Honor and crisis: the chivalric assumptions of Italian intervention in 1915?

The author postulates the use of chivalric language and tropes as part of the interventionist rhetoric that helped bring Italy into the First World War. Despite obvious affinities between the culture of dueling and the ‘virile assumptions’ of the interventionists, including their own participation in many duels, a review of the three major interventionist newspapers reveals the presence of surprisingly little chivalric language (sfida, vertenza, duello) during the crisis. This absence is explained primarily as a result of the rapid and effective dehumanization of the central powers, which disqualified them as gentlemen worthy of chivalric challenge. In addition, the use of the term ‘honor’ was found to be complicated by continuing confusion over Italy’s possible ‘betrayal’ of the Triple Alliance, which only faded after the treaty was finally rescinded in May 1915.