Summary
Overview
This episode examines Italy's tragic entry into World War I in 1915, a war they didn't need to fight but chose for conquest and glory. Despite neutrality agreements, Italian politicians orchestrated a cynical campaign to seize Austrian territory, whipped up by the ultra-nationalist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. The result was a catastrophic military campaign on the Isonzo River in Slovenia, where General Cadorna repeatedly sent Italian soldiers to slaughter against Austrian defenses in some of the war's worst conditions. Over a million Italians died for minimal territorial gains, creating the national trauma and resentment that would fuel the rise of Mussolini and fascism.
Italy's Cynical Path to War
In early 1915, Italy was technically allied with Austria-Hungary and Germany through the Triple Alliance, but had no obligation to join the war since it was a defensive pact. However, Prime Minister Salandra and his Foreign Minister began secretly negotiating with both sides to extract maximum territorial concessions. They pursued what Salandra called 'sacro egoismo' (sacred egoism), believing Italy had a divine mission to complete national unification by seizing Italian-speaking territories from Austria, plus vast swaths of Slovenia, Croatia, and beyond. This was naked imperialism dressed up as patriotism.
- Italy declared neutrality when WWI began, having no obligation under the Triple Alliance to support Austria's offensive war
- Salandra's foreign minister immediately began exploring switching sides if the Allies appeared likely to win
- Italy presented a shopping list to the Allies: South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia, parts of Albania, Greek islands, and £50 million
- Salandra coined the phrase 'sacro egoismo' (sacred egoism) to justify Italy's perfidious behavior
- British PM Asquith called Italy 'voracious, slippery and perfidious' but agreed to their demands anyway
" We should use this historic cataclysm to complete and enlarge the fatherland. Italy's destiny should be guided by sacro egoismo, sacred egoism. "
" It is so important to bring Italy in at once, as greedy and slippery as she is, that we ought not to be too precise in haggling over this or that. "
D'Annunzio's Blood-Soaked Rhetoric Whips Up War Fever
The poet Gabriele D'Annunzio became the nationalist messiah who dragged Italy into war against public opinion. Returning from Paris in May 1915, he delivered a series of increasingly deranged speeches to massive crowds in Rome, perverting Christian scripture to glorify war and bloodshed. His rhetoric about purification through violence, the need to destroy the old order, and blessing the young who 'hunger and thirst for glory' became the template for fascism. These speeches, combined with mob intimidation, terrified politicians into voting for war despite knowing it would be disastrous.
- D'Annunzio gave his infamous parody of the Sermon on the Mount: 'Blessed are the 20 year olds...blessed are the young who hunger and thirst for glory'
- He called for forming squads to seize anti-war politicians, using violence to purge the 'diseased' peace faction
- D'Annunzio pressed his lips to a naked sword and declared 'I abandon my soul to delirium' as crowds went berserk
- Benito Mussolini was in the crowd learning from D'Annunzio, later calling him 'the John the Baptist of fascism'
- Parliament voted for war on May 20, 1915, under pressure from street mobs and fear of nationalist rebellion
" Blessed are the 20 year olds pure of mind well-tempered in body with courageous mothers. Blessed are the young who hunger and thirst for glory for they should be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall wipe away a splendid flow of blood and bind up their shining wounds. "
" We don't only breathe in its horrid stench we feel its appalling weight. I tell you there is treason here in Rome. We're being sold like a herd of diseased cattle. Form squads, lie in wait, seize them. "
" Italy will be born again in blood. I take the sword and draw it. I press my lips to the naked blade. I abandon my soul to delirium. "
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