The Risks of Youth in the Historical Era. Gender differences during the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century

This thesis attempts to unite two apparently distant topics: child brides in nineteenth-century Italy and soldiers involved in the First World War. Although distant from our present day, both have a place in our recent history. In both cases, the main protagonist were the youngest segments of male and female population making youth the main vulnerability factor. The first part intends to verify, using Census data, the presence of child bride marriage in Italy. Thanks to individual data from marriage acts, it aims at outlining the main traits of these unions and make a comparison with those currently celebrated in other countries. Child bride marriage presence in nineteenth century Italy is confirmed mainly in the South and in Sicily. Here, child bride marriages were more frequent where the nuptiality rate was high and the socio-economic composition quite varied. Moreover, they were celebrated among the middle social groups and only between bride and groom having the same economic condition and an age difference of about ten years. These elements describe a child bride marriage pattern different from the one nowadays most common in many countries of South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The second part, employing individual data from Muster Rolls and Albo d’Oro dei Caduti, analyses some transversal aspects of the Italian participation in the Great War. The result is a portrait of a country that sacrificed its youngest and best resources. Many soldiers died on the battlefields, others remained partial or completely invalid. Finally, part of those captured by the enemy died in prison camps but, according to our results, in a lower number than reported by the Italian Commission of Inquiry. At the same time, the machine behind the war operations moved by proximity in the northern regions of the country boosting industries and depriving the South of its already meagre human capital resources.

This thesis attempts to unite two apparently distant topics: child brides in nineteenth-century Italy and soldiers involved in the First World War. Although distant from our present day, both have a place in our recent history. In both cases, the main protagonist were the youngest segments of male and female population making youth the main vulnerability factor. The first part intends to verify, using Census data, the presence of child bride marriage in Italy. Thanks to individual data from marriage acts, it aims at outlining the main traits of these unions and make a comparison with those currently celebrated in other countries. Child bride marriage presence in nineteenth century Italy is confirmed the mainly in the South and in Sicily. Here, child bride marriages were more frequent where the nuptiality rate was high and the socio-economic composition quite varied. Moreover, they were celebrated among the middle social groups and only between bride and groom having the same economic condition and an age difference of about ten years. These elements describe a child bride marriage pattern different from the one nowadays most common in many countries of South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The second part, employing individual data from Muster Rolls and Albo d’Oro dei Caduti, analyses some transversal aspects of the Italian participation in the Great War. The result is a portrait of a country that sacrificed its youngest and best resources. Many soldiers died on the battlefields, others remained partial or completely invalid. Finally, part of those captured by the enemy died in prison camps but, according to our results, in a lower number than reported by the Italian Commission of Inquiry. At the same time, the machine behind the war operations moved by proximity in the northern regions of the country boosting industries and depriving the South of its already meagre human capital resources