As previously mentioned, the parishes and the Friulian Church
played a crucial part in offering psychological and emotional support during
the emergency response, assisting those who had lost loved ones or their homes.
Alfredo Battisti, who was Archbishop of Udine from 1973 to 2000,
embodied this closeness to the Friulian community. His support went beyond
‘only’ the spiritual dimension; as a proponent of a ‘people’s Church’, the
prelate engaged in dialogue with all political forces and took a stand on even
the most contentious issues. The contribution of the Glesie Furlane
(Friulian Church) movement, which had emerged a few years earlier, was also
fundamental. The organisation aimed to combine traditional Christian values
with Friulian cultural and linguistic identity.
It was from this ability to read and interpret reality that the
archbishop derived the words with which he summarised the priorities for
tackling the emergency and the rebuilding effort in a motto that would become
the banner of the reconstruction: «First the factories, then the houses, then
the churches». This was recounted by Father David Maria Turoldo in the
newspaper Il Giorno on May 11 1976. In the days that followed, the scale
of the destruction was quantified: 18,000 jobs were lost, and almost 500 industrial
companies were damaged.
On May 11 1976, Gianni Agnelli, who was president of
Confindustria at the time, visited the earthquake-stricken areas of Friuli.
During his four-hour visit, he met with government authorities and went to the
Snaidero furniture factory in Majano, where he met Rino Snaidero and
other local industrialists. «We want to get back to work immediately», the
entrepreneurs told Agnelli. «We realised that the damage went beyond the
destruction of homes», said Edoardo Zerman, secretary of the Italian
Metalworkers' Federation (Federazione Lavoratori Metalmeccanici - FLM) in
Udine, recalling those moments. «Above all, it was the damage to employment
that jeopardised the future of the entire population». In the days following
that tragic night in May, it was clear that recovery would begin with the
factories and the revival of the manufacturing industry. However, it was
equally clear that a major commitment from the institutions was required to
proceed in this direction, which was indeed immediately and widely supported.
The State swiftly passed Law No.
336 on May 29 1976 with the aim of restoring the productive sectors. The
local government of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia promptly
backed this initiative with Regional Law No. 28 dated July 1 1976, titled Provisions
for the Restoration of the Productive Efficiency of Industrial, Artisan,
Commercial and Tourist Businesses Affected by the Seismic Events of May 1976 in
Friuli Venezia Giulia. This legislation implemented the support measures
established by the central government and supplemented them with multiple
regional financial instruments. These included non-repayable grants, for which
493 applications from industrial businesses and 2,629 from artisan enterprises
were approved. Financing, operating loans, and other credit schemes were also
disbursed through Friulia S.p.A., a regional financial institution established
in 1966 and one of the first of its type in Italy. All the regulatory measures
implemented aimed to provide contributions of economic support for the
secondary and tertiary sectors, and to prevent an irreversible process of
socio-economic disintegration in the affected areas.
The events that unfolded in the
hillside area between Gemona and Maniago (a territory which had been undergoing
industrialisation) and, in particular, in the Rivoli di Osoppo industrial
district (the largest in close proximity to the epicentre of the earthquake),
are a case in point. Established by a group of entrepreneurs in the early
1960s, the site was expanding significantly at the time of the seismic shocks. The
earthquake completely destroyed the Manifattura di Gemona business complex,
almost all of the Pittini steelworks plants, and 45,000 square metres of the
Fantoni factory (only the Services Centre designed by Gino Valle
remained standing). It also destroyed 30,000 square metres of the Snaidero
production facility in Majano, which was built between 1972 and 1974 to a
design by Angelo Mangiarotti. Various approaches were taken in the
reconstruction process: in some cases, surviving structures were reused, while
in others, radical rebuilding was chosen. Designed by Emilio Mattioni,
the Manifattura di Gemona site is a prime example of rapid reconstruction.
Construction began in January 1977 and was completed by December of the same
year. Many small and micro businesses, as well as thousands of artisan
workshops, followed the successful approach of the entrepreneurs and workforce
in this territory. Responding actively to the disaster, they channelled
institutional aid into reconstruction and, in many cases, also upgraded and
modernised the technology used in their operations. Even before the September
tremors, thousands of people were gradually being incorporated back into the
production cycle. By the end of 1977, a year later, over 90 per cent of
resident workers had returned to employment, and by 1978, employment in the
industrial sector was higher than before the earthquake. This focus on
safeguarding jobs was pivotal in preventing the permanent abandonment of
earthquake-affected areas: supporting growing businesses enabled people to look
to the future and lay the foundations for industrial development, which was
already underway and therefore in an extremely delicate phase of evolution. The
return of emigrants, which had begun in previous years, became firmly established,
providing manpower and experience for the process of reconstruction.
