Impact of the first world war

Question 1

Why was salandra having difficulties picking which alliance to join?

Answer 1

• salandra argued that italy should join the war fearing that if germany and Austro-hungary won they would not be sympathetic to an ally that did not support them
• but if Britain and France won they would not be open to discussing Italy’s ambitions in the Mediterranean

Question 2

Which side offered the best deal?

Answer 2

Entente - promised that with victor Italy would gain much of the irridente lands

Question 3

Who was against intervention?

Answer 3

• psi
• catholics including Benedict xv
• most of the Italians in the provinces feared war and had little concern for irridentism or war against austria

Question 4

When was the treaty of London signed?

Answer 4

26th April 1915

Question 5

Why was parliament divided in may 1915?

Answer 5

• giolitti denounced the treaty of London and 300 deputies announced their opposition to salandra’s decision

Question 6

When salandra resigned who did the king want to replaced him with and why was this offer shut down?

Answer 6

• giolitti
• giolitti was worried about the fact that going back on the treaty of London was no impossible and if he did so he would be betraying both sides in the war
• the king told giolitti that he would abdicate if the treaty was not honoured

Question 7

When was salandra reinstated as prime minister?

Answer 7

16 may 1915

Question 8

When was italy formally at war with austria?

Answer 8

25 may 1915

Question 9

Why did italy enter war?

Answer 9

• little to do with the interventionist protests but this would be later used by mussolini in political campaigns
• salandra hoped that war would bring the Italian nation together and unite them in a heroic cause

Question 10

Where was the war predominately fought and what did this result in?

Answer 10

• mountainous areas bordering the two countries
• conditions being horrific and thousands of italian workers were killed by cholera and frostbite

Question 11

How many soldiers died during the four attempted offensives against the Austrians?

Answer 11

62,000

Question 12

What problems did the war reveal?

Answer 12

• 5 million men were conscripted into the army
• southern peasant conscripts were overrepresented and ideals of the war concerning Italian expansion meant very little to them
• difficult for the soldiers to comprehend why the frozen wastelands were worth dying for
• peasants could not understand the orders being given to them

Question 13

What was luigi Cardona’s solution to the lack of discipline and moral?

Answer 13

harsh punishment
- military tribunals passed 4000 death sentences on Italian soldiers for desertion and indiscipline

Question 14

How many Italians were captured?
How many calories a day did they have to survive on?

Answer 14

600,000
1000

Question 15

How many Italians died of hunger-related illnesses

Answer 15

100,000
5 times the number from Britain and France who were allowed to receive food parcels from home

Question 16

What was the strafexpedition?

Answer 16

a major offensive in the trnetine salient in order to open up a path that would allow it to attack Verona and Bologna

Question 17

Who was salandra replaced by? And did the situation improve?

Answer 17

78 year old boselli
nope - military efforts hardly improved

Question 18

What was the lowest point?

Answer 18

battle of caporetto in oct 1917

Question 19

What happened when the Austrian forces attacked the Italian front?

Answer 19

poor leadership and low morale saw the italian army dissolve in the face of the Austrian forces resulting in a humiliating and chaotic retreat

Question 20

Why did the victory for the Austrians turn into a rout?

Answer 20

italian soldiers streamed down the mountains many without weapons and there were reports of looting, violence between Italian troops

Question 21

In total how many Italians were killed, wounded and taken prisoner?

Answer 21

• 10,000 killed
• 30,000 wounded
• 300,000 taken prisoner

Question 21

How many soldiers lost contact with their regiments?

Answer 21

200,000

Question 22

What was the poor military performance blamed on?

Answer 22

a majority of Italy’s parliament still backing giolitti and the fact that they were not completely behind the war

Question 23

Who was boselli replaced with?

Answer 23

Vittorio orlando

Question 24

Who was cardorna replaced with and did this result in a improvement?

Answer 24

• general dias
• yes as the rations for the soldiers were increased
• greater focus on boosting soldier morale through lectures and trench newspapers
• promises of land reform for the peasant conscripts were made
• he was a more cautious commander and avoiding the needless sacrifice of soldiers in suicidal offensives

Question 25

PSI followed a policy of ‘neither sabotage nor support’ who was this policy hated by?

Answer 25

• nationalists and many liberals as they saw it as defeatist, unpatriotic, and anti-italian blaming it for the poor performance of Italy’s military

Question 26

How many planes were made in 1918?

Answer 26

6,500

Question 27

How many vehicles did fiat produce in 1918 alone?

Answer 27

25,000

Question 28

By the end of the war how many machine guns and pieces of heavy artillery were produced?

Answer 28

• 20,000 machine guns
• 7,000 of heavy artillery
• greater than the British were able to manufacture

Question 29

Who drove the success of the arms and munitions and how?

Answer 29

• Alfredo dallolio
• organised the recruitment of men and women into the factories
• hours of work were increased and strikes made illegal
• workers could face military tribunals if they behaviour were deemed unsatisfactory
• a third of Italy’s workers in the economy were either men exempt from military service or on secondment from the army

Question 30

How did dallolio’s ministry finance the industrial expansion?

Answer 30

• making payments in advance
• arranging cheap loans
• leading industrialists ran the central and regional committees

Question 31

Why was growth being dependent on government a bad thing in the long run?

Answer 31

• being paid by foreign loans and printing more money

Question 32

How much in debt was italy?

Answer 32

23 billion lire

Question 33

How did Italy’s war economy accetuated the north south divide?

Answer 33

• war production was based in the north east
• south remained a impoverished agricultural society
• north’s economy grew by 20% south was being ignored

Question 34

What foods were being rationed?

Answer 34

• bread and pasta
• meat and sugar consumption was falling sharply

Question 35

By what percent did the workers wages fall?

Answer 35

25%

Question 36

Why did an increase in taxes lead to greater social division?

Answer 36

• poorer in society felt as though that these taxes affected them more than the rich

Question 37

In august 1917 how many workers were killed for protesting in Turin?
What were they protesting for?

Answer 37

50
- against bread shortages
- continuation of war

Question 38

When did the Italian forces launch an offensive across piave and what did it result in?

Answer 38

24 oct 1918
- resulted in the Austrian army being split into two

Question 39

When did austria sign the armistice?

Answer 39

4 nov 1918

Question 40

What did this victory symbolise for the nationalists?

Answer 40

• the glory of italy being achieved through patriotism, unity and self-sacrifice

Question 41

What did salandra proclaim this victory was representing?

Answer 41

the patriotism and self-sacrifice he had hoped that the war would bring

Question 42

How many casualties did italy suffer in the war?

Answer 42

650,000