While the leading European states announced their declarations of war, Italy placed itself at the margins of the rising conflict by announcing its neutrality on 03rd August despite the fact that in 1882 it had signed the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Salandra government insisted on the principle that an intervention alongside one of the two states would only be necessary on defensive grounds.
In truth the decision not to get involved straightway in the war was due to several factors. First of all the role of Italy in the world chessboard was rather marginal because of its economic backwardness: half of its population was employed in agriculture, 40% were illiterate and the industrialization process had only taken off a few years earlier and only in some regions in the North.
Secondly, the decision not to take part immediately in the war was also dictated by the situation in which the Italian army found itself at that time. The new Chief of Staff, General Luigi Cadorna, pointed out straightaway the lack of winter equipment, hand grenades, means of transport, machine guns and field artillery. Not less important was the lack of military officers who had to be recruited and trained in the military academies.
But above all, neutrality would have allowed the government to launch unofficial negotiations with other States (even with those that formed part of the Agreement): awaiting the way that the conflict unfolded and joining whoever would guarantee most benefits was not a negligible advantage. In this way Italy could put forward some important territorial requests such as Trentino and Venezia Giulia (including the city of Trieste) which at that time belonged to Austria-Hungary.
The announcement that was made on 03rd August 1914 was received positively by a majority of the population. The rural community generally considered the war as a tragedy given that obligatory conscription would have taken away an important component of the manpower that worked in the fields. There was also the influence of both the socialist movement, largely aligned in favour of pacifist and internationalist values, as well as of the Catholic world that put itself into the hands of politicians (who too were largely in favour of neutrality).
