Italy's entry into the war was one of the key moments of the country's history. With this decision the Kingdom chose to enter actively in world history to carve for itself the "status" of a large power in the Adriatic area and in the Balkans which it wanted so much. The unredeemed lands provided definitely a good motive to take part in the conflict but this was not the main reason. Those who pushed for the entry into the war had experienced with anguish the sensation of being cut off from the main events in which the great world powers (with the exclusion of the United States) were being involved.
But the path to the war was anything but an easy road. The Treaty of London in fact was so secret that not even the military leaders were aware of it. Furthermore, this decision was not taken by a political majority or by a popular majority but was taken only by the government that was backed by a very fierce minority of public opinion that knew how to influence society. In the months that preceded the war, debates and public demonstrations in favour of war had taken place throughout the whole of the peninsula and had intensified towards the beginning of May after a speech by Gabriele D'Annunzio in Genoa (on 05th). This was followed by several demonstrations in all the main cities which often erupted into violence. In those days in May, that was called "glorious" by these interventionists, it seemed as if nothing would now obstruct the entry into the war.
On 09th May the former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, a staunch neutralist, returned to Rome after several months. Members of Parliament who were against the war and who up to that moment had passively endured the initiatives that were taken by interventionists, decided to take action since they considered the old statesman from Piedmont a strong and reliable reference point. In a symbolic gesture they took to Giolitti's house his own visiting card to simulate a vote in his favour and therefore in favour of neutrality. This gesture made Salandra realize that most Members of Parliament did not support him and he presented his resignation to Vittorio Emanuele III. The King, also an interventionist, accepted it reluctantly and asked Giolitti to form a new government.
Giolitti could have avoided Italy's entry into the war but he refused to accept the new appointment. There were various reasons: his advanced age (he was 73 years old) as well as the fact that by renouncing the Treaty of London he would have taken away from the Country even the last chance of gaining some territorial benefits out of the war. In this way Italy would have been left out of all the alliances, isolated, without any power in Europe and would never have regained even the unredeemed lands. In Rome and in Milan the interventionists organized huge demonstrations that led Vittorio Emanuele III to give back the assignment to Antonio Salandra. This led Italy to prepare to join the war against Austria-Hungary.
