74 – Episode 74 Italy’s Participation in the War (1)
When Germany and the Negotiations were engaged in a bloody battle over Verdun, the King of Italy ended his long deliberation and joined the allied camp. Decided to do it. The decisive factor that made him decide to join the alliance was the Battle of the North Sea and the raid on London.
‘The Anglo-Saxons, they robbed the center of the capital and lost the naval battle. This is worse than you think, isn’t it?’
Although this story is far from the truth, that was the image the king felt. In terms of atmosphere, it seemed certain that Germany would win.
In that case, it was ‘advantageous’ to join the alliance at this point when the ransom was the highest. Rome sent the King’s own brother, the Duke of Aosta, to Berlin, expecting a large booty.
“Corsica, Nice, Savoy, Tunisia, Egypt, Albania? “You want it all?”
Although Germany was embarrassed by Italy’s proposal, it attempted a compromise. After some pushing and pulling, the Duke of Aosta was able to return to Rome with good terms.
1. The Nice and Savoy area, which has a strong historical connection to the Kingdom of Chardinia, is ceded to Italy.
2. Tunisia, which has more than 300,000 residents of the Kingdom of Italy, is ceded to Italian territory.
3. French territory east of the Rhone River is ceded as compensation for Austria’s unrecovered Italian and Balkan territories.
In addition, it was decided to hand over some of the French warships as compensation.
It was a fairly generous compensation plan for Rome.
It would be nice to push and pull a little more to see if there is any time, but looking at the atmosphere, it would be difficult to raise the price further than it is now.
“Now is the perfect time to take advantage of Germany’s victory.”
Looking back, the Kingdom of Chardinia has been on a roll by riding the ‘German coin’. He took Lombardy-Veneto by siding with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, and gained Rome by siding with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War.
This time was no different.
Vittorio Emanuele III requested the government to join the alliance against Germany. Although Italian Prime Minister Sarandra had personal favor with the Entente, he took a step back from national interests.
“I will follow Your Majesty’s will.”
When the government submitted a plan to join the war to stand on the side of the Triple Alliance, many lawmakers welcomed it.
“Of course we must shed blood in this war. “We can’t sit back and blow away our chance to become a victorious nation!”
“Stupid imperialists. “The blood they shed in war will nourish us.”
The nationalist right and interventionist socialists supported participation in the war. The former welcomed a war that would allow them to gain territory ‘in any case’, while the latter supported the war because they thought they could follow the example of ‘Russia’ once weapons were in the hands of the people.
Meanwhile, ‘Mussolini’ also changed his mind and supported joining the alliance against Germany. In fact, rather than changing his mind, it was more that he harbored bad feelings towards ‘France’.
A few months ago, Mussolini was on the wanted list for siding with France and briefly fled to France.
At that time, the French authorities believed that Mussolini’s value had run out and cut off his support.
Mussolini had to fight on the difficult front line of livelihood by selling pasta at a stall to make a living. Then, when he was released from the wanted list and came back, it was not unreasonable for him to go to France.
“How much have we, Italy, been trampled by the French over the past hundreds of years? The Pope was imprisoned in Avignon, and whenever there was an opportunity for unification, the Bourbons came and trampled on the city and its heroes with dreams.
Is that all?
Even though they took Savoya, the birthplace of the great Sardinia, they betrayed us in the ‘War of Unification’. “Now we have a chance to get revenge on them!”
Mussolini published an aggressive editorial in a right-wing newspaper and added strength to his participation in the Triple Alliance.
His comrades who were speaking in the same voice were dumbfounded by his transformation.
“No, the person who cursed that Rome would lick Berlin’s shoes now says he will lick his own shoes. Mussolini, that guy, does he have dementia?”
Nevertheless, Mussolini was confident.
“It was right then, it’s wrong now.”
From Noble mtl dot com
At that time, negotiations seemed likely, so it was reasonable to criticize Berlin for licking its shoes.
But now that the tide had changed and Germany was in an advantage, it was time to trim Germany’s mustache, not just its shoes.
Right-wing supporters justified their claim to side with Germany with a logic similar to that of Mussolini.
Of course, there were not without voices of opposition.
“The alliance is blockaded at sea. Don’t you know how Napoleon, who conquered the European continent, fell? “The trend is a negotiating power that controls the sea!”
Those who supported negotiations and those who insisted on maintaining neutrality raised their voices.
“Support for negotiations? “You took the money, right?”
“Look at this. Military supply corruption?”
Suddenly, suspicions of scandalous money transactions by lawmakers who supported the negotiations broke out behind the scenes, and all sorts of unsavory rumors began to spread.
