Crispi francesco

Crispi, Francesco (1819-1901), Italian Prime Minister (1887-1891 and 1893-1896). Crispi was active in the Italian unification movement and served briefly as interior minister in 1877 and 1887. During his first term as Prime Minister he pursued a pro-German foreign policy while engaging in a tariff war with France. When he returned to office in 1893, he ruthlessly suppressed socialist disorders at home, but his attempt to make Ethiopia an Italian colony resulted in the fall of his government when the Ethiopians defeated an Italian army at Adwa in 1896. Crispi retired from politics after an inquiry into his alleged financial misconduct the following year.