The British writer Benjamin Disraeli famously said: "There is no eternal enemy, no eternal enemy, only eternal interest." British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also quoted this phrase in a speech during World War II, and has been world-famous ever since.
In World War I, Italy made the best footnote to this statement.
Italy has a long history. During the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, Rome, the capital of Italy, was the political, economic and cultural center of the whole of Europe. In the 15th century, artistic geniuses such as Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo in Italy initiated and promoted an ideological and cultural movement that swept across Europe, the Renaissance. After that, however, Italy was occupied by Austria and France, and its territory was fragmented.
In the 1860s, a unification movement arose in Italy. In 1861, after the unification of Italy, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed.
After reunification, Italy moved towards a path of external expansion. Where to expand? From the map, Italy is located in the south of Europe, bordering Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, France and other countries to the east, north and south respectively. Both Austria-Hungary and France belonged to the old European powers, and Italy did not dare to provoke; Switzerland was a permanent neutral country, supported by the European powers, and could not afford to provoke. So Italy set its sights on the south.
To the south of Italy is Africa. Sicily is separated from the North African country of Tunis by a Strait of Tunisia. So, is there a better target than Tunisia? However, when Italy was ambitiously preparing to land in Tunisia, it did not expect France to reach out. After a battle, France made Tunisia its own.
Italy had no choice but to stare dryly at France. At this time, German Prime Minister Bismarck took the opportunity to win over Italy in order to resist France. The two sides hit it off. Prior to this, Germany had signed an alliance treaty with Austria-Hungary. In 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy signed a treaty of alliance in Vienna. This is the Triple Alliance.
However, when Italy allied itself with Germany and Austria-Hungary, it did not necessarily find that this was not necessarily a good idea. Because the Austro-Hungarian Empire bordered Italy, there were some unclear and unclear places on the border between the two sides. Italy is relatively weak, always feel that it has suffered a dumb loss, so it has an idea...
On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary, with german support, declared war on Serbia under the pretext of the "Sarajevo Incident". With the participation of European powers such as Germany, Russia, France, and Britain, the first World War in human history broke out.
German Emperor Wilhelm II knew that Italy was not strong enough to count on in the great war, but before the official war, he solemnly consulted Italy's attitude. Italy chose neutrality and stayed out of the way. Although William II was not satisfied, he could not help it.
Italy's choice of neutrality is not to hope for peace, but to sit back and watch the tiger fight, choosing to join one side at the best time.
As the war progressed, both sides were co-opting Italy.
On the one hand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was particularly anxious because of their repeated defeats in the war against Serbia. Without Italy's help, they will not be able to save the day. Therefore, austria-Hungary promised to give Italy a portion of the territory bordering Italy. After the war, Tunisia, which belonged to France, was also given to Italy.
On the other hand, Britain also wanted Italy to join the Allies and help deal with Austria-Hungary and Germany and reduce the pressure on the Western Front. To this end, Britain offered more favorable terms, promising to add German colonies in Africa to the conditions of austria-Hungary.
After weighing the pros and cons, Italy finally decided to turn to the Allies and become Britain's little partner. On April 26, 1915, after Signing an Agreement between Italy and Great Britain in London, Italy declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary, and sent 800,000 troops and 1,700 artillery pieces to attack austria-Hungary.
For the "rebellion" in Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire hated it with itchy teeth. General Conrad, chief of the general staff of the Austro-Hungarian army, angrily called it "treacherous Italy".
In fact, for the country, where is there any "integrity" or "integrity"? It's all about the "eternal good" at work.