In all the countries that were involved in the war, a new concept arose that was meant to involve the whole nation in this event: the "home front". The aim of the authorities was to promote the participation in the war effort not only of soldiers or of the people who were unfortunate enough to live close by the Austro-Hungarian border but of the whole Italian population without exception. This was at the same time a good way to eliminate the possibility that anti-war feelings, views regarding nonintervention or anti-Italian leanings would become rampant.
The whole Country was subjected to the application of laws in full military style with very harsh penalties that were comparable to the punishments that took place on the war front under the leadership of Cadorna. Some crimes, even if committed far away from the frontline, were judged by a military tribunal: 60,000 civilians, for example, were condemned for having openly expressed their dissent against the war or for having publicly expressed their own resignation to defeat(especially after the defeat of Caporetto).
This line of action did not spare even the clergy and their actions that were often considered ambiguous. In fact after the unification of Italy, the Vatican did not hide a certain liking towards Austria, a nation that was deeply tied to the traditionalism of the Catholic Church. Besides, some priests who were more receptive to the pacifist message of the Gospel did not hesitate to manifest their opposition to the war especially when news arrived about the bloody battles that had taken place.
Further restrictions on individual freedoms were applied in regions and territories that were considered as forming part of "the war zone". At first, besides regions that were involved in the frontline of the Great War, even other areas that were as far away as the coastal zones of the Adriatic were also included. At a subsequent stage, where strikes, protests and unrest took place (particularly in the industrial cities in the north), this zone was extended and eventually included the entire northern region after the warfront movedto the Piave.
The consequences were similar to those of a dictatorship: "[the war zone] brought in its wake the suspension of the right of assembly and the right of association, the possibility to dissolve clubs and trade union centres, a ban on all political and trade union activity, the suppression of the right to strike […]. Whole categories of persons were placed under the disciplinary regime of the army because they were subject to military service [...]. The range of industrial relations was withdrawn from a system of free bargaining and subjected to regulations that came from above." (Antonio Gibelli, La Grande Guerra degli Italiani, Bur, 2009, Milan, pages 177-178).
