Editing Foreign relations of Italy (section)

===World War I===
{{see also|Italian entry into World War I|Italian Empire}}
[[File:Promised Borders of the Tready of London.png|thumb|right|Territories promised to Italy by the [[Treaty of London (1915)]], i.e. [[Trentino-Alto Adige]], [[Julian March]] and [[Dalmatia]] (tan), and the [[Snežnik (plateau)|Snežnik Plateau]] area (green). Dalmatia, after the WWI, however, was not assigned to Italy but to [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].]]

Italy [[Italo-Turkish War|defeated the Ottoman Empire]] in 1911–1912.<ref>Charles Stevenson, ''A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912: The First Land, Sea and Air War'' (2014)</ref> By 1915, Italy had acquired in Africa a colony on the Red Sea coast ([[Italian Eritrea|Eritrea]]), a large protectorate in [[Italian Somaliland|Somalia]] and administrative authority in formerly Turkish [[Italian Libya|Libya]]. Outside of Africa, Italy possessed a small [[concession in Tientsin]] in China (following the [[Boxer Rebellion]]) and the [[Italian Aegean Islands|Dodecanese Islands]] off the coast of Turkey.

In 1915, [[Italian Campaign (World War I)|Italy abrogated its alliance and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/italiandeclaration.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Italian Entry into the War, 23 May 1915|website=Firstworldwar.com|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref> leading to bloody conflict mainly on the [[Battles of the Isonzo|Isonzo]] and [[Battle of the Piave River|Piave]] fronts. Britain, France and Russia had been "keen to bring neutral Italy into World War I on their side. However, Italy drove a hard bargain, demanding extensive territorial concessions once the war had been won".<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/london1915.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Treaty of London, 26 April 1915|website=Firstworldwar.com|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref>
In a deal to bring Italy into the war, under the [[London Pact]], Italy would be allowed to annex not only Italian-speaking [[Trentino]] and Trieste, but also German-speaking [[South Tyrol]], Istria (which included large non-Italian communities), and the northern part of Dalmatia including the areas of [[Zadar]] (Zara) and [[Šibenik]] (Sebenico). Mainly Italian Fiume (present-day Rijeka) was excluded.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

In November 1918, after the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Italy occupied militarily [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol|Trentino Alto-Adige]], the [[Julian March]], [[Istria]], the [[Kvarner Gulf]] and [[Dalmatia]], all Austro-Hungarian territories. On the Dalmatian coast, Italy established the first [[Governorate of Dalmatia#The first Governorate of Dalmatia|Governorate of Dalmatia]], which had the provisional aim of ferrying the territory towards full integration into the Kingdom of Italy, progressively importing national legislation in place of the previous one. The administrative capital was [[Zadar|Zara]]. The Governorate of Dalmatia was evacuated following the Italo-Yugoslav agreements which resulted in the [[Treaty of Rapallo (1920)|Treaty of Rapallo]] (1920). After the war, the [[Treaty of Rapallo, 1920|Treaty of Rapallo]] between the [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and the Kingdom of Italy (12 November 1920), Italy annexed [[Zadar]] in Dalmatia and some minor islands, almost all of Istria along with Trieste, excluding the island of [[Krk]], and part of [[Kastav]] commune, which mostly went to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. By the [[Treaty of Rome, 1924|Treaty of Rome]] (27 January 1924), the [[Free State of Fiume]] (Rijeka) was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gazzettatoscana.it/web/lo-stato-libero-di-fiumeun-convegno-ne-rievoca-la-vicenda/|title=Lo Stato libero di Fiume:un convegno ne rievoca la vicenda|date=15 November 2020|access-date=10 May 2021|language=it}}</ref> Also, Italy occupied southern [[Albania]] and established [[Italian protectorate over Albania|a protectorate over Albania]], which remained in place until 1920.<ref name="Nigel Thomas 2001. Pp. 17">Nigel Thomas. Armies in the Balkans 1914–18. Osprey Publishing, 2001, p. 17.</ref>

The Allies defeated the Austrian Empire in 1918 and Italy became one of the [[Big Four (World War I)|main winners]] of the war. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Prime Minister [[Vittorio Emanuele Orlando]] focused almost exclusively on territorial gains, but he got far less than he wanted, and Italians were bitterly resentful when they were denied control of the city of [[Fiume]]. The conference, under the control of Britain, France and the United States refused to assign [[Dalmatia]] and Albania to Italy as had been promised in the Treaty of London. Britain, France and Japan divided the German overseas colonies into mandates of their own, excluding Italy. Italy also gained no territory from the breakup of the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Italy did not receive other territories promised by the Treaty of London, so this outcome was denounced as a ''[[Mutilated victory]]''. The rhetoric of ''Mutilated victory'' was adopted by [[Benito Mussolini]] and led to the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|rise of]] [[Italian fascism]], becoming a key point in the [[propaganda of Fascist Italy]]. Historians regard ''Mutilated victory'' as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel [[Italian imperialism]] and obscure the successes of [[liberal Italy]] in the aftermath of World War I.<ref>G.Sabbatucci, ''La vittoria mutilata'', in AA.VV., ''Miti e storia dell'Italia unita'', Il Mulino, Bologna 1999, pp.101–106</ref> Italy also gained a permanent seat in the [[League of Nations]]'s executive council.