Italian Financial Expansion and State-Building

This edited volume presents new research on the expansion and internationalisation of Italian banking during the first century after unification. It argues that, unlike the profit-driven overseas expansion of banks in other major European powers, Italy’s international banking strategy was closely linked to state-backed political and diplomatic ambitions. Bringing together leading scholars of Italian banking history, the volume examines how Italian banks pursued foreign markets despite operating in a capital-scarce economy. It explores strategies such as interbank cooperation, remittance management, foreign investment, and foreign exchange operations, while highlighting the roles of Catholic finance and the Bank of Italy. The contributors also reveal how financial expansion intersected with Italy’s imperial ambitions, both in its colonies and beyond. Offering fresh perspectives on the relationship between finance, state power, and international expansion, the volume will appeal to historians of banking, finance, and modern economic history.