“Are you going to join the negotiating party? It’s funny. “I will never let that happen.”
Rundstedt’s dirty behind-the-scenes work against the supporters of the negotiations was revealed in all kinds of media. Some of it was true, but most of it was fake and made up rumors.
However, if it seemed plausible to the public, it was ‘true.’
“Look. What kind of country do rotten people like that give advice for? “True patriots don’t get involved in such dirty work.”
Taking advantage of the moment when the opponents’ speakers lost power, the participants loudly increased their speakers.
After many twists and turns, the participants in the war overwhelmed the opposition, and the Italian government was able to open the path to participation in the war.
The Entente was astonished when they realized that Italy was inclined to enter the war.
“Why are these guys making such a sudden move?”
If you were going to participate in the war, you had to look at the victory or defeat of the Battle of Verdun before deciding. That wasn’t the case either.
In any case, the negotiating powers were on fire.
The British ambassador to Rome, Baron Rennell, hurriedly requested an audience with Vittorio Emanuele III.
However, the king only made excuses and rarely met the ambassador.
The ambassador had no choice but to meet Italian Prime Minister Sarandra and inquire about Italy’s participation in the war.
“Nothing has been decided yet.”
“We heard something, but are you going to tell such an obvious lie?”
Sarandra denied participating in the war.
Even if participation in the war was a fait accompli, it was advantageous for Italy not to confirm it until war was declared.
We had to buy time to evacuate merchant ships on the high seas right away.
When the negotiating powers saw Italy’s movements, they accepted its participation in the war as a fait accompli.
“If it is certain that the Italians will join the German camp, why not prepare a plan to punish them?”
As a fighting people who could not stand others hitting themselves, although it was okay for me to hit others, the British proposed preparing to invade Italy.
“Where are the troops for that? “It’s a pity that we don’t even have to send soldiers to Verdun.”
“We have troops left from Gallipoli.”
Gallipoli ended in a catastrophe for the Entente Powers.
Despite the terrible battle, the Negotiation Army still had numerous follow-up units that could not be deployed to Gallipoli.
Some were fighting the Ottoman army in Mesopotamia and the Sinai Peninsula, but many still remained in Alexandria.
Although France may not know, the British Commonwealth still has strength.
The French were also intrigued by Marshal Douglas Haig’s proposal.
In any case, it was inevitable that French soil would become a battlefield if attacked.
In that case, attacking the Italians didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Joffre asked for an opinion based on an assumption.
“If you attack Italy, where do you plan to attack?”
“Naples would be good. “It’s not like the Italians are strong enough to go all the way back to the tips of their boots, are they?”
Naples.
The more I thought about it, the more exquisite the location was.
It was suitable for splitting Italy in two without being too far from the target, Rome.
“If this attack succeeds, the Italians’ participation in the war will have no meaning.”
It wasn’t wrong.
However, there was no possibility that Italy would be eliminated so easily.
Italy was able to conscript 2 million people based on current standards, and even 5 million if it conscripted up to its population limit.
Even so, is it possible for the Negotiation Army, which is shedding blood at Verdun, to endure such a war of attrition again?
Joffre was skeptical about that.
“If the battle becomes a war of attrition, we will be mired in a quagmire. Do you have any countermeasures?”
“If it becomes difficult to break through, we can switch to defenders.”
Hague explained a plan with both offense and defense in mind.
If you occupy part of the boot called the Italian peninsula, the one that becomes urgent is the alliance.
In negotiations, it was enough to just defend the position that was taken. Even if you do just that, the enemy will attack and tear you apart.
The terrain itself was quite mountainous in Italy, which was an advantageous condition for the defenders. Considering that sea control was also on the side of the negotiation, there was absolutely no disadvantage in a defensive war.
“The method the Marshal had in mind was to attempt to overthrow the Italian government by landing, but if that is prevented, let’s go for a war of attrition.”
“It is as you understand.”
If the war in Italy prolongs, the fatigue of Italy fighting at home will reach its peak. If that happens, the political burden on the Italian government, which provoked war by openly taking a hostile position toward negotiations, will also increase.
Then, you will be able to force the Italian government out of the line, either by overturning it or negotiating with it.
No, we can turn it over to this side.
The contents of the calculator that Hague ran seemed plausible.
“What can we, France, cooperate with?”
“Please give me only 6 divisions. Colonial County is also good.”
Joffre was sorry for one soldier, but he could not leave Italy preparing to enter the war.
“Good.”
On December 31, 1915, as the sun was setting, the negotiating forces agreed to establish a plan to invade Italy. The name of the operation was ‘Alaric’.