Italy Enters the War
On 23 May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, abandoning its nominal membership of the Triple Alliance after months of secret negotiation with both sides. By the secret Treaty of London (26 April 1915), the Entente promised Italy the Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria, and much of the Dalmatian coast — the 'unredeemed lands' (terre irredente) of Italian nationalist aspiration. Italy's intervention opened a new front along the Isonzo River and the Alpine arc, where General Luigi Cadorna launched eleven successive battles of the Isonzo between 1915 and 1917, gaining little ground at enormous cost in one of the war's most unforgiving theatres of rock, ice, and altitude. Italian entry stretched Austro-Hungarian forces across three fronts and bound Italy's fate to the Entente's victory — and to the disappointments of the peace settlement, where the 'mutilated victory' narrative would feed post-war Fascism.
- Year: 1915 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
