This Day in World War 1 History: MAY 05, 1919 : ITALIAN DELEGATES RETURN TO PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

On May 5, 1919, the delegation from Italy—led by Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino—returns to the Versailles Peace Conference in Paris, France, after leaving abruptly 11 days earlier during contentious negotiations over the territory Italy would receive after the First World War.

Italy’s entrance into World War I on the side of Britain, France and Russia in May 1915 had been based on the Treaty of London, signed the previous month, in which the Allies promised Italy post-war control over a good deal of territory. This included the land along Italy’s border with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, stretching from Trentino through the South Tyrol to the city of Trieste (an area of historic dispute between Italy and Austria); parts of Dalmatia and numerous islands along Austria-Hungary’s Adriatic coast; the Albanian port city of Vlore (Italian: Valona) and a central protectorate in Albania; and territory from the Ottoman Empire. When Orlando and Sonnino arrived in Paris in 1919, they regarded the Treaty of London as a solemn and binding agreement, and expected its terms to be carried out and Italy to be rewarded for its participation alongside the victorious Allies.

The leaders of Britain and France, for their part, deeply regretted making such promises; they viewed Italy with annoyance, feeling the Italians had botched their attacks on Austria-Hungary during the war, failed to honor their naval promises and repeatedly asked for resources which they then failed to put towards the war effort. The American president, Woodrow Wilson, felt even more strongly that Italy’s demands could not be met, as they violated the self-determination of other nationalities—particularly South Slav or Yugoslav peoples—living in the territories in question.

Negotiations over Italy’s demands, planned to last six days, opened on April 19, 1919, in Paris. Tensions flared immediately, as Orlando and Sonnino held firm in the face of fierce resistance from the other leaders, warning of civil war in Italy—driven by an increasingly radical movement of right-wing nationalists—if the country did not receive what it had been promised. On April 23, Wilson published a statement arguing that the Treaty of London must be set aside and reminding Italy that it should be satisfied with receiving the territory of the Trentino and the Tyrol, where the majority of the population was Italian. A day later, Orlando and Sonnino left Paris and returned to Rome, where they were met with a frenzied demonstration of patriotism and anti-Americanism. In a speech before the Italian parliament, Orlando urged his people to stay calm and stated that Italy’s claims were based on such high and solemn reasons of right and justice that they ought to be recognized in their integrity. The rabid nationalists, led by the charismatic poet and playwright Gabriele D’Annunzio, held meetings throughout the country, bitterly disparaging the Allied leaders—especially Wilson—and hinting at war if Italy’s demands were not met.

In Paris, the Italian departure threatened the entire conference, as the delegation from Germany was scheduled to arrive soon to receive their terms. The secretariat of the conference began combing the draft of the German treaty to remove all references to Italy, even as the Italian government and the other Allies struggled to find a way for Italy to return to the negotiations. After a delegation from Austria was invited to Paris and slated to arrive in the middle of May, the Italians realized their position was worsening. Meanwhile, Wilson and the U.S. were promising Italy a much-needed $25 million credit; Britain and France believed this offer would free them from their obligations in the Treaty of London, and hopes of a better compromise were beginning to fade for Orlando and his compatriots. On May 5, it was announced that Orlando and Sonnino were returning to Paris and the secretariat began to add the Italian references back in to the German treaty by hand.

In the final Treaty of Versailles, signed in June, Italy received a permanent seat on the League of Nations, the Tyrol and a share of the German reparations. Many Italians were bitterly disappointed with their post-war lot, however, and conflict continued over Fiume, a port city in Croatia in which Italians made up the largest single population, and other territories in the Adriatic. In the fall of 1919, D’Annunzio and his supporters seized control of Fiume, occupying it for 15 months in defiance of the Italian government and making interminable nationalist speeches. Resentment of Britain, France and the United States continued to simmer, along with wounded Italian pride and ambitious dreams of future greatness—all emotions that would later be harnessed to devastating effect by the fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

Article Details:

May 05, 1919 : Italian delegates return to Paris peace conference

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  May 05, 1919 : Italian delegates return to Paris peace conference

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/italian-delegates-return-to-paris-peace-conference

• Access Date

  May 05, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks

This Day in World War 1 History: MAY 04, 1916 : GERMANY AGREES TO LIMIT ITS SUBMARINE WARFARE

On this day in 1916, Germany responds to a demand by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson by agreeing to limit its submarine warfare in order to avert a diplomatic break with the United States.

Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War I in early 1915, when Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. A string of German attacks on merchant ships—culminating in the sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania on May 7, 1915—led President Wilson to put pressure on the Germans to curb their navy. Fearful of antagonizing the Americans, the German government agreed to put restrictions on the submarine policy going forward, incurring the anger and frustration of many naval leaders, including the naval commander in chief, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, who resigned in March 1916.

