Assess the Impact of the First Ww

Assess the impact of the First World War from 1915-1920

Italy’s involvement in the war was the most significant thing to happen to the country during this period in time. This is foremost in their performance in WW1. Italy joined the Allies with the promise of colonies and an empire in the Treaty of London, made with Great Britain and France on 20th May 1915. They fought against the vast armies of Austria-Hungary. During the abutting 4 years 5,000,000 conscripted, virtually of them peasants from the South who resented fighting for northerly sphere which they didn’t care about. However, they benefitted greatly from this because their rent was frozen, this coupled with steady pay made them wealthier and better off really quickly. This was because of the exaggerated rate of inflation in Italy of 100% per year. This meant that their salary doubled every year and by the end of the war it was an astounding 400%. This allowed them to pay off their rents, debts and have money still left over and to cater for their family needs. Workers from the North weren’t allowed to leave work; strikes were banned and made illegal. They had to work longer hours for less pay. Industrialists benefited immensely from the war. This had the same effect as firmly placing a lid on a boiling pot. Sooner or later, there would be and explosion. A soldier’s ration consisted of 600g of bread, 250g of meat and 100g of pasta per day. Meagre means to go by. By the end of the war there were 600,000 wounded and 1,000,000 injured, this in my opinion was primarily to do with a lack of experience, poor leadership and strategy. A further illustration of this is the humiliating defeat inflicted upon Italy by Austria-Hungary of this is the Battle of battle of Caporetto in October 1917 where 15,000 Italian forces were dead 300,000 were wounded and 300,000 captured by the Austrians. This was an abase defeat and brought down the moral of the Italians and support for the war from the people. This in turn...