Despite being a member of the Triple Alliance, alongide Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy remained neutral at the outbreak of war. The official reason for this was that the Triple Alliance was a defensive treaty, and Austria-Hungary was the aggressor. Behind the scenes, there were long-standing territorial disputes between Italy and Austria-Hungary. The Italians were swayed by the terms of the Treaty of London (April 1915), which promised that significant territory from Austria-Hungary would be handed to Italy in the event of an Allied victory.
Italy made its formal declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 23rd May 1915, which made declarations of war with the other central European powers virtually inevitable over the following months.
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