The Italian colonial expansion developed along a period of time between the last decades of the XIX century and 1936.
This volume deals with a topic which has not yet been studied: the role played by the Bank of Italy to support the Italian colonial policy from Crispi's cabinets until World War II. The Institute - when it was still called Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia - first operated as a financial agent of the government; subsequently it worked directly in the colonies with its own branches.
While initially Bank of Italy acting as a universal bank had to sustain a large part of the credit activity, after the establishment of the empire it worked in competition with the main banks that demanded its downsizing to the institutional functions of issuing institution and state treasury manager. During the Allied occupation, some colonial branches continued to carry out a limited activity under the supervision of the British control authorities.
