Triple Entente Allies Stab Italy in the Back After World War I

 Under the secret Treaty of London, signed on April 26, 1915, Britain, France, and Russia promised Italy substantial territorial gains, financial loans, and strategic colonial concessions. In return, Italy agreed to abandon its neutrality and declare war on the Central Powers within one month. The specific territories promised are as follows: 

•    Trentino and South Tyrol
•   Trieste and the Austrian Littoral which includes Gorizia and the entire Istrian peninsula
•    Dalmatia and a substantial chunk of the Balkan coastline which includes the city of Zara, now called Zadar in what is now Croatia
•   Sovereignty over Albania
•    The Dodecanese Islands and full sovereignty over the Aegean islands and 
• Expansion of Italian African colonies.

Italy ultimately received Trentino, South Tyrol, and Trieste (only after World War II) but much of what had been promised—including the Italian-speaking peninsula of Istria and the Dalmatian coast—was denied to Italy. After the Second World War, many of these territories came under Yugoslav control under the communist dictator, Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslav partisans, under Tito, committed numerous summary executions of thousands of Italians, including common burials in pits and sink holes, known as the Foibe Massacres.

At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson refused to honor the Treaty of London in full and opposed Italy’s claims to the territories it had been promised. What was the cost to Italy in joining the allies in World War I:

• 2.1 million military casualties, including
• 600,000 killed in action
• 947,000 wounded
• 600,000 captured or missing

In 1915 the population of Italy was 36 million, the United States population the same year was 100 million.The United States World War I casualties were 320,500 total, with 116,700 killed in action. 

So, it all came down to one man, Woodrow Wilson, who overruled Britain, France and Russia and the treaty of London.   So next time you promise your neighbor to go to war with you, will you believe any promises made? Wilson was a well known racist and a Darwinian eugenicist.  Click here for a description of him: