Lyell Tweed
Assess the impact of WW1 on Italy 1915-1919
In April 1915 Italy signed the treaty of London with Britain and France and the next month declared war on Austria. Italy saw this as the best option as at the time the war looked to be in the Allies hands and so therefore if they were a part of this victory they may be able to get a say in the post war treaties and maybe get the lands they wanted because they may have been seen as Italian under foreign rule, Irredentism. The First World War for Italy went disastrously for Italy as they lost 600,000 men on the front and caused many internal problems for the civilians back home such as an increase in strikes mainly from the socialists opposing the war. Although they may have been on the winning side in the war their overall impact was seen as minimal so therefore were given a limited say in the post war peace treaties.
The war may have also been seen as a way to unite all Italians but seemed to create more divisions than there were before the war.
A major impact that the war had on Italy was the feeling of a 'Mutilated victory' throughout the country. The Italians felt that the promises that were given to them when they signed the treaty of London were not kept to and so therefore all the effort put into the war may have not been worth it. There was anger from many from the right who heavily criticized the failures of the Prime Minister Orlando to have an impact at Versailles and to obtain the lands that Italy entered the war for. Although the Italians did get some of the lands they were after such as South...