Italy declares neutrality

On 3 August 1914 the Kingdom of Italy declared its neutrality in the war that was just engulfing Europe. The decision had been taken the day before by the government of Prime Minister Antonio Salandra and Foreign Minister the Marquis Antonino di San Giuliano. It was a blow to Germany and Austria-Hungary, with which Italy had formed the Triple Alliance since 1882. On the same day Germany declared war on France, and Italy, formally its ally, stayed on the sidelines.

The declaration

The published text was short and did not mention the alliance. It stated that, since some powers of Europe were in a state of war and Italy was at peace with all the belligerents, the King’s government, the citizens and the authorities of the kingdom were obliged to observe the duties of neutrality in accordance with the laws in force and the principles of international law. Anyone who violated them would bear the consequences and, where appropriate, the penalties laid down by law.

Rome’s arguments

The government justified its decision by the terms of the treaty itself. The Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance: it obliged the signatories to help only if one of them was attacked. Yet it was Austria-Hungary that had presented Serbia with an ultimatum and declared war on it, and Germany that had declared war on Russia and France. When Berlin informed Rome of the ultimatums presented to Russia and France and asked about Italy’s intentions, San Giuliano replied that the war undertaken by Austria had, as the German ambassador himself admitted, an aggressive object, which conflicted with “the purely defensive character of the Triple Alliance”, and that in these circumstances Italy would remain neutral. In Rome’s view the obligation to take part in the war, the so-called casus foederis, had not arisen. On 1 August the French ambassador in London, Paul Cambon, passed this reply on to Edward Grey and stressed that the Italians regarded the present war not as a defensive but as an aggressive one.

The Italians had a second argument. Article VII of the treaty bound Austria-Hungary and Italy to maintain the status quo in the Balkans, to keep each other informed, and to make any change to it, even a temporary occupation, only after a prior agreement “based on the principle of reciprocal compensation”. Vienna, however, had not warned Rome of the ultimatum to Serbia. On 27 July San Giuliano assured the French ambassador, Camille Barrère: “we were not consulted; we were told nothing”. When the Austrians, under pressure from Berlin, finally conceded that Article VII applied, they made compensation conditional on Italy’s taking part in the war and rejected the idea that it could include lands of the monarchy.

The real reasons

Behind the official arguments lay deeper reasons. Italy had long been a rival of Austria-Hungary, and many Italian circles demanded the annexation of Trento and Trieste, largely inhabited by Italians but belonging to the Habsburg monarchy. Salandra believed that after a victory at the side of the Central Powers Italy would at best be the empire’s “first vassal”. The country was also unprepared for a great war. The army, whose chief of staff since only 27 July had been General Luigi Cadorna, had in August 1914 barely some 750,000 modern rifles and was short of ammunition and machine guns. Italy depended on imported raw materials, bringing in as much as 90 per cent of its coal from Britain, and its long coastline would have been defenceless against the British and French fleets.

In Vienna the news was received with bitterness. The British ambassador, Maurice de Bunsen, noted that Italian neutrality was “bitterly felt” there, although the press scarcely mentioned it.

A look ahead

Neutrality was not Rome’s last word. In the following months Italy negotiated with both sides, and in April 1915 concluded the secret Treaty of London with the Entente. On 23 May 1915 it declared war on Austria-Hungary, its former ally.