1915-1918 Flashcards

1
Q

How was the Italian/Austro-Hungarian war fought for the first two years after the declaration of war?
(4)

A
  • fought in mountains bordering countries
  • trench warfare
  • alpine terrain (ice + snow)
  • thousands of soldiers sacrificed to move a few hundred metres
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2
Q

In 1915 how did the Italians try and break the stalemate?

A

Launched four offensives against A-H that failed to change the situation
—> 62,000 Italians died

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3
Q

How many Italians were conscripted during WWI?

A

5 million men

—> majority peasants or agricultural workers

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4
Q

Why did Italian peasant conscripts resent the war?
(4)

A
  • Southern peasant conscripts were over represented
  • Italian expansion and reasons for fighting meant little to most
  • majority of peasants spoke local dialect and couldn’t understand the orders of educated, northern commanders who spoke official Italian
  • conscripts treated badly by their commanders
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5
Q

Why did Italian troops in general resent the war?
(3)

A
  • extremely low rations
  • horrible conditions (cholera, frostbite, etc.)
  • most soldiers couldn’t understand why Italy was taking part in war
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6
Q

What happened as a result of the extremely low morale?

A

290,000 Italian soldiers were court-martialled for desertion during war

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7
Q

What was the Italian Supreme Commander’s (1915) solution to the lack of discipline and morale?

A

Luigi Cardona

—>to repress dissent though harsh discpline

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8
Q

How was desertion dealt with at the beginning of the war?

A

Military tribunals passed 4,000 death sentences on Italian soldiers throughout the war

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9
Q

How did the Italian government treat their soldiers who were taken as POWs?

A

-leaders feared that if conditions in POW camps were rumoured to be tolerable, soldiers would surrender
—> gov cut off any attempts to help captured Italians
—> 100,000 Italian POWs died of hunger-related illnesses (5X number of British or French)

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10
Q

What led to Salandra’s resignation as PM, 1916?

A

Austrian Strafexpedition = major offensive in trentaine salient, in order to open up a path to Bologna + Verona
—>Italian army regrouped and halted attack but many casualties
—>severe impact on army and morale
—>Salandra criticised by military command and parliament

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11
Q

Who replaced Salandra, 1916?

A

Paolo Boselli, 78y/o

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12
Q

When was the Battle of Caporetto?

A

24th of October 1917

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13
Q

What happened at the Battle of Caporetto?

(3)

A

A-H forces attacked the Italian front line
—> Italian army dissolved
—> chaotic retreat took place

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14
Q

Battle of Caporetto stats

A

10,000 killed
30,000 wounded
300,000 taken prisoner
400,000 vanished

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15
Q

Why was the Battle of Caporetto so humiliating for the Italian government?

(6)

A
  • months before leaders claimed national unity
  • revealed poor state of army + low morale
  • prompted anger + debate in Italy
  • seizing Trente + Trieste no longer seemed possible
  • majority of parliament still backed Giolitti, the rest called for trial of Giolitti and other neutralists for treason = v divided
  • senator Leopoldo Franchetti killed himself from embarrassment
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16
Q

What large changes in leadership took place after the Battle of Caporetto, 1917?

A
  • Boselli resigned as PM —> replaced by Vittorio Orlando
  • Italian army reorganised under new commander, General Diaz
17
Q

What changes did General Diaz bring to the army?
(6)

A
  • rations increased
  • annual leave increased
  • lectures and trench newspapers to boost morale and improve Italian
  • promised peasant conscripts land reform
  • Dec 1917 established organisation to look after welfare of soldiers and their families
  • more cautious = focused on holding line at Piave, avoided needless sacrifice of soldiers in suicidal offensives
18
Q

What results did General Diaz’s changes bring?

A

Fall in casualties;

  • 520,000 in 1917
  • 143,000 in 1918
19
Q

What was the PSI’s policy throughout the war?

A
  • continual opposition to the war and refusal to vote for war credits
  • “neither support nor sabotage” the war effort
20
Q

What occurred as a result of the PSI’s attitude to war?

A

-PSI despised by nationalists and many liberals who saw it as unpatriotic
—>hysteria after Battle of Caporetto = arrest and imprisonments of many socialists and members of the PSI

21
Q

When + how did Italy’s prospects in the war shift?

A

October 1918, A-H empire on verge of collapse
—> Orlando urged Diaz to attack

22
Q

What did the Italians do as a result of weakening of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918?

A

24th October 1918, launched offensive across the Piave
—> entered Italian town of Vittorio Veneto and split A-H army in 2
= Battle of Vittorio Veneto

23
Q

When did Austria-Hungary sign the armistice?

A

4th November 1918
=war in Italy finished

24
Q

What did the Battle of Vittorio Veneto come to symbolise?

A

Great moment for the Italian nation
—> used by nationalists to show glory of Italy achieved through unity, patriotism and self-sacrifice

25
Q

How Italian industry benefit from WWI?

A
  • Fiat became Europe’s leading truck and lorry manufacturer
  • -> produced 25 000 vehicles in 1918
  • -> increased workforce from 6 000 to 30 000
  • An aeronautical industry was created
  • -> 6 500 planes manufactured in 1918
  • By the end of the war Italy had produced 20 000 machine guns and 7 000 pieces of heavy artillery (more than Britain)
  • Women and peasants were organised into factories and men essential to war production were exempt from conscription
  • -> working hours increased, strikes were illegal and unsatisfactory behaviour could result in a military tribunal
26
Q

Who drove Italy’s successes in boosting its economy during the war?

A

Alfredo Dallolio, Under-Secretariat of Arms

27
Q

What economic problems arose from Italy’s involvement in the war?

A
  • growth in industry was based on government investment which was paid for by foreign loans and printing more money
  • -> after the end of the war this would cause great inflation, gov 23 billion lire in debt
  • war based sectors (steel, chemicals, vehicles etc.) grew disproportionately compared to others
  • production was based in the north-east = worsened north-south divide
  • -> 1911-1921, north Italy’s economy grew by over 20%
  • 1917, 25% fall in wages and rationing of bread and pasta = protests
  • -> Aug 1917, 50 workers killed protesting in Turin
  • increase in taxes to pay for war