This article is about
Italian participation in World War I.
From neutrality to the intervention in the war
In spite of its official status as member of the
Triple AllianceThe Triple Alliance was the military alliance among Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy that lasted from 1882 until the start of World War I in 1914. Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any two other great powers, or for Germany and Italy, an attack by France alone...
together with
GermanyThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
and
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
, in the years before the outbreak of the conflict the Italian government had enhanced its diplomatic efforts towards
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. This was because the Italian government had grown convinced that a support of Austria (which had been also the traditional enemy of Italy during the 19th century Risorgimento) would not grant to Italy the lands the country was aiming for in its territorial expansion:
TriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in north eastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south, east and north of the city...
,
IstriaCroatian Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
,
ZaraZadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Zadar faces the islands of Ugljan and Pašman, from which it is separated by the narrow Zadar Strait. The promontory on which the old city stands used to be separated from the...
and
DalmatiaDalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...
, all Austrian possessions. In fact, a secret agreement signed with France in 1902 practically nullified Italy's membership in the Triple Alliance.
A few days after the outbreak of the conflict, on 3 August 1914, the government, led by the conservative
Antonio SalandraAntonio Salandra was a conservative Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916...
, declared that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance, whereas Austria-Hungary had been the aggressor. In reality, both Salandra and the minister of Foreign Affairs,
Sidney SonninoBaron Sidney Costantino Sonnino was an Italian politician.Sonnino was born in Pisa to an Italian father of Jewish heritage and a Welsh mother...
, started diplomatic activities to probe which side was ready to grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war. Although the majority of the cabinet (including former Prime Minister
Giovanni GiolittiGiovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921.-Biography:...
) was firmly contrary to the intervention, numerous intellectuals, including
socialistsThe Italian Socialist Party was a democratic socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892....
such as
Ivanoe BonomiIvanoe Bonomi was an Italian politician and statesman before and after World War II.Bonomi was born in Mantua. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1909, representing Mantua as a member of the Italian Socialist Party. He was among those expelled from the party in 1912, for his...
,
Leonida BissolatiLeonida Bissolati was a leading exponent of the Italian socialist movement at the turn of the nineteenth century.- Biography :...
and
Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
, declared in favour of the intervention, which was then mostly supported by the Nationalist and the Liberal parties.
The diplomatic moves led to the
London PactLondon Pact , or more correctly, the Treaty of London, 1915, was a secret pact between Italy and Triple Entente, signed in London on 26 April 1915 by the Kingdom of Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Russia....
(26 April 1915), signed by Sonnino without the approval of the Italian Parliament. By the Pact, in case of victory Italy was to be given Trentino and the
South TyrolThe Province of Bolzano-Bozen, also referred to as South Tyrol or Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two provinces that make up the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which is itself an autonomous region. The province has an area of and a total...
up to the
Brenner PassBrenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps along the border between Italy and Austria, and is one of the principal passes of the Alps. It is the lowest and easiest of the Alpine passes, and one of the few in the area...
, the entire
Austrian LittoralThe Austrian Littoral or Küstenland was a crown land within the Austrian Empire from 1813 till 1876 and of Austria-Hungary) from 1876 to 1918....
(with
TriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in north eastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south, east and north of the city...
,
Gorizia-GradiscaGorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...
and
IstriaCroatian Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, but without Fiume), parts of western
CarniolaCarniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is nowadays Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918...
(
IdrijaIdrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
and
Ilirska BistricaIlirska Bistrica is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. It belongs to the traditional region of Inner Carniola.The town of Ilirska Bistrica is the major economic centre of the district of the same name. Its coat of arms represents the history of the region, being part of the pre-slavic Ilyrian...
) and north-western
DalmatiaDalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...
with
ZadarZadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Zadar faces the islands of Ugljan and Pašman, from which it is separated by the narrow Zadar Strait. The promontory on which the old city stands used to be separated from the...
and most of the islands, but without
SplitSplit is the largest Dalmatian city, the second-largest urban centre in Croatia, and the seat of Split-Dalmatia County...
