In Italy in the Era of the Great War, Vanda Wilcox brings together nineteen Italian and international scholars to analyse the political, military, social and cultural history of Italy in the country’s decade of conflict from 1911 to 1922. Starting with the invasion of Libya in 1911 and concluding with the rise of post-war social and political unrest, the volume traces domestic and foreign policy, the economics of the war effort, the history of military innovation, and social changes including the war’s impact on religion and women, along with major cultural and artistic developments of the period. Each chapter provides a concise and effective overview of the field as it currently stands as well as introducing readers to the latest research.
Contributors are Giulia Albanese, Claudia Baldoli, Allison Scardino Belzer, Francesco Caccamo, Filippo Cappellano, Selena Daly, Fabio Degli Esposti, Spencer Di Scala, Douglas J. Forsyth, Irene Guerrini, Oliver Janz, Irene Lottini, Stefano Marcuzzi, Valerie McGuire, Marco Pluviano,
Paul O’Brien, Carlo Stiaccini, Andrea Ungari, and Bruce Vandervort.
Vanda Wilcox earned her D.Phil at Oxford University in 2006, and now teaches at John Cabot University and Trinity College Rome Campus. Her publications include Morale and the Italian Army During the First World War (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Contents
Acknowledgements List of Illustrations and Tables List of Contributors
Introduction Vanda Wilcox
1 A Military History of the Turco-Italian War (1911-1912) for Libya and Its Impact on Italy’s Entry into the First World War Bruce Vandervort
2 The Evolution of Tactical Regulations in the Italian Army in the Great War Fabio Cappellano
3 The Italian Air Force from Its Origins to 1923 Andrea Ungari
4 Discipline and Military Justice in the Italian Army Irene Guerrini and Marco Pluviano
5 A Machiavellian Ally? Italy in the Entente (1914-1918) Stefano Marcuzzi
6 Italy, the Adriatic and the Balkans: From the Great War to the Eve of the Peace Conference Francesco Caccamo
7 An Imperial Education for Times of Transition: Italian Conquest, Occupation and Civil Administration of the Southeast Aegean, 1912-23 Valerie McGuire
8 Inventing Fascism in the Period of Italian Neutrality: the Case of Benito Mussolini, August 1914 – May 1915 Paul O’Brien
9 Liberalism, Civil Rights, and Reform: Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and the Great War Spencer di Scala
10 Catholic Neutralism and the Peasant Protest against War, 1914-1918 Claudia Baldoli
11 Demobilisation and Political Violence in Italy, 1918-1922 Giulia Albanese
12 Women’s Experiences with War Allison Scardino Belzer
13 The Catholic Church and the War Carlo Stiaccini
14 Monetary and Financial Policy and the Crisis of Liberal Italy, 1914-22 Douglas J. Forsyth
15 The Industrial and Agricultural Mobilization of Italy Fabio Degli Esposti
16 Futurism and the Avant-Gardes Selena Daly
17 The Soldier and the Cinematic Lieutenant. The Great War in Italian Silent Cinema (1915-18) Irene Lottini
18 Commemoration and the Cult of the Fallen in Italy Oliver Janz
Timeline of Key Events, 1911-1922 Bibliography Index
Undergraduate or graduate students and researchers interested in the First World War and in twentieth-century Italian history; a useful resource for academic libraries.