Why Did Italy Enter Into World War I?

Why did Italy enter into World War I if the majority of Italians were Against it? On the 28th of June 1914, the heir to the Austro – Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was killed in Sarajevo by a Serbian Nationalist. This assassination, perceived as an internal threat by Austria – Hungary, led to the nearly immediate outbreak of the war. As members of the Triple Alliance, Germany declared war alongside Austria – Hungaria whereas Italy, even though it had been a member since 1882, declared its neutrality on the 4th of August justifying her position by the fact that “ the character of the Alliance is purely defensive”1 and that, therefore, she can only provide military support in the case of a defensive war. From 1914, Italians divided into two opposite groups, the Neutralists and the Interventionists respectively formed by the Socialits, Catholics and the Giolittian on one hand and the Futurists, Nationalists, some Socialits and the North of the country on the other. Italian interventionists glorified the war as the motor to modernity and the solution to territorial expansion whereas Neutralists qualified it as a “useless slaughter”2 and denied Italy's ability to fight or to gain any economical or territorial advantages.

Italy entered the war on the 23rd of May 1915 against the will of a majority of Italians. It's participation was imposed by a small minority of leaders including the Prime Minister, Antonio Salandra, the Minister of the Foreign Policies, Sidney Sonnino, the King Vittorio Emanuelle III, army leaders and Liberals, that found a number of advantages that could arise from their participation. Those advantages where territorial...

... middle of paper ...

...ted to feel that the war could be a solution to the social, political and economical problems that they were enduring since the unification. However, the governement was still economically and militarely unprepared and had no time to persuade the Italians in this pacific way. Both the civil and military authorities used violence, coercion and repressive measures to recruit men from all over the country to join the army.

Works Cited

John A. Thayer, Italy and the Great War, (Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press, 1964), p.279

Gabrielle d'Annunzio, Discorso di Quarto, 04/05/1915

Antonio Gibelli, La Grande Guerra Degli Italiani 1915- 1918, ( BUR Biblioteca Universita Rizzoli, 2007), p.32

Pope Benedict 15, 1917.

Telegram from Austro- Hungarian Ambassador, Von Merey, at Rome to Count Berchtold, 30 July 1914 in World War 1 Document Archives.