Why was Italy an ally of Germany in World War 1?

Answer 1

Italy joined Austria-Hungary and Germany in the "Triple Alliance" in 1882, largely because they were worried about being attacked by France. Italy had been trying to gain colonies in Africa, and France had snatched up some of the ones Italy wanted, especially Tunisia.

However, Italy was not very enthusiastic about the alliance, largely because Austria-Hungary had been a major enemy of Italy's back in the mid-1800s. Additionally, Austria-Hungary controlled territory along the Adriatic Sea that Italy thought should rightfully be theirs; the Italians called this territory "Italia Irridentia" ("Unredeemed Italy").

So in the summer of 1914, when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, and then Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia, thereby starting World War I, Italy refused to join the war- they claimed that because Austria-Hungary had technically started the war by attacking Serbia, they were not obligated to join the war. The reality is that they really just didn't want to help Austria-Hungary, and they almost immediately started negotiating with the Allies to switch sides.

In 1915, after the Allies promised to give Italy the "irredentia" lands from Austria, Italy joined the Allies against Germany and Austria-Hungary. When the Allies finally won the war in 1918, Italy got far less of the irredentia lands than they expected. The Italian people were angry about this, and this anger played a big role in the rise of Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party.

Answer 2

Italy made an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary prior to the star of World War I in order to be protected from potential French and British aggression. However, when World War I began, Italy argued that there was no obligation for it to rise to the defense of Austria-Hungary since Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia, not the the other way around. Italy eventually joined the Allies (Britain, France, Russia - until 1917, and the United States - after 1917) against Austria-Hungary and Germany.