Italy 1914

Synopsis

Red Week (or, in Italian, Settimana Rossa) was the popular term eventually used for the violent uprising that occurred across Italy after a general strike in the city of Ancona on 7 June 1914 resulted in the killing of three demonstrators by the police. For years, workers had become increasingly vocal about miserable working conditions, poor wages, and police coercion. As a result of the Red Week activities—in which rioters destroyed shops and tore apart telegraph lines and railroad tracks—many communities declared themselves independent communes, while other regions proclaimed themselves independent republics. More than 100,000 soldiers were brought in before order was restored.

Timeline

• 1894: Thousands of unemployed American workers—a group named "Coxey's Army" for their leader, Jacob S. Coxey—march on Washington, D.C. A number of such marches on the capital occurred during this period of economic challenges, but Coxey's march was only...