. Other agreements concerned the sovereignty of the port of
ValonaVlorë or Vlora is the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 .-Names:...
, the province of
AntalyaAntalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey, and the capital city of Antalya Province. Situated on coastal cliffs, Antalya is surrounded by mountains...
in
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
and part of the German colonies in Africa.
Germany and Austria-Hungary had only advanced the possibility of negotiating parts of the Trentino and
Eastern FriuliGorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...
, without
GoriziaGorizia is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border...
and Trieste. The offer of the French colony of
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
was deemed unsatisfactory.
In April 1915 Italy joined the
EntenteThe Triple Entente was the name given to the loose alignment between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907...
and on 3 May 1915 officially rejected the Triple Alliance. In the following days Giolitti and the neutralist majority of the Parliament fought to keep Italy out of the conflict, while the nationalists demonstrated in the squares in favour of entrance into the war (the nationalist poet
Gabriele D'AnnunzioGabriele D'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, dramatist, and daredevil...
defined them
le radiose giornate di Maggio - "the sunny days of May"). On 13 May Salandra presented his resignation to King Victor Emmanuel III. Giolitti, fearful of a further blow to governing institutions, declined to succeed as prime minister and also resigned. Italy thenceforth entered the war under the impetus of a relative minority of its population and politicians.
Entrance in the War
On 23 May 1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, followed by Germany fifteen months later.
The front on the Austrian border was long, stretching from the
StelvioStelvio may refer to*Stilfs, Italian village*Stelvio Pass, mountain road named after the village*The Stelvio National Park, a national park of Italy*Stelvio, Newport, a suburb in the United Kingdom*Stélvio Rosa da Cruz, Portuguese footballer...
Pass to the
Adriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Militarily, the Italians had numerical superiority. This advantage, however, was negated by the difficult terrain in which fighting took place. Also, any advantage the Italians may have gained was squandered due to the lack of strategic and tactical leadership. The Italian commander-in-chief was
Luigi CadornaLuigi Cadorna was an ItalianField Marshal, most famous for being theCommander-in-Chief of the Italian army during the first part of World War I.-Biography:...
, a staunch proponent of the frontal assault whose orders would cause the meaningless death of thousand of his soldiers. His plan was to attack on the
Isonzo front"Battles of the Isonzo" were a series of 12 battles between the Austria-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Isonzo River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917...
, with the dream of breaking over the Karst Plateau into the
CarniolaCarniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is nowadays Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918...
n Basin, taking
LjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is located in the centre of the country, historically part of the Inner Carniola, and is a mid-sized city of some 280,000 inhabitants. Ljubljana is regarded as the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative centre of...
and threatening Vienna. It was a Napoleonic plan, which had no realistic chance of success in an age of barbed wire, machine guns, and indirect artillery fire, combined with hilly and mountainous terrain.
The first shells were fired in the dawn of 24 May against the enemy positions of
Cervignano del FriuliCervignano del Friuli is a comune in the province of Udine, Italy. the most important town of Bassa Friulana. It lies at about 12 km from the Laguna di Grado and at about 18 km from the Adriatic Sea; from the point of view of viability, its position is peculiar since it lies at the...
, which was captured a few hours later. In the same day the Austro-Hungarian fleet bombed the railway stations of
ManfredoniaManfredonia is a town and comune of Puglia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is 35 kilometres northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and giving its name to the gulf to the east of it....
and
AnconaAncona is a city and a seaport in the Marche, a region of central Italy, population 101,909 . Ancona is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is the center of the province of Ancona and the capital of the region....
. The first Italian casualty to fall was Riccardo Di Giusto.
The main effort was to be concentrated in the Isonzo and
VipavaVipava Valley is a valley located in the Slovenian Littoral, between the towns of Nova Gorica and Vipava. It is a narrow valley, serving as the main passage between Friulian lowland and central Slovenia, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy to Central Europe...
valleys and on the
KrasKras , also known as the or the Kras Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region in southwestern Slovenia extending into northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of...
plateau, in the direction of Ljubljana. The Italian troops managed to obtain some initial successes, but, as in the
Western FrontFollowing the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, the campaign soon turned into a trench warfare. The main difference was the fact that, instead of in the mud, the trenches had to be dug in the Alpine rocks and glaciers, often up to of altitude.
