There were, however, other reasons that Italian government entered the First World War, though they are a direct result of the myth of Italy the Great Power. First, as alluded earlier, concerns Italy’s colonial ambitions. The most obvious and easily quantifiable reason the Italian government joined the war, and the sole reason they joined in May 1915 in particular, were the territorial gains Italy received for doing so. These territorial ambitions were important not only financially (due to Italy’s poor record of colonial success), but also ideologically, as they fed into both the myth of Italy as the Great Power and the fantastical patriotic campaign of the Risorgimento. Italy had been attempting to expand colonially with very limited success …show more content…
These colonial pursuit’s proved both costly and lengthy, however. The conflict in Libya continued well until 1914 and the cost of the campaign ballooned to an extortionate sum of 1.7 billion lire by that time. In fact, the disastrous Libyan campaign was one of the few logistical reasons Italy declared neutrality in the early months of the war: the army was stretched too thin as it was, and much more money had been funnelled into the failing crusade than had been originally anticipated. Italy had also had several unsuccessful colonial feats prior to this. There had been several attempts at establishing Italian colonies in Ethiopia during the 1890s, all of which ended anticlimactically. There were only a grand total of 20 Italian’s in the Benadir territory in 1903 , and an underwhelming 61 permanent Italian settlers in the small colony of Eritrea by 1913. These failed attempts destroyed Italy’s ambitions in the Horn of Africa, and thus turned their attention towards the Mediterranean thereafter. With a long list of costly campaigns under their belt and very little to show for it, the Italian government saw the First World War as a golden …show more content…
Italy officially became a unified kingdom in 1871, after a lengthy and highly charged movement that created the foundations for Italian nationalism and patriotism. The Risorgimento was, and still is, a highly romanticised event in Italian history, which was particularly important and relevant to the politics of 1910’s Italy. Many of the lands considered to be Italian were still outside of the unified kingdom, and it was a matter of national pride to eventually incorporate them into the new Liberal Italy. In particular, the government was focused on the acquisition of Trento and Trieste, two Italian speaking Austrian colonies that had been lost before the Risorgimento’s completion. Italy’s involvement in the Triple Alliance was also principally linked to the completion of the Risorgimento. Article 7 of the official agreement stated that Austria and Italy were to maintain the “territorial status quo” and provide each other with “reciprocal compensation for every advantage” the other gained. This, obviously, effected Italy far more positively than it did Austria, as the larger country was in a much better position to conquer lands and expand territorially, a great aid to Italy and it’s limited success in doing the same thing. The hope was, ultimately, that Article 7 would help Italy “complete” the Risorgimento without much
In 1914, Australia joined the First World War. Although it was seen as a European war, the Australia government decided that Australia should support its 'Mother Country', Britain. The prime-minister at the time, Joseph Cook, stated Australia's position : "Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire, right to the full. When the Empire is at war, Australia is at war." Many Australians objected to the country's involvement in the war, but the majority of the population agreed with the government's decision. Australia joined the war for many reasons, but two main reasons were :
How did the Cold War affect the politics of Germany and Italy? The Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world.
The allied powers promised Italy land in exchange for joining them against the central powers during WWI. But, Italy was mostly ignored during the Treaty of Versailles and received very little land. This can be seen as one of the reasons Mussolini aligned with the Axis powers in WWII. He knew that the allies did not treated Italy fairly so he went against them in the next war. He also began invading countries in Africa such as Ethiopia so that Italy could establish itself as the rightful leading power of the Mediterranean. While the invasion of other countries may seem bad, Mussolini did it to increase the power of his own country. He fought for Italy first, proving himself a true nationalist. Another example of this can be found when Hitler came to power and it became apparent to Mussolini that Austria was threatened. He wanted Italy to have influence in Austria, so he threatened to go to war with Germany in the event of an invasion of
Italian Fascism became an extremely important phenomenon under the reign of Benito Mussolini during the Second World War. With a run of 22 years, Fascism and its creator became the focal point of Europe during this time. Many Italian citizens, as well as critics believed that Fascism could be a third option, or the in between of Capitalism and Communism, two ideals that Mussolini refused to accept. With the Allies landing on the shores of Italy in their advance to Fascist capital, Mussolini fought for his ideals while the Allies aimed to liberate the country and the citizens who did not follow Mussolini’s government. Why did Italy change from a fascist government to a new government in the siege of Italy during WWII between 1943-45? Italy fought to create a new government in place of the fascist government headed by Benito Mussolini because of the multiple failed promises including a new Roman Empire as a means to overpower King Victor Emmanuel, and to improve on the poverty. The bombing of Rome, the fascist capital of Italy, was targeted by Allied troops entering Italy in order to capture Mussolini, and the armistice that the Italian citizens believed would eradicate Benito Mussolini and Fascism with the help of the Allied powers.
Next, we will discuss the Risorgimento, a 19th-century movement for unification of Italy that would ultimately establish the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Before this time, the Italian peninsula
The Italian government was faced with many new problems after the First World War. The first one was the Italian dissatisfaction with the territorial settlement made at the Paris Peace Conference. Most of the Italians had expected a big territorial gain when they entered the war. According to the Treaty of London, Italy was promised: Trentino, Trieste, Southern Tyrol, Istria, Dalmatia, the coastal districts of Albania, a share in the division of the Ottoman Empire and of the German colonies in Africa. Although the Italians fought bravely and lost 600,000 men, the territories that surrendered to Italy in the Pairs Peace Conference were not as many as had originally been promised.
