaugurated in 1926.

August 1935: Starace visits Belluno.