In the first months of the war Italy launched the following offensives:
- First Battle of the Isonzo
The First Battle of the Isonzo was fought between Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front in World War I, between June 23 and July 7, 1915....
(23 June–7 July)
- Second Battle of the Isonzo
The Second Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and of Austria-Hungary in the Italian Front in World War I, between July 18 and August 3, 1915.-Overview:...
(18 July–4 August)
- Third Battle of the Isonzo
The Third Battle of the Isonzo was fought from October 18 through November 3 of 1915 between the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary.- Background :...
(18 October–4 November)
- Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those ofAustria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between november 10 and december 2, 1915.-Overview:...
(10 November)
In these first four battles the Italian Army registered 60,000 fatalities and more than 150,000 wounded, equivalent to around one fourth of the mobilized forces. Also to be mentioned is the offensive in the upper
CadoreCadore is a "comunità montana" in the Italian region of Veneto, in the northernmost part of the province of Belluno bordering on Austria, the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is watered by the Piave River poured forth from the Carnic Alps...
, near the
Col di LanaThe Col di Lana is a mountain of the Fanes Group in the Italian Dolomites, situated in Livinallongo del Col di Lana , a municipality of the Province of Belluno, in the Italian region of Veneto....
. Though secondary, this move blocked large Austro-Hungarian contingents, since it menaced their main logistic lines in
TyrolTirol is a comune in the province of Bolzano-Bozen in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km north of the city of Trento and about 25 km northwest of the city of Bolzano .As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,361...
.
1916–1917 Italian offensives
This stalemate situation dragged on for the whole 1916. While the Austro-Hungarians amassed large forces in Trentino, the Italian command launched the
Fifth Battle of the IsonzoThe Fifth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from March 9-15, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. The Italians, under immense pressure from the French commanders, had decided to launch another offensive on the Isonzo River.-Background:After four attempts to...
, lasting for eight days from 11 March 1916. Also this attempt was fruitless.
In June the Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive (dubbed
StrafexpeditionThe Battle of Asiago ' or the Trentino Offensive , nicknamed Strafexpedition by the Austrians, was a counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front on May 15, 1916, during World War I...
, "Punishment Expedition") broke through in Trentino and occupied the whole Altopiano di Asiago. The Italian Army managed however to contain the offensive and the enemy retreated in order to strengthen its position in the Carso. On 4 August began the
Sixth Battle of the IsonzoThe Sixth Battle of the Isonzo also known as the Battle of Gorizia was the most successful Italian offensive along the Isonzo River during World War I.- Background :...
which, five days later, led to the Italian conquest of
GoriziaGorizia is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border...
, at the cost of 20,000 dead and 50,000 wounded. The year ended with three new offensives:
- Seventh Battle of the Isonzo
The Seventh Battle of the Isonzo was fought from September 14-17, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary.- Battle :...
(14–16 September)
- Eighth Battle of the Isonzo
The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from October 10-12, 1916 between Italy and Austria-Hungary.- Battle :The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo, fought briefly from 10-12 October 1916, was essentially a continuation of attempts made during the Seventh Battle of the Isonzo to extend the bridgehead...
(1 November)
- Ninth Battle of the Isonzo
The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary in the course World War I. Including a triumvirate of battles launched after the Italians' successful seizure of Gorizia in August 1916 to extend their bridgehead to the left of the town, it ended in further failure for...
(4 November)
The price was a further 37,000 dead and 88,000 wounded for the Italians, again for no remarkable conquest. In late 1916 the Italian army advanced for some kilometers in Trentino, while, for the whole 1916–1917 winter the situation in the Isonzo front remained stationary.
In 12–28 1917 there took place the
Tenth Battle of the IsonzoThe Tenth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary in the course of World War I.-Background:With nine largely unsuccessful Isonzo battles conducted within an eighteen month period to date, Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna - responsible for launching all nine -...
