Why Did Italian Sword Makers Die Out?

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by Philip

Back in the 1970s there was an exhibition of traditional Balkan arms and I recall the catalog mentioning that Habsburg-administered areas like Bosnia suffered restrictions on the local manufacture of weapons, even the wearing of yataghans and other blades, in the 19th cent.

Yes as part of the Divide et Impera policy where the Habsburgs ruled over ethnically diverse lands through a personal mandate, I think it made sense to discourage the access of arms which could be potentially used against the Royal and Imperial Army (K.u.K.). In Bosnia’s particular case this was futile as demonstrated by the tragic assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo in 1914.

The Royal and Imperial Habsburg Army fought the Italians in the revolutions of 1848, the Risorgimento, and WWI. So made sense to not encourage arms industries in those lands under their control. Even Hungary was quite prone to rebellion although there was sword manufacturing allowed in Slovakia (then part of the Hungarian Kingdom).