As might have been expected, there
was plenty of criticism surrounding the enacted system, as well as concerns for
other economic areas. Many voices were raised in support of the agricultural
and livestock sector, which was undergoing an industrial-style transformation
that marginalised traditional, family-run farms. Having already been damaged by
the earthquake, these farms were now set to receive the final blow. Evidence of
this can be found in posters that appeared publicly at the time and are now preserved
in the Gubiani Collection at the ‘Don Valentino Baldissera’ Municipal Library
of Gemona del Friuli. On July 16 1976, a conference entitled After the
earthquake: building a new agriculture for the rebirth of Friuli was held
in Udine. Three key organisations were represented at the conference: the
Alliance of Farmers of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Alleanza dei Coltivatori del
Friuli Venezia Giulia), the Federation of Sharecroppers of the Italian General
Confederation of Labour (Federmezzadri CGIL), and the Union of Italian Farmers
(Unione Coltivatori Italiani - UCI).
The Friulian Church, through its Pastoral Council,
expressed concern for the agricultural sector, particularly regarding the
«extremely serious situation in the mountains». In a document issued in
November 1978, the same Council voiced unease about the predominant role
given to road infrastructure and military easements, the arrival of large
national and international companies, and price trends. An article published in
the weekly newspaper Vita Cattolica on December 2 1978, entitled Stop
investments in Friuli, highlighted the stark contrast between people who
were still waiting for funds to finish rebuilding their homes and entrepreneurs
who had already received substantial contributions. «Those fixing up the four
walls of their houses see funds trickling in slowly; industrialists, on the
other hand, have received substantial sums, tens and tens of billions. By what
criterion? Were all of these contributions necessary for rebuilding the
factories? And what about those businesses that received allocations despite
having been only marginally ‘touched’ by the earthquake? How have they invested
the funds?» Underlying this was the legitimate fear that the earthquake would
accelerate modernisation and become yet another cause of uncontrollable
disruption to the established social balance.
Speaking at a
conference promoted by the Industrial Consortium of the Upper Friuli Foothill
Area (Consorzio Industriale Pedemontano Alto Friuli - CIPAF), which was held in
Gemona in February 1979, the economist Marzio Strassoldo also did not hesitate
to highlight certain issues relating to the ‘rebuilt’ factories of Friuli. In
his address, titled Analysis and prospects of the labour market in the
earthquake-stricken areas, he emphasised that «companies that had
reconstructed their buildings and facilities on a larger scale, in order to
comply with legal requirements and capitalise on favourable market
opportunities, were […] unable to hire enough staff to maximise their
productive capacity».
For Andrea Pittini,
an industrialist at the forefront of the movement that saw factories take on a
leadership role, the earthquake was a wake-up call for the people of Friuli.
«In 1976, Ferriere Nord employed around one thousand people. The
earthquake completely destroyed the plant, killing seven employees and injuring
39 others. Within hours, the entire plant had become a bustling construction
site. […] From one tremor to the next, we demolished the rubble, redesigned the
entire site, and finally rebuilt it. […]
I do
not believe the earthquake significantly boosted the industrialisation of the
area, as industrial development had already begun beforehand. The people
responded to the earthquake as a challenge in the face of the destruction and
death it had brought. There was a race to rebuild as quickly as possible and
recover from the blow».
The idea that the
earthquake triggered modern economic development in Friuli, which was
struggling to get underway or was entirely absent before 1976, is one of the
many false myths surrounding the Friulian economy. Before 1976, the Friulian
economy was wrongly considered ‘backward’ compared to other parts of the
country. The so-called ‘earthquake miracle’ actually occurred during a period
of rapid acceleration in the industrial economy of Friuli and, more broadly,
the entire productive system of Friuli Venezia Giulia. For instance, the per
capita income in the two Friulian provinces was a quarter lower than the
national average in 1963. However, this figure was equal to the national
average in 1970. By 1976, it had surpassed the national average, even before
earthquake funds added fuel to an already thriving economy.
If the response to the earthquake exhibits a
specifically Friulian character, evidence of this can be found in the
supportive role played by the local government of the Autonomous Region of
Friuli Venezia Giulia. This is evident in the shared understanding between the
majority and opposition parties regarding the administrative and financial
instruments to be employed and the objectives to be pursued. «First the
factories, then the houses, then the churches» was more than just a slogan; it
was a sentiment that came from the people and one that their political,
entrepreneurial, intellectual, and moral leaders were able to grasp and make a
reality.