. The
Battle of Mount OrtigaraThe Battle of Mount Ortigara was fought from June 10 to June 25, 1917 between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies for possession of Mount Ortigara, in the Asiago Plateau.- Background :...
(10–25 June) was Cadorna's attempt to conquer back some territories in Trentino which had remained under Austro-Hungarian control. On 18 August 1917 began the most important Italian offensive, the
Eleventh Battle of the IsonzoThe Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between August 18 and September 12, 1917.- Background :...
. This time the Italian advance was initially successful as the Bainsizza Plateau southeast of Tolmino was captured. But the Italian army outran its artillery and supply lines, thus preventing the further advance that may have finally succeeded in breaking the Austro-Hungarian army. Thus the Austro-Hungarian line ultimately held and the attack was abandoned on 12 September 1917.
The rout of Caporetto
Though the last Italian offensive had proven inconclusive, the Austrians were in strong need of reinforcements. These became available when Russia crumbled and German troops from the Eastern front were sent to the Isonzo front.
On 24 October 1917 the Central Powers troops broke through the Italian lines in the upper Isonzo, converging on Caporetto (the modern
KobaridKobarid is a town and a municipality in the upper Soča valley, western Slovenia, near the Italian border.Kobarid is known for the famous Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms. The battle is well documented in the museum...
) and surrounding the 2nd Italian Army. The Italian army commander, Luigi Capello, had been informed of a probable enemy attack, but had underestimated it.
From that area the Austro-Hungarians advanced for south-west, reaching
UdineUdine is a city in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,030 in 2008, and that of its urban area was 174,000.- History :Udine is the historical capital of Friuli...
after only four days. The defeat of Caporetto caused the disintegration of the whole Italian front of the Isonzo. The situation was re-established by forming a stop line on the Tagliamento and then on the
PiavePiave can refer to:* Francesco Maria Piave, Italian librettist and composer* Piave cheese* Piave * Battle of the Piave River...
rivers, but at the price of 700,000 dead, wounded and prisoners. Cadorna, who had tried to attribute the causes of the disasters to the 2nd Army, was fired. On 8 November 1917 he was replaced by
Armando DiazArmando Diaz, 1st Duca della Vittoria was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy.-Biography:Born in Naples, Diaz began his military career as a student at the Military Academy of Turin, where he became an artillery officer. He was a colonel commanding the 93rd infantry during the Italo-Turkish...
.
From Caporetto to the end of the war
The Central Powers ended 1917 with a general offensive on the Piave, the Altopiano di Asiago and the Monte Grappa. The Italian army was forced to call the 1899 levy, while that of 1900 was left for an hypothetical final effort for 1919.
The severe (often unreasonably harsh) discipline imposed by Cadorna, the long months spent in the trenches and the words of
Pope Benedict XVPope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922, succeeding Pope Pius X...
about the "useless massacre" of the war, had weakened the Italian army's morale, were among the causes of the defeat of Caporetto. The Italian morale was however boosted by the need to save Italy itself from invasion. Further, the re-organization of the front, a changed tactical stance, allowed Diaz to concentrate his forces on a more defendable front.
The Austro-Hungarians stopped their attacks to prepare an offensive for the Spring of 1918. New reinforcements joined in after the end of the war against Russia. The offensive began on 15 June 1918 (see
Battle of the Piave RiverThe Battle of the Piave River, known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio , Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno , or Seconda Battaglia del Piave , was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War...
) with six divisions. The Italians resisted the assault. The failure of the offensive marked the swan song of Austria-Hungary on the Italian front. The Central Powers proved finally unable to sustain further the war effort, while the multi-ethnical entities of the Austrian Empire were on the verge of rebellion. The Italians rescheduled their planned 1919 counter-offensive to October 1918, in order to prevent Austria-Hungary's recovery.
The Italian attack was started on 23 October from
Vittorio VenetoThe Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918, near Vittorio Veneto, during the Italian Campaign of World War I...
, the troops advancing quickly in
VenetoVeneto , is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 4.8 million, and its capital is Venice....
