In Italy, the same was true. Notwithstanding the exorbitant costs, corruption, and managerial problems— much of which the enquiry on war expenditures exposed for all to see— the Italian war eff ort proved impressive: within just a few years of nationalization, the country was equipped with a military arsenal that was not much inferior to the other belligerent powers (Romeo 1972, 116), even producing more cannons than Britain itself (7,709 vs. 6,690) and exporting military equipment. In those years, northern Italy completed the industrial transformation that had been initiated at the beginning of the century.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 197