Salandra reshapes his government
- Category:
- Politics
- Date:
- 30 October 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- Italy, Antonio Salandra, Sidney Sonnino, neutrality
At the end of October 1914 a government crisis broke out in Italy. On 30 October the Treasury Minister Giulio Rubini resigned, and the next day, 31 October, Prime Minister Antonio Salandra handed King Victor Emmanuel III the resignation of the whole cabinet. The British chronology of the war records the fall of the government under 30 October. This was not, however, the end of Salandra, but a way of reshaping the government.
Money for the army
The immediate cause of the crisis was a dispute over military spending. Italy remained neutral, but its army was poorly prepared for war. The Chief of the General Staff, General Luigi Cadorna, demanded that stocks and armament be replenished quickly. Already in October the Minister of War, General Domenico Grandi, had resigned because of disputes with him and been replaced by General Vittorio Zupelli. At the end of the month the government approved an extraordinary credit of 600 million lire to prepare the army and navy. Rubini, a supporter of neutrality, demanded that this expenditure be covered by new taxes. Salandra decided that he needed ministers more committed to war preparations and induced him to leave.
The new cabinet
The King did not look for a new prime minister. On 2 November he again entrusted Salandra with forming a government, and on 5 November his second cabinet was sworn in. The Foreign Ministry, which Salandra had been running on an interim basis since the death of Antonino di San Giuliano, was taken over by Sidney Sonnino, twice a former prime minister and one of the most respected liberal politicians. The new Treasury Minister was Paolo Carcano and the Finance Minister Edoardo Daneo. Zupelli kept the Ministry of War.
Significance
The reshaped government was cohesive and more inclined to prepare for war than its predecessor. Salandra and Sonnino continued the policy of neutrality while negotiating with both sides and trying to obtain as much as possible for Italy. Talks with Vienna on territorial concessions led nowhere, and on 26 April 1915 Sonnino signed the secret Treaty of London with the Entente powers. In May 1915 Italy entered the war against Austria-Hungary.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 30 October 1914 · Balkan FrontSerbs withdraw from the DrinaOn the night of 30–31 October 1914 the Serbian Second Army left its trenches in Mačva on the lower Drina. A retreat began that took the Serbs to the Kolubara.
- 30 October 1914 · Eastern FrontRussians take StanisławówThe British chronicle records the Russian capture of Stanisławów on 30 October 1914. The town had, however, been in their hands since early September.
- 29 October 1914 · War at seaOttoman fleet attacks Russian portsOn 29 October 1914 Admiral Souchon's Ottoman warships shelled Russian Black Sea ports without a declaration of war. Turkey entered the war.
- 29 October 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Gheluvelt beginsOn 29 October 1914 the Germans attacked the crossroads at Gheluvelt on the Menin–Ypres road in fog. The next day Fabeck's group began its great offensive.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 3 November 1914 · PoliticsSonnino becomes Italian foreign ministerIn early November 1914 Baron Sidney Sonnino took over the Italian foreign ministry. Six months later he signed the secret Treaty of London with the Entente.
- 16 October 1914 · DiplomacyAntonino di San Giuliano diesOn 16 October 1914 the Italian Foreign Minister Antonino di San Giuliano, the architect of Italy's policy of neutrality, died in Rome.
- 13 May 1915 · PoliticsResignation of the Salandra governmentOn 13 May 1915 Prime Minister Antonio Salandra and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino resigned. Most MPs backed the neutralist Giolitti, the streets backed war.
- 26 April 1915 · DiplomacyItaly signs the Treaty of LondonOn 26 April 1915 Italy signed a secret pact with the Entente in London. In return for lands on the Adriatic it pledged to enter the war within a month.