Editing History of the Alps (section)

=== Economy ===
[[File:Cortina d'Ampezzo - Comune di Cortina d'Ampezzo - 2023-09-27 15-35-37 030.jpg|thumb|The ski resort in [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]], [[Veneto]], Italy]]

The economy showed many signs of change too. First of all, the [[agriculture|agriculture sector]] started to lose importance, and sought to survive by introducing [[specialised crops]] in valley bottoms and reinforcing [[cattle-raising]] at higher altitudes. This profound transformation was obviously due to the spread of [[industrialisation]] in Europe during the nineteenth century, which had its impact on the Alps, directly or indirectly. On the one hand, activities such as [[iron manufacturing]], which had become prominent during the early modern era, reached their limits due to transportation costs and the increasing scale of business operations.<ref>An important case study is Luca Mocarelli: La lavorazione del ferro nel Bresciano tra continuità e mutamento (1750–1914), in: Giovanni Luigi Fontana (ed.), Le vie dell’industrializzazione europea. Sistemi a confronto, Bologna 1997, pp. 721–760.</ref> On the other hand, at the turn of the twentieth century, new opportunities emerged for the manufacturing sector, due largely to [[electric power]], one among the main innovations of the second industrial revolution. Abundant water and steep slopes made the Alps an ideal environment for the production of [[hydroelectric power]]. Hence many industrial sites appeared there.<ref>Andrea Bonoldi, Andrea Leonardi (eds.): Energia e sviluppo in area alpina. Secoli XIX e XX, Milan 2004.</ref>

However, it was undoubtedly the service sector that experienced the most important new development within the Alpine economy: the rapid rise of tourism. The first phase was dominated by summertime visits and, by about 1850, the expansion of Alpine [[health resorts]] and spas. Later, tourism started to shift to the winter season, particularly after the introduction of ski-lifts in early twentieth century.<ref>Andrea Leonardi, Hans Heiss (eds.): Turismo e sviluppo in area alpina, Innsbruck 2003 and the issue on tourism and cultural change in Histoire des Alpes 4 (2004).</ref> For a long time, [[traffic|transit traffic]] and trade had been an essential part of the service sector in the Alps. The traditional routes and activities began to face strong competition from the construction of railway lines and tunnels such as the [[Semmering railway|Semmering]] (1854), the [[Brenner Railway|Brenner]] (1867), the [[Turin–Modane railway|Fréjus/Mont-Cenis]] (1871), the [[Gotthard railway|Gotthard]] (1882), the [[Simplon railway|Simplon]] (1906) and the [[Tauern Railway|Tauern]] (1909).<ref>A survey in Stefano Maggi: Le ferrovie, Bologna 2008.</ref> In 2016 opened the 57&nbsp;km long [[Gotthard Base Tunnel]]. With a maximum elevation of only 549 metres above sea level, it is the first flat direct route through the Alpine barrier.

In general, it is noteworthy that even if modern industry – tourism, the railway and later the highway system – represented opportunities for the Alps, complementing its traditional openness to new challenges, it also produced negative consequences, such as the [[human impact on the environment]].

{{gallery
|align = center
|title = '''Milestones of railway transit across the Alps'''
|File:Ein verschütteter Zug auf dem Brenner.png
|[[Brenner Railway|Brenner Pass Railway]] (1867), maximum elevation: 1,371 m
|File:Eisenbahn-tunnel-mont-cenis-1871.jpg
|[[Fréjus Rail Tunnel]] (1871), maximum elevation: 1,338 m
|File:Gotthard Eröffnungszug Bellinzona.jpg
|[[Gotthard Rail Tunnel]] (1882), maximum elevation: 1,151 m
|File:Simplon tunnel D.jpg
|[[Simplon Tunnel]] (1906), maximum elevation: 705 m
|File:Gotthard 2016.jpg
|[[Gotthard Base Tunnel]] (2016), maximum elevation: 549 m
}}