What made Italy go neutral in world war 1?

Question

why did they all of a sudden, out of the blue, in the middle of a war decide to quit?

Answer 1

To the best ofmy knowledge, they never did. What made them essentially sideliners was that they had been losing major battles.

The real question is why did they join the allies in the first place? Hopes of territorial expansion on the Adriatic coast and into Austria itself.

Answer 2

Bootlegging Mafia, Frederick the Great,
And they were never neutral they just played their cards under the table.
Check out Frederich the Great and go from there
I am sure books will explain away alot of things but the truth hurts no one. They were some of the originators of the covert activities that you see today in government. It is not too hard to see they are prone to secret societies, like the ones that stabbed their own ruler Julius Caesar. Also Germany and Italy had an alliance that has been hit and miss for eons. In this case it was a matter of money and rulership in the states as well as in Europe. Consider an underground that existed in Europe and America, through political elections and guess who was in power in government in America (the free world) the people of Germanic descent, (Austrian, Prussian, British etc.) Like they say blood is thicker than water. And plenty of blood was shed in America in the streets after the war. Prohibition was a way to keep the balance of power and to keep out the so-called undesirables, but that it was okay that the Irish were given distribution because they werent Italian, Greek or Jew.

Answer 3

Italy was neutral at the start of W.W.I and stayed that way for about one year. They entered the war when they thought the British and French would win, and they gave Italy the best offer for spoils after the war. Italy did not quit the war in the middle. They stayed until the end and victory.

Answer 4

The leftish government wanted to stay neutral but the constant pressure of the nationalist to wage war for a bigger Italy (Dalmatia, Albania, Tirol) had an effect. The chances of getting what they wanted were higher at the side of the Allies.

Answer 5

When World War I breaks out, in August 1914, Victor Emmanuel III is king of Italy (his father Umberto I has been assassinated by an anarchist in 1900) and Antonio Salandra is the prime minister. The Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria has been renewed as recently as 1912. But the mood in the country is less belligerent than in other major powers. Indeed there have been socialist demonstrations and riots in June 1914, prompted partly by resistance to conscription.

In these circumstances Salandra is confronted with an urgent dilemma when Austria declares war on Serbia on July 28. In the spirit of the Triple Alliance Italy should side with Austria. But the letter of the agreement allows for neutrality if one of the three declares war.

Salandra opts for neutrality. To the relief of most of its citizens Italy remains on the sidelines while the other major powers rush to arms in August 1914. But there are dangers too in remaining outside the conflict. No spoils of any war come to those who have taken no part in it. It is assumed on all sides that this war will end quite quickly, and Italy is hoping for a postwar expansion of her northern frontier both in the Alps and around Trieste.

Remarkably, all this is done by the prime minister and the king without reference to parliament, which is not sitting at this period. Moreover there is a strong body of opinion among the deputies and the general public in favour of continuing neutrality. The veteran statesman Giolitti has been foremost in urging this policy, well aware of the enfeebled state of the Italian army after the Libyan campaign conducted under his leadership. But with the king resolutely supporting Salandra, parliament ratifies their policy. On 23 May 1915 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary (but not, as yet, on Germany).

Giolitti's instinct for caution proves justified. Italy's involvement in the war is limited to a static and costly campaign on the vulnerable northeast frontier with the Austrian empire.

A battlefield of trench warfare, as static and costly as the equivalent in Flanders, becomes established along the Isonzo river. As many as half a million Italians die here during the course of the war, with little to show for their sacrifice. A brief success in August 1916 (the capture of the city of Gorizia) prompts Italy at last to declare war on Germany. But October 1917 brings a major setback when the Austrians, after a victory at Caporetto, push southwest almost as far as Venice. It is a full year before Italy recovers this territory. With the tide of war now clearly against the Central powers, an Italian advance in October 1918 prompts a rapid Austrian request for an armistice. It is signed on November 3. Eight days later Germany too signs an armistice with the Allies.

In the event Italy gets less from the postwar treaty (signed at St Germain on 10 September 1919) than was promised in London, since the northeastern coast of the Adriatic goes to the newly created state of Yugoslavia. But Italy achieves her most important requirements: a border which reaches north to all the Alpine passes (bringing within Italy many German-speakers in the Brenner region), together with the important city of Trieste.

Nevertheless the more nationalist elements in the country feel frustrated, and the mood of unrest is aggravated by the economic damage done to the country in the war. Moreover, in the aftermath of the successful Russian revolution, extremism is the mood of the times. A turbulent postwar period seems inevitable in Italian politics.