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Ok this is my first TL so please be gentle...and naturally comments and criticism are welcomed

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I'm tired of this farce, i probably cannot resist more than some days before hit someone, the negotiations are becoming more and more a kindergarten fight between unruly children than serious diplomatic talks, the italians want too much and the austrians don't want give nothing or just some useless scrap, it's seem to talk with two wall, i despair that my mission will be a failure and Germany will pay the price.
Maybe i have still a change, Maria Anna[1] last night has give me an idea, it's a long shot and probably doomed from the start but frankly i cannot think other move to save the mission and blocking the spread of this madness beyond our control.
Tomorrow i will begin the preliminary contact with Cