The Rise of Fascism 1915-22
Italy at war
In August 1914 the Great Powers of Europe went to war. The Triple Entente of Britain,
France and Russia faced Germany and Austria-Hungary, both members of the Triple Alliance.
Italy, the third member of this alliance, remained aloof.
Italy’s membership to the Triple alliance apparently committed Italy to support Germany and
Austria-Hungary, but the government in Rome now declared the alliance defunct, claiming
that Austria had broken the terms of the treaty by attacking Serbia without consulting Italy.
Intervention Crisis
Most Italians (some Liberals, former PM Giolitti, Catholics and Socialists) were satisfied with
neutrality, believing either that Italy was not ready for war or that war would be bad for
Italian society and economy.
However, Liberals supporting Antonio Salandra, who had succeeded Giolitti as PM in 1914,
had misgivings. They feared that victory for the Triple Alliance would only strengthen
Austrian resistance to revision of its borders with Italy. Alternatively, if the Entente powers
one won, they would not be sympathetic to Italian ambitions in the Mediterranean if Italy
had done nothing to bring about their victory.
The Italian government increasingly took the view that Italy should intervene in the war and
should negotiate with both sides in order to obtain the best terms for joining either the
Alliance or Entente- this policy was encouraged by the noisy demands of the Nationalist
press who believed that Italy must grasp its chance of becoming a great power.
Austria-Hungary were prepared to make some territorial concessions, however these would
not include the Italian-speaking areas of the Trentino or the city of Trieste.
In contrast, the Entente promised Italy Trentino and Trieste in addition to other Austrian
lands in the southern Tyrol, Istria and Dalmatia. There was also the promise of further
colonies, as yet unspecified but probably in Africa or the eastern Mediterranean.
Italy signed the Treaty of London with Britain and France and entered the First World War in
May 1915.
The impact of war 1915-18
Italian intervention did not fire the imagination of the mass of the population. It was hard,
for example, for the poor southerner to be enthusiastic about fighting for a few Italian-
speaking colonies on the country’s north-eastern frontier.
Catholics were made aware that although their Church was broadly supportive of the war
effort, it would not actively denounce the enemy, Catholic Austria.
Socialists openly condemned the conflict as a capitalist or ‘bosses’ war.
Even some Liberals, grouped around Giolitti, attacked the decision to fight.
5 million men served in the army, mainly as conscripts, mostly coming from rural areas. The
great majority of soldiers fought bravely, endured appalling conditions in the front line and
tolerated miserable rations and low pay.
The expected victory did not materialise and the Italian army found itself in a murderous war
of attrition on its Alpine northern border. On many occasions, thousands of lives were
sacrificed in an attempt to gain a few hundred metres of mountainside.
, After two years of fighting, the Italian army cracked under a surprise Austro-German attack.
At the Battle of Caporetto, 300,000 Italians were taken prisoner.
Nationalists blamed the government for inefficiency in running the war and in supplying the
troops.
As 1918 wore on, a shortage of food and munitions combined with general war-weariness to
weaken the resolve of Austria-Hungary and Germany.
In October, as Germany reeled from an Anglo-French offensive, the Italian army attacked the
Austrian. In the fighting that ensued, casualties were high on both sides, with the Italians
losing nearly 40,000 men killed or wounded.
The Austrian will to resist eventually collapsed and the Italian found themselves in
possession of about 500,000 prisoners of war. The victory, to be known as the Battle of
Vitorio Veneto, caused Austria to sue for peace. An armistice was signed on 3 November
1918.
The economic and political effects of the First World War
The war ended with Caporetto avenged and Italy looking forward to enjoying the fruits of
victory. However, Italy were to be disappointed.
The war had enhanced their country’s claims to Great Power status, but the eagerly
anticipated territorial gains only partially materialised.
Furthermore, the war had left Italy with severe domestic problems which would widen
existing social and political divisions.
Economic problems
The human cost of war had been enormous. A total of 650,000 men had died and a million
more had been seriously wounded.
The financial cost of keeping the soldiers armed and fed had placed a heavy burden on the
Italian treasury. Huge sums had been borrowed from Britain and the USA: the national debt
had increased from 16 billion lire in 1914 to 85 billion lire in 1919. However, these
borrowings had proved inadequate to pay for the war and the government had resorted to
printing money.
Inflation spiralled as ever-greater quantities of paper money chased ever-scarcer goofs.
Prices quadrupled during the war years and inflation destroyed savings, hitting the middle
classes in particular. Factory workers were also affected and the purchasing power of their
wages fell by about 25 per cent between 1915 and 1918.
Industrialists, by contrast, did well out of the conflict. Large companies such as Pirelli tyres
and Montecatini chemicals made huge profits while Fiat expanded to the point where it
became the largest manufacturer of commercial values in Europe in 1918.
However, victory meant the end of easy profits and hard times lay ahead for the industry.
Industrial disputes increased dramatically as the war came to an end. During 1919, over a
million workers took part in strikes and the membership of Socialist trade unions shot up
from a quarter of a million in 1918 to 2 million in 1920.
Unemployment increased to over 2 million during 1919. To the soldiers this seemed a very
poor reward for their sacrifices.
