LUCIO CEVA

Capo di Stato Maggiore e politica estera al principio del secolo   

N. 1/1987

Summary - A law of 1906 granted full powers to the Italian Chief of Army Staff in relation to the military agreements with the allied powers (at that time Austria and Germany) and another law of 1908 repealed such powers. The a., analyzing some unpublished documents, shows that the same powers had already been given secretly to the Chief of Army Staff to appease German suspicions in 1902 when Italy renewed the treaty of the Triple Alliance, at the same time concluding also an entente with France. Powers were granted again by law to the Chief of Army Staff to reassure Germany in 1906, irritated by the Italian attitude at the Algesiras Conference. These circumstances do not alter the fact that in the Italian system, unlike the German, the Chief of Army Staff was only a technician and all the agreements he made could take effect only after the Rome Cabinet had decided that a cause foederis had arisen for the Triple Alliance. The German error concerning the relation between politicians and the military in our country is at the basis of the charges of betrayal brought against Italy after the declaration of neutrality of August 3, 1914.