At the end of World War One, the Central Powers (which included Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary) were forced to submit to the Treaty of Versailles, which left the Central Powers with citizens who had a mounting disdain for government and organized power. In this chaos, Italy struggled to find a definitive government. As a result, from the end of WWI in 1919 to 1922 Italy, struggling in the ruins of WWI, found itself under the rule of five different governments. Following the infamous ‘March on Rome’, Benito Mussolini was chosen to be Italy’s head of government; however, Mussolini’s nascent fascist party (which was officially founded in 1919) toiled to rally around a set ideology. Though Mussolini had founded the Fascist party in 1919, the party had no set platform or ideology to organize itself around. James Whisker, a professor of Political Science at West Virginia University states, “Italian fascism had at least four principal phases.” Through these phases Italian fascism would come to fruition. The first...
Although Fischer’s thesis was widely accepted, there were people who argued against it. Most Germans had accepted the fact that Germany had caused World War II, but they disagreed with the blame Germany took for World War I. World War I was widely regarded as a war forced upon Germany by its encircling enemies. Critics argue that Fischer’s thesis placed Germany outside the real historical context. It is argued that Germany was not the only aggressive a European nation in the early 20th century, as it was a time when Social Darwinism views of struggle were well-known in Europe's ruling classes. Critics also oppose that in the centuries following Columbus's voyages to America, the Western European countries had already acquired vast overseas colonial
The key issues over which the Italian Wars were fought were primarily financial incentives for Charles VIII of France. He declared that he intended to use Naples as a base to drive the Ottomans out of Europe and liberate Constantinople. In actual truth his main motivation was self-glory and the mouth-watering prospect of acquiring some exquisite prizes of war. On the way he would acquire rich cities and portable pieces of art. It seems that this invasion had been planned for two years prior since Charles had already bought off potential rivals like Henry VII of England, Ferdinand and Macsimilion. He had also enlisted the support of Genoa and Milan, both within Italy. The regent of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, needed allies and his invitation in 1594 seemed to Charles’ plans perfectly. He accepted and the Italian wars began. Also, the Cardinal of Genoa resented the current Pope, Alexander VI. He invited Charles to come in, depose him and spark off the eagerly awaited church reform.
The Carlisle Indian School reflected the negative and positive attitudes of the native and white populations through abuse and civilizing them into what Americans thought was civil. First, the Carlisle Indian School was a massive change for the Indians, and they lived on their land until the whites disturbed them. These whites wanted to assimilate the Indians into the white American culture. However, the way the school told everyone sounded gentle and caring enough for the Indians to agree with it. To illustrate, Richard Henry Pratt, the founder of the Carlisle Indian School, preached about all the good the school would do for the Indians to the people of 1980.
Italy in World War II World War II, which only lasted about five years, changed the course of history forever, and affected millions of lives. Among the major nations that were involved in the war, Benito Mussolini and his Italian army sought to settle their differences with many nations. Benito’s fascist views, his idea of a nation built by one race, and his relationship with Adolf Hitler ultimately led to his involvement in the war. His responsibility, in essence, was to ally himself with the superpowers of the world, and lead his people into a war that they could not fight. " Il Duce", (the leader), was the name that Benito Mussolini gave himself as his rise to power in Italy continued.
Extreme nationalism was one of the causes of World War I because of the unification of Germany and Italy. Nationalism led European nations to compete for the largest army and navy, or the greatest industrial development. It also gave groups of subject peoples the idea of forming independent nations of their own. Germany wanted to match the British navy superiority during the reign of Kaiser William II. The nationalistic Italians, who had just unified, were also willing to fight alongside the Germans in order to prove themselves.
In 1882 Italy, angry at France chiefly because France had forestalled an Italian advance by occupying Tunis, signed another secret treaty, which bound it with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Thus was the Triple Alliance formed. It was periodically renewed until 1913. In 1882 Serbia joined the alliance, in effect, through a treaty with Austria-Hungary. Romania joined the group in 1883, and a powerful Central European bloc was created. Italy was from the first not so solidly bound to either of its allies as Germany and Austria-Hungary were to each other. Italy was in fact a rival of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans and particularly for control of the Adriatic; moreover, there remained unsettled territorial problems (see irredentism). The Triple Alliance, however, turned diplomatic history into new channels. 4
In the early years of the twentieth century, Italy has created a new system of government, however suffered social and economic conditions. Improvements were made however, poverty and literacy were still problems that have not been solved well. While entering World War I, the nation was neutral up until joining the British and French in exchange for certain advantages. However, it was unsuccessful as Italy failed to take control of the territories that it claimed at the Versailles Peace Conference, and suffered significant losses. The ideology of fascism occurred when the power of Italy was shrinking and the idea of being a pacifist became weak.
Even in recent times the action of war has been useful in condensing scattered elements of nationality, and in liberating subject populations. United Italy was formed directly or indirectly by the war of 1859, 1866, and 187O. The last war realised the dreams of German poets, and united the Teutonic nations more closely than the shrewdest statesmen could have conceived to be possible a few years ago. That same war, so calamitous for France, will yet regenerate that great country, and make her more prosperous than she has ever been. Th...