Text/Lonely Red Wine
Italy was one of the main participating states in World War I. In July 1914, World War I broke out, and germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Allies led by Italy fought a fierce war with the Entente powers led by Britain, France, and Russia. Italy, one of the three main forces of the Allied powers, was also involved, with nearly a million Italian troops active on all fronts from Europe to North Africa. At the beginning of the war, the Allies and the Allies fought inextricably, and the Allies even had a certain advantage. But only a year later, Italy suddenly turned against the waters and joined the Allies. Many people can't help but wonder, in the First World War, the victory and defeat were not divided, why did Italy suddenly turn against the water?
In fact, the most fundamental reason why Italy chose to join the Entente was because of interests. Italy is the weakest of the European powers, not only weak, but also surrounded by powerful countries, especially France and Austria-Hungary, which are italy's two fierce enemies and seriously threaten Italy's security and national interests. Of course, as one of the great powers, Italy, although weak, is equally ambitious, And Italy covets The strategically important Tunisia, which is rich in phosphorus and iron resources, and Italy has been trying to annex Tunisia. But to the dismay of the Italians, in May 1881, the French took the lead and completed the military occupation of Tunisia. This news shocked the whole country of Italy, and a wave of anti-French action was set off at home. Enraged, the Italians joined the Allied powers led by Germany and formed alliances with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
It can be said that Italy's accession to the Triple Alliance was very blind. In contrast, the contradictions between Italy and Austria-Hungary were even more serious because of the huge conflict of interest between the two countries. Italians believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had annexed parts of Italian territory (the Adriatic coastal regions of Slovenia and Croatia) and that the Italians had always wanted to retake these lands. Therefore, the relations between Italy and Austria have always been very tense, but the threat and competition of the French have temporarily covered up the contradictions between Italy and Austria. After Italy joined the Allies, it hoped that Germany and Austria-Hungary would become its backers, help it fight against France, and support its own foreign aggression. However, after Italy and Germany and Austria formed an alliance, Italy did not receive strong support and assistance from Germany and Austria. During the invasion of Ethiopia, Germany and Austria did not even give Italy the slightest substantial assistance. In the course of the war, the French gave Ethiopia strong support and help, and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia was defeated.
The failure to invade Ethiopia made Italy very disappointed with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the Italians began to drift away from Germany and Austria. After that, the Italians began to adjust their policies and gradually befriended the French. The French, who also wanted to ease relations, gave the Italians a lot of loans and aid, which quickly heated up relations between the two countries. By the time of World War I, relations between France and Italy were very close, and the estrangement between the two countries had been largely eliminated. The British, the allies of the French, have long maintained very friendly relations with the Italians, and many of Italy's coal, iron ore and other resources come from Britain. Maintaining good relations with Britain has been the established diplomatic policy of successive Italian governments. As for the Russians, they and Italy are completely inseparable, and there is not even the slightest conflict or conflict of interest between the two countries, so there is no contradiction between the two countries. It can be said that before the First World War, Italy and the Entente had no contradictions at all, and there was no reason or necessity for war. Thus, in the months following the outbreak of the First World War, Italy, citing the fact that the Triple Alliance was only used for defense, did not enter the war, but always waited and watched.
In fact, this kind of behavior in Italy is completely waiting for the price to sell, depending on who is high on both sides. As one of the three main forces of the Allies, Italy first offered conditions to Germany and Austria. The Italians demanded that austria-Hungary return their occupied lands, but Germany and Austria-Hungary rejected the Italians' offer, much to the chagrin of the Italians. In stark contrast to Theo, Britain and France threw very tempting conditions at the Italians. Britain and France not only agreed to Italy's territorial claims to the Balkans (entirely to treat the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a favor), but also agreed to support Italian colonial expansion in Africa after the war. The Anglo-French attitude excited the Italians, and in this way, Italy decisively abandoned the Allied bloc, joined the Allies, and declared war on austria-Hungary. In this way, the Italians were "at ease" and looked at the other countries participating in the war. In the end, although the Italians suffered heavy losses in World War I, they got the territory they wanted and gained the status of the victorious power. I have to say that Italians are still very shrewd.