To the left, caricatures of a fallen King Albert of Belgium, Tsar Nicholas of Russia, President Poincare of France, generic (?) caricatures of an English man and a Japanese soldier, Kings Peter of Serbia, and Nikola of Montenegro engaging in a tug of war, the rope being held on the right by a German (in gray) and an Austro-Hungarian soldier. Between the teams and behind the rope stands the diminutive caped figure of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, all hat, mustache, and chin.
Das Europaische Gleichgewicht 1914The European Equilibrium, 1914
"Monday, May 17, 1915There is intense excitement in Italy. In Rome, Milan, Venice, and Genoa there is a continuous succession of stormy demonstrations which are almost revolutionary in character.Under the pressure of popular feeling King Victor Emmanuel yesterday refused the resignation of the Salandra-Sonnino Cabinet. Giolotti's plot has thus failed. The only course now open to the 'neutralist' Parliament is to bow to the demands of the national instincts."
Entry for Monday, May 17, 1915, from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador in Russia. Italy had signed the Pact of London on April 26, committing the country to enter the war on the side of the Entente Allies by May 26 in exchange for a loan of £50,000,000 and promises of territories (such as Trentino and Trieste) to be won. King Victor Emmanuel, Prime Minister Antonio Salandra, and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino all favored war, but faced overwhelming neutralist sentiment throughout the country and in the figure of former Prime Minister Giolotti. By mid-May Benito Mussolini, Gabriele D'Annunzio, and other pro-war activists were demonstrating, sometimes violently, for war.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. I by Maurice Paléologue, page 338, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1925
1915-05-17, 1915, May, Italy, neutrality, Italian neutrality, Treaty of London, Secret Treaty of London, Pact of London