, Friuli and
CadoreCadore is a "comunità montana" in the Italian region of Veneto, in the northernmost part of the province of Belluno bordering on Austria, the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is watered by the Piave River poured forth from the Carnic Alps...
. Six days later Austria-Hungary surrendered. The armistice was signed on 3 November at Villa Giusti, near
PaduaPadua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice , in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, having a population of c...
. Italian soldiers entered Trento while
BersaglieriThe Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora in 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...
landed in Trieste. The following day the Istrian cities of Rovigno and Parenzo, the Dalmatian island of
LissaLissa is:* the old Venetian name for the Adriatic island of Vis* the German name for the town of Leszno in Poland when it had a Moravian college and a gymnasium...
, the Dalmatian cities of
ZaraZadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Zadar faces the islands of Ugljan and Pašman, from which it is separated by the narrow Zadar Strait. The promontory on which the old city stands used to be separated from the...
and
FiumeRijeka is the city and the principal seaport of Croatia, located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea. It has 144,043 inhabitants . The majority of its citizens, 80.39% , are Croats...
were occupied: the latter not included in the territories originally promised to Italy in case of victory, but the Italians decided to intervene in reply to a local National Council, formed after the flight of the Hungarians, and which had announced the union to Italy.
The Italian army was marching also towards
LjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is located in the centre of the country, historically part of the Inner Carniola, and is a mid-sized city of some 280,000 inhabitants. Ljubljana is regarded as the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative centre of...
, but was halted by Serb troops. In the meantime the
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
occupied
PolaPula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 ....
and
SebenicoŠibenik is a historic town in Croatia, population 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
, which became the capital of the Military Government of Dalmatia.
Military situation in the colonies
As Italy entered the war in 23 May 1915, the situation of her forces in the colonies was critical.
Italian SomalilandItalian Somaliland was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy from the 1880s until 1941 in the territory of the modern-day Northeast African nation of Somalia.-History:...
was far from being pacified, and in
CyrenaicaCyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya and also an ex-province or state of the country in the pre-1963 administrative system. What used to be Cyrenaica in the old system is now divided up into several "shabiyat"...
the Italian forces were confined to some separated points on the coast. In
TripolitaniaTripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya, situated alongside Cyrenaica and Fezzan...
and
FezzanFezzan is a south-western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.- Administrative division :Fezzan was formerly a province...
, the story has a different beginning. On August 1914 the Italian forces reached
GhatGhat is a city in the District of Ghat in remote south-western Libya.-History:In historical times, Ghat was a major terminal point on the Trans-Saharan trade route...
, that is, conquered most of western Libya. But in November 1914, this advance turned into a general retreat, and on 7 April and 28 April, they suffered two reverses at Wadi Marsit (near
MizdahMizdah was one of the districts of Libya. In the 2007 reorganization of Libyan districts its territory became part of Al Jabal al Gharbi District.Prior to 2007 Mizdah bordered the following districts:*Bani Walid - northeast*Surt - east...
) and al-Qurdabiya (near
SirtSirt, also Surt and Sirte is a city in Libya, in the Surt District, seat of some important governmental institutions and hometown of the Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi.-Site of Darfur talks:...
) respectively. By August 1915, the situation in Tripolitania was similar to that of Cyrenaica. The conquest of Libya was not resumed until January 1922.
Consequences
The territorial gains were small in comparison to the cost of the war for Italy. The debt contracted to pay the war expenses was paid back only in the 1970s. The uncertain socio-economical situation caused the heavy social strife which led to the
Biennio rossoThe biennio rosso were two years, 1919 and 1920, of political agitation by Italian workers. In Turin, workers councils were formed and many factory occupations took place...
first and to the rise of the
FascismFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
later.
See also
- Austria–Hungary
- Bollettino della Vittoria
- Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol ,...
- History of Austria
The history of Austria covers the history of the current country of Austria and predecessor states, from the Iron Age, through to a sovereign state, annexation by the German Third Reich, partition after the Second World War and later developments until the present day...
- History of Italy
Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean area. Many cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times....
- World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
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