Antonio Salandra
| Antonio Salandra | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 21st Prime Minister of Italy | |
|
In office March 21, 1914 – June 18, 1916 |
|
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel III |
| Preceded by | Giovanni Giolitti |
| Succeeded by | Paolo Boselli |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 13, 1853 Troia, Italy |
| Died | December 9, 1931 (aged 78) Rome, Italy |
| Political party |
Historical Right (1901–1912) Independent (1912–1922) Italian Liberal Party (1922–1924) |
| Alma mater | University of Naples |
| Profession | Journalist, politician, lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Antonio Salandra (August 13, 1853 – December 9, 1931) was a conservative Italian politician who served as the 33rd Prime Minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916. He ensured the entry of Italy in World War I on the side of the Triple Entente (the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire) to fulfil Italy’s irrendentist claims.
Born in Troia (Province of Foggia, Apulia), he graduated from the University of Naples in 1875 and then became instructor and later professor of administrative law at the University of Rome.
He was Minister of Agriculture (1899-1900) in the conservative government of Luigi Pelloux and subsequently Minister of the Treasury (1906) and Minister of Finance (1909-1910) in the governments of Sidney Sonnino.
In March 1914, the conservative Salandra was brought into the national cabinet upon the fall of the government of Giovanni Giolitti, as the choice of Giolitti himself, who still commanded the support of most Italian parliamentarians. Salandra's government was the most conservative one that Italy had seen for a long time. Salandra soon fell out with Giolitti over the question of Italian participation in World War I.
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Salandra declared that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance and Austria-Hungary had been the aggressor. In reality, both Salandra and his ministers of Foreign Affairs, Antonino Paternò Castello, who was succeeded by Sidney Sonnino in November 1914, began to probe which side would grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war and to fulfil Italy’s irrendentist claims.
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