On March 24, 1916, soon after Tirpitz’s resignation, a German U-boat submarine attacked the French passenger steamer Sussex, in the English Channel, thinking it was a British ship equipped to lay explosive mines. Although the ship did not sink, 50 people were killed, and many more injured, including several Americans. On April 19, in an address to the U.S. Congress, President Wilson took a firm stance, stating that unless the Imperial German Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels this Government can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the Government of the German Empire altogether.

To follow up on Wilson’s speech, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, James W. Gerard, spoke directly to Kaiser Wilhelm on May 1 at the German army headquarters at Charleville in eastern France. After Gerard protested the continued German submarine attacks on merchant ships, the kaiser in turn denounced the American government’s compliance with the Allied naval blockade of Germany, in place since late 1914. Germany could not risk American entry into the war against them, however, and when Gerard urged the kaiser to provide assurances of a change in the submarine policy, the latter agreed.

On May 6, the German government signed the so-called Sussex Pledge, promising to stop the indiscriminate sinking of non-military ships. According to the pledge, merchant ships would be searched, and sunk only if they were found to be carrying contraband materials. Furthermore, no ship would be sunk before safe passage had been provided for the ship’s crew and its passengers. Gerard was skeptical, writing in a letter to the U.S. State Department that German leaders, forced by public opinion, and by the von Tirpitz and Conservative parties would take up ruthless submarine warfare again, possibly in the autumn, but at any rate about February or March, 1917.

Gerard’s words proved accurate, as on February 1, 1917, Germany announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. Two days later, Wilson announced a break in diplomatic relations with the German government, and on April 6, 1917, the United States formally entered World War I on the side of the Allies.

Article Details:

May 04, 1916 : Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  May 04, 1916 : Germany agrees to limit its submarine warfare

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-agrees-to-limit-its-submarine-warfare

• Access Date

  May 04, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks

This Day in World War 1 History: APRIL 30, 1917 : BATTLE OF THE BOOT

On this day in 1917, the so-called Battle of the Boot marks the end of the British army’s Samarra Offensive, launched the previous month by Anglo-Indian forces under the regional commander in chief, Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, against the important Turkish railroad at Samarra, some 130 kilometers north of Baghdad, in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).

Fresh from the triumphant capture of Baghdad, Maude decided not to hesitate before moving to consolidate the Allied positions to the north, where Turkish commander Khalil Pasha’s forces had retreated from Baghdad to await reinforcements sent from Persia. In the Samarra Offensive, begun on March 13, 1917, some 45,000 Anglo-Indian frontline troops were sent up the Tigris River towards the railway at Samarra; on March 19, Maude’s forces seized Falluja, preventing the Turks from flooding the Euphrates River onto the plains and hampering the British advance. Though an attempt on March 25 to intercept the Turkish reinforcement troops, led by Ali Ishan Bey, met with failure, the British were able to capture another city, Dogameh, by the end of March.

As the Samarra Offensive continued into April, the Turks had backed up to positions between the Tigris and the Al Jali Canal; the Samarra railway itself lay in between. Heavy fighting beginning on April 21 resulted in a Turkish defeat two days later and they were forced to cede Samarra to the British. Less than a week later, Ishan suddenly reappeared with the majority of his troops at Dahubu in an attempt to surprise the British forces; they were aware of his movements, however, and the Turks were met by several infantry brigades, commanded by General William Marshall, and forced to retreat to prepared positions in the foothills that spanned the river at Band-i-Adhaim. The subsequent action that took place, beginning early the morning of April 30, became known as the Battle of the Boot, for the boot-shaped peninsula of high ground on which it was fought.

Marshall began his infantry attack early in the morning of April 30; his forces advanced quickly, taking 300 Turkish prisoners and two lines of trenches within a short time. A sandstorm subsequently halted British operations, and the Turks were able to call on reserve forces for a successful counter-attack. By the time the sandstorm cleared, in the late afternoon, Isha and his men had taken 350 British prisoners and begun a retreat into the mountains; the punishing heat prevented Marshall’s troops from pursuing them.

The Battle of the Boot effectively ended the Samarra Offensive, as Maude decided to pause in order to regroup and give his forces the chance to recover their strength. Casualties in the offensive numbered some 18,000, with losses due to illness running more than twice that number. Ishan and his Turkish forces remained in the mountains, preparing for the renewal of hostilities on the Mesopotamian front that would begin that fall.

Article Details:

April 30, 1917 : Battle of the Boot

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  April 30, 1917 : Battle of the Boot

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-boot

• Access Date

  April 30, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks