War Performance 1914-18

Question 1

1915-16 Military Stalemate hardships

Answer 1

• War of ATTRITION - LOW MORALE, 1000s troops lost over METRES of land on NORTHERN ALPINE border.
• PEASANT RECRUITS + Northern SUPERIORS speak different DIALECTS
• Harsh DISCIPLINE
• Low RATIONS
• Increased death from HUNGER + DISEASE
• POW CAMP prisoners = anger + abandonment; BETRAYED by state

Question 2

Nationalist tensions

Answer 2

• Blame GOV for POOR TACTICS
• Threaten to KILL POPE?!

Question 3

Why was Luigi Cadorna a car crash of a Chief of Army

Answer 3

• RIGID + INEFFECTIVE strategy
  -Insists on OFFENSIVE WARFARE + refuses to organise for DEFENSIVE battles (💀💀💀💀💀🫡)
• Decides failings due to INDISCIPLINE; insists on DECIMATION troop motivation (randomly executing troops for disobedience: lowered MORALE further.)

Question 4

What else did Cadorna blame the military’s poor performance on?

Answer 4

• Recruit COWARDICE
• DOMESTIC forces
• PSI’s DEFEATISM
• THE POPE? Labelled WW1 “useless slaughter”, leading sone nationalists to discuss killing him.

Question 5

What punishments did Cadorna subject his soldiers to?

Answer 5

• CORPORAL PUNISHMENT - whippings, shootings
• Sackings - fires countless officers pre ‘17

Question 6

Who was Cadorna replaced by?

Answer 6

• New PM ORLANDO appoints ARMANDO DIAZ
  (+2nd Badoligio)

Question 7

1917 Caporetto humiliation: what went wrong + why was it so embarrassing?

Answer 7

• Italians pushed BACK into own territory, lose ALL NORTHERN frontier territory GAINED.
• Many DESERTIONS; 1000s of soldiers flee despite Cadorna’s efforts 🏃
• Mustard GAS used on 🇮🇹
• 280k Italian POWS taken by A-H. Almost surrender. A-H well-REINFORCED by 🇩🇪
• Cadorna wrong: G DID attack, causing DISARRAY + CONFUSION 🫨

Question 8

What did the 1918 Battle of Vittorio Veneto come to signify in Italian history?

Answer 8

• 1 of 🇮🇹’s ONLY + GREATEST victories
• NATIONALIST ammo: shows Italian glory achieved thru
  PATRIOTISM
  UNITY
  SELF-SACRIFICE

Question 9

How’d Mussolini utilise the 1918 Vittorio Veneto victory?

Answer 9

• His party “ represented all that was GREAT about the victory.”

Question 10

How did Italy finance the war?

Answer 10

• Sizeable LOANS from 🇬🇧 (main funding)
• 🇬🇧 + 🇫🇷 for FOOD + FUEL
• Importing war equipment + supplies due to STRUGGLING industrial base - QUANTITY

Question 11

How’d Italy tackle its suboptimal production levels?

Answer 11

• Force factories to pay HIGHER WAGES
• INCREASE WORKERS + PRODUCTIVITY
• Encourage DRAMATIC EXPANSION

-Worsened inflation.

Question 12

What effect did scarce imports + the focused war economy have on goods + worker sentiment?

Answer 12

• Everyday goods prices QUADRUPLE
• Northern worker STRIKES + RIOTS
  -Food shortages
  -High prices
  -Low wages
• Dualist State Economy DISPARITY worsens (north industry boom ofc)

Question 13

How’d the middle-classes + state employees suffer economically during WW1?

Answer 13

• MIDDLE= Lose SAVINGS
• STATE EMPLOYEES= WAGE + PENSION nosedive

Question 14

How did wartime domestic hardship influence the PSI?

Answer 14

• ^ ingly call for the OVERTHROWing of Lib State for a SOCIALIST REPUBLIC
• Trade union membership 1918-20: 250k - 2 MILLION
  (Despite gov efforts to ^ FOOD PRODUCTION)

Growing RED THREAT horrified Conservatives.

Question 15

What was the economic impact of WW1?

Answer 15

• Debt rises from 16 bill - 85 BILL Lira
• Unemployment 540k - 2 MILL

*Inflation whilst wages fall 25%

• 1/2 mill disabled vets need STATE PENSION