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Sidney Sonnino
Person page: Sidney Sonnino →
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(21)
1914
October
30
Salandra reshapes his government
At the end of October 1914 Antonio Salandra's government resigned. On 5 November the premier formed a new cabinet with Sidney Sonnino as Foreign Minister.
November
03
Sonnino becomes Italian foreign minister
In 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.
December
26
Italians land at Vlorë
At the end of December 1914 neutral Italy occupied the Albanian port of Vlorë. Rome assured Vienna that the occupation was temporary.
1915
April
26
Italy signs the Treaty of London
On 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.
May
04
Italy renounces the Triple Alliance
On 4 May 1915 the Italian ambassador in Vienna delivered a note declaring the alliance with Austria-Hungary void. The government kept the step secret.
13
Resignation of the Salandra government
On 13 May 1915 Prime Minister Antonio Salandra and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino resigned. Most MPs backed the neutralist Giolitti, the streets backed war.
24
Germany breaks off relations with Italy
On 24 May 1915 Germany broke off diplomatic relations with Italy, which had declared war on Austria-Hungary. Yet Berlin and Rome did not go to war.
August
21
Key event
Italy declares war on Turkey
On 20 August 1915 the Italian ambassador handed the grand vizier a declaration of war. From 21 August Italy was at war with the Ottoman Empire.
November
30
Italy accedes to the Pact of London
On 30 November 1915 Italy openly acceded to the Pact of London. In London the five Entente powers pledged that none would conclude a separate peace.
December
01
Italy announces its accession to the Pact of London
On 1 December 1915 Sonnino told the Chamber of Deputies, reopened after six months, that Italy had joined the Pact of London, and pledged help for Serbia.
1916
February
28
Reports of Essad Pasha's government in Naples
A British chronology records the move of Essad Pasha's government to Naples on 28 February 1916. Sources show that Rome was only proposing the city to him.
April
17
Italy announces economic reprisals
On 16 April 1916 Sonnino announced in the Chamber a decree on reprisals against enemy subjects' property. Trade with Germany was not yet fully banned.
June
15
Boselli becomes prime minister of Italy
In mid-June 1916 the King asked 78-year-old Paolo Boselli to form a government. A cabinet of national unity was formed, with socialists and a Catholic.
August
28
Key event
Italy declares war on Germany
On 27 August 1916 Sonnino sent a declaration through the Swiss government that from 28 August Italy considered itself at war with Germany.
1917
April
19
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne conference
On 19 April 1917 the prime ministers of Britain, France and Italy agreed an Italian zone in Asia Minor. Sonnino rejected a separate peace with Austria.
June
03
Italy proclaims a protectorate over Albania
On 3 June 1917 General Giacinto Ferrero proclaimed at Gjirokastër the unity and independence of all Albania under Italian protection, unannounced to the Allies.
July
25
Paris conference on the Balkans
On 25–26 July 1917 the Allies met in Paris on the Balkans. The British wanted to take a division from Salonika, but the other Allies opposed it as one.
27
Franco-Italian agreement on Asia Minor
On 26–27 July 1917 France and Italy exchanged notes in Paris, fixing the boundary of their future zones in Asia Minor on the Lamas river, west of Mersin.
August
18
Agreement on Asia Minor
On 18 August 1917 Italy and Britain exchanged notes approving the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne agreement. It was conditional on Russia's consent, never given.
October
29
Orlando becomes prime minister of Italy
On 29 October 1917, during the retreat from Caporetto, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando formed a new Italian government. Sonnino remained foreign minister.
1918
September
25
Italy and the Yugoslav state
At the end of September 1918 Italy declared that the Yugoslavs' striving for independence and a state of their own accorded with Allied principles.