Why did italy switched sides in wwi

This front kept millions of Austrians busy on this border with sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of Italians! Italian fears of France were quite justified. From the end of the fifteenth century to the formation of the Italian state in , France had either invaded Italy or intervened as an ally with a hefty price no less than a dozen times. In each and every instance did the French emerge easily victorious, so it had become apparent by the start of the twentieth century that they were greedily and lustily eyeing Italy once again, though their goals had not clearly been indicated.

Moreover, the rapid rise of latecomers Japan and the United States as world powers to the point where both could boast of being stronger than France, further contributed to low French esteem among the global leaders. Italy was the one other country deemed to be a major power albeit debatably , and it also happened to be the only one of these countries that France had a history of soundly beating.

Thus, in terms of the pecking order of great powers, France also wanted to make sure aside from pursuing longstanding interests in Italy that it was not to be ranked at the very bottom, and seemed intent on pushing that point home to the Italians.

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Britannica, E. Triple alliance. Allies sign treaty of london. Italy declares war on austria. World War One. Alliance System. A Serbian Revolution. Assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary ask Serbia to Take Responsibility. Italy Switches Sides. Triple Alliance Central Powers.

The war cost more than the government had spent in the previous 50 years — and Italy had only been in the war three years. By , the country was hit by very high inflation and unemployment was high. But at least Italy had been on the winning side and could expect her just rewards at Versailles ………. In fact, Italy got very little at Versailles. This heaped further humiliation on the government. The Italians did not get what they felt had been promised at the Treaty of London and that caused resentment especially at the losses Italy had endured fighting for the Allies.

The government came over as weak and lacking pride in Italy. Vittorio Orlando. With the Central Powers now threatening Italy's territory, the Government changed tactics and implemented more defensive military strategies, replaced the Chief-of-Staff, improved soldier morale and Allied troops arrived mainly British and French to reinforce the front.

In the spring of , Germany pulled out its troops for use in its upcoming Spring Offensive on the Western Front and due to increased civil unrest in Austro-Hungary, the Italian and Allied troops attacked on 24th October The Austro-Hungarian army finally broke, and the Allies drove deep into Austria, becoming the first troops to cross the pre-war boundaries. Once the line was broken, the advance was so fast that the Allied supply lines took two days to reach the troops at the front pushing into enemy territory.

Austria asked for an armistice which was signed on 4th November , a week before the general armistice. It is an often over-looked part of WWI history that the British fought alongside the Italians but in the mountains around Asiago in northern Italy, there are British soldiers who now lie in cemetries. After the war ended, at the Paris Peace Conference that led to the Versailles Treaty, the Italian government struggled against the other Allied leaders, the Big Three Britain, France and the US , to gain all that they believed had been promised to them.

Although Italy did receive control of most of the European requests, they failed to gain their colonial ambitions and felt they did not get what they had been promised. This engendered resentment towards the Allied countries, especially as Italians felt they had paid a high price, in terms of men and money, fighting for the Allies.

These resentments helped drive the success of Benito Mussolini and his fascist movement - four years after the war, Mussolini and his blackshirts gained power. Italy in WWI. Read more about: Battles What does D-Day stand for?