Why did Italy enter the First World War if the majority of Italians were against it? On 28 June 1914 the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was killed in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. This assassination, perceived as an internal threat by Austria-Hungary, led to the almost immediate outbreak of war. As members of the Triple Alliance, Germany declared war on the side of Austria-Hungary while Italy, despite having been a member since 1882, declared its neutrality on 4 August justifying its position with the fact that "the character of the it is purely defensive”1 and which, therefore, can provide military support only in the event of a defensive war. From 1914 the Italians split into two opposing groups, the Neutralists and the Interventionists formed respectively by Socialit, Catholics and Giolittiani on one side and Futurists, Nationalists, some Socialit and Northern Italy on the other. Italian interventionists glorified the war as the engine of modernity and a solution to territorial expansion, while neutralists characterized it as a "useless massacre"2 and denied Italy's ability to fight or obtain economic or territorial advantages. Italy entered the war on May 23, 1915 against the will of the majority of Italians. Its participation was imposed by a small minority of leaders including the Prime Minister, Antonio Salandra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sidney Sonnino, King Vittorio Emanuele III, army chiefs and liberals, who found a series of advantages that could derive from their participation. Those advantages were territorial... middle of paper... led to a feeling that war could be a solution to the social, political and economic problems they were enduring after unification. However, the government was still economically and militarily unprepared and did not have time to persuade the Italians in this peaceful way. Both civil and military authorities used violence, coercion, and repressive measures to recruit men from across the country to join the army. Works Cited John A. Thayer, Italy and the Great War, (Madison and Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press, 1964) , p.279 Gabrielle d'Annunzio, Discorso di Quarto, 04/05/1915 Antonio Gibelli, La Grande Guerra Degli Italiani 1915 - 1918, (BUR Biblioteca Universita Rizzoli, 2007), p.32Pope Benedict 15, 1917.Telegram from the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Von Merey in Rome to Count Berchtold, 30 July 1914 in the archives of documents from the First World War.