Italy announces economic reprisals

The British chronology of the war records under 17 April 1916 that the Italian government issued decrees prohibiting trade with Germany. The matter was not so simple. Italy had been fighting Austria-Hungary since May 1915, but was not formally at war with Germany, even though Berlin had broken off diplomatic relations with it. On Sunday 16 April the foreign minister Sidney Sonnino announced in the Chamber of Deputies a decree that allowed the government to take reprisals against the property and interests of enemy subjects. The report of the proceedings appeared in the official journal, the “Gazzetta Ufficiale”, on Monday 17 April. The decree itself was dated 13 April, but was published only on 29 April. Germany was not mentioned in it.

The debate in the Chamber

For several days the Chamber of Deputies had been debating the budget of the foreign ministry, and this was at the same time a debate on the foreign policy of Antonio Salandra’s government. Many deputies demanded a tougher course. On 15 April the deputy Luigi Gasparotto recalled that the Austrians had stopped payments to Italians and seized their real estate, while Italy was responding with “excessive moderation”, and he therefore moved for protective measures against enemy property in Italy. The economist Antonio De Viti de Marco spoke of a “dark spot” in relations with Germany and expected explanations from the minister. He himself, however, warned against a post-war trade war with Germany, because in his view it would end only in new protectionism.

Sonnino replied on 16 April in a long speech, in which he also answered a recent speech by the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. He reported on the March Allied conference in Paris. He recalled that it had been decided there to set up a permanent committee to coordinate action against the supplying of the enemy, and added that Italy had already taken steps in that spirit. A decree of 4 February 1916 had prohibited the import into the kingdom and the colonies, including in transit, of goods produced in or originating from Austria-Hungary and Germany, regardless of the country from which they came. It was this February ban that most resembled the ban on trade with Germany mentioned by the British chronology. Sonnino also announced that Italy, through the Swiss government, had denounced its convention with Germany on the protection of literary property, so that in a year’s time only the rules of the Berne Convention would apply again.

The loudest applause, however, was for the passage on reprisals. Sonnino said that the government had no information on any general measures by Austria-Hungary against Italian citizens and was awaiting a reply to the complaints forwarded through the United States. But since reports of individual cases of property being seized and payments due to Italians being withheld were multiplying, the government had armed itself with a “special lieutenancy decree, already signed”, which gave it the right to take reprisals against enemy interests. The minister gave assurances that Italy would not itself start any harassment of enemy subjects, but would respond to every violation of the laws of war directed against Italians. Finally Sonnino asked for a “frank and full” vote of confidence. The Chamber backed the government, and in a secret ballot passed the ministry’s budget by 307 votes to 40.

What the decree contained

Decree no. 451 was signed in Rome on 13 April by Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa, who during the war exercised authority in place of King Victor Emmanuel III, who was with the army. It was countersigned by Salandra, Sonnino, the minister of justice Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and the minister of agriculture, industry and commerce Giannetto Cavasola. It allowed the government, “by way of retortion or reprisal”, to apply three kinds of measures to subjects of enemy states and to persons and institutions based in their territory. First, the seizure of their movable and immovable property and its transfer to the management of designated persons, who were to pay the income into a designated fund. Second, a ban on paying them or performing any obligations in their favour, with a fine of up to twice the sum paid. Third, supervision of their industrial and commercial enterprises. Specific measures were to be introduced by the minister of justice after a resolution of the council of ministers, and they could be appealed only in disputes over who owned the property or what nationality a person held.

The decree did not name any state, but spoke of enemy states, that is, in practice those with which Italy was at war, above all Austria-Hungary. Germany formally did not belong to them.

A step towards war with Germany

In the following months relations with Berlin deteriorated rapidly, and the Allies pressed Rome to declare war on Germany as well. According to Italian studies, in July 1916 the government extended the April measures to subjects of states allied with the enemy, that is, to Germans. In August Italy denounced its commercial treaty with Germany, and further decrees prohibited Italians from doing any business with subjects of states at war with Italy or with their allies. The American ambassador in Rome, Thomas Nelson Page, reported at the time that they were generally regarded as an attempt to induce Germany to declare war. Berlin did not let itself be provoked, and at the end of August 1916 it was Italy that declared war on Germany. The state of war between them took effect on 28 August.