Italy's industrial climb behind its dreadnoughts

How industrially underdeveloped was Italy when it began building these battleships?

Italy began from a limited base but expanded industrial capacity rapidly during the two decades surrounding the dreadnought era.

A late-1890s British diplomatic report portrayed Italy as dramatically under-industrialized, claiming that adding Sheffield would have multiplied the country's capacity. The striking comparison should not be taken too literally. Italy nevertheless began the dreadnought era from a limited industrial base and then added substantial capacity over the following two decades. Expansion continued through the First World War and beyond. The battleship program belonged to a wider national industrial transformation rather than standing as an isolated naval purchase.