L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, as Memorial Day approaches, I thought I'd review some World War I history, when the United States and Italy were Allies. However, neither Italy nor the United States declared war in 1914. Italy declared war May 24, 1915 against Aus- tria-Hungary and on Ger- many August 27, 1916. The USA and President W o o d r o w W i l s o n s t a y e d n e u t r a l u n t i l h e s i g n e d a declaration on April 6, 1917 taking the USA into war. O n N o v e m b e r 1 1 , 1918, the Armistice agree- ment was signed and fight- ing on all battlefields ceased at 11 a.m. The guns of World War I fell silent. After four long years and an estimated ten million dead, the "war to e n d a l l w a r s " w a s f i n a l l y o v e r . I n 1 9 1 9 P r e s i d e n t W o o d r o w W i l s o n p r o - c l a i m e d N o v e m b e r 1 1 a s A r m i s t i c e D a y t o r e m i n d Americans of the tragedy of war. H e r e a r e s o m e o f t h e USA, Italy and worldwide connections to World War I, from 1914 to 1918: O n J u n e 2 8 , 1 9 1 4 , Archduke Franz Ferdinand, h e i r t o t h e A u s t r o - Hungarian Empire, and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The Austrians made drastic demands on the Serbians to r i g h t t h i s w r o n g , b u t t h e S e r b s , b a c k e d b y R u s s i a , were in no mood to be bul- lied by the Austrians. O n A u g u s t 2 , G e r m a n y i n v a d e d Luxembourg, declared war on France and next invad- ed Belgium. By August 4, Britain and Belgium had d e c l a r e d w a r o n G e r m a n y . I n T u r k e y , t h e Ottomans closed and forti- fied the Dardanelles, the narrow straight separating Europe from Asia and con- necting the Aegean Sea with t h e S e a o f M a r m a r a ( t h e Dardanelles were an impor- tant route for Russian cere- a l s t o r e a c h F r a n c e a n d England, and for arms and supplies to Russia). O n A u g u s t 6 , A u s t r i a declared war on Russia and S e r b i a d e c l a r e d w a r o n G e r m a n y . A w e e k l a t e r , Britain and France declared war on Austria and an expe- ditionary force landed in F r a n c e . B y A u g u s t 2 0 , German troops had taken Brussels. A few days later J a p a n d e c l a r e d w a r o n Germany. I n B e l g i u m , a r o u n d M o n s , t h e B r i t i s h w e r e forced to retreat after bitter fighting with the Germans. At sea, however, they sank three German cruisers and two destroyers. All this in t h e f i r s t m o n t h o f W o r l d War I in 1914. W h e n w a r w a s d e c l a r e d b y B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e a g a i n s t G e r m a n y , men from throughout the British Empire, Australia, Canada and New Zealand rushed to London to volun- teer. Volunteers from neutral USA rushed to Paris, France to sign up for the duration. B e f o r e 1 9 1 4 e n d e d , t h e Germans had taken Rheims, and German shells had left the beautiful cathedral of Rheims in shambles with nearly all of its stained glass windows blown out. In the Falkland Islands, t h e B r i t i s h N a v y s a n k 4 G e r m a n c r u i s e r s , t h e Russians invaded Armenia a n d H u n g a r y , T u r k e y a t t a c k e d R u s s i a n p o r t s , Britain annexed Cyprus and d e c l a r e d E g y p t a p r o t e c - t o r a t e . Q i n g d a o , t h e German fortified port city in Chinese territory, fell to the Japanese and in Istanbul, t h e S u l t a n d e c l a r e d " J i h a d , " H o l y War, on the Allies. A l t h o u g h I t a l y h a d d e c l a r e d w a r a g a i n s t A u s t r i a - H u n g a r y i n M a y 1 9 1 5 a n d , s o o n a f t e r o n Bulgaria, it did not declare w a r o n G e r m a n y u n t i l August 27, 1916 and tanks, under valued by traditional commanders, were used for the first time in battle by the Allies. T h e w a r s t r e t c h e d on and in late October 1917, when the Italian Army was s h a t t e r e d b y a s u r p r i s e German onslaught and was forced to retreat in disarray t o w a r d s t h e P i a v e r i v e r , s o m e f i f t e e n m i l e s f r o m Venice. Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. T h e I t a l i a n a r m y , h a d c o m f o r t a b l y h e l d o f f t h e Austrians through 1916, and had captured the stronghold o f M o n t e S a n t o o n l y t w o m o n t h s b e f o r e ; i t h a d seemed, up to that point, w e l l e n t r e n c h e d i n t h e m o u n t a i n s a r o u n d C a p o r e t t o a n d U d i n e . H o w e v e r , a t t h e e n d o f October 1917, they were hit by a surprise German gas attack, followed by a furious c r e e p i n g b a r r a g e f r o m artillery, which made the I t a l i a n s s u d d e n l y vulnerable. Losses were h i g h w i t h 1 0 , 0 0 0 I t a l i a n s d e a d , 3 0 , 0 0 0 w o u n d e d a n d n e a r l y 300,000 troops captured. A y e a r t o t h e d a y , o n O c t o b e r 3 0 , 1 9 1 8 t h e A u s t r i a n s c o m p l e t e d t h e i r e v a c u a t i o n o f t h e Italian territory after their a r m y w a s d e f e a t e d a t Vittorio Veneto. The Italians captured over 600,000 pris- o n e r s , o v e r 6 , 0 0 0 g u n s and ended the war with an Italian victory. A w e e k l a t e r o n N o v e m b e r 1 1 , 1 9 1 8 , W o r l d W a r I w a s over and the German army, reeling under Allied blows was in no position to haggle o v e r t h e a r m i s t i c e t e r m s w h i c h i n c l u d e d G e r m a n y surrendering 5,000 heavy guns, 30,000 machine guns, 2,000 war planes, all its U- boats, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 trucks. The German Navy was interned on waters a n d t h e b l o c k a d e o n Germany remained in force t o e n s u r e t h e G e r m a n s would keep their word. In B r i t a i n t h e B o y S c o u t s cycled through the streets sounding the "All Clear" on their bugles... *** But in war there are no real winners... *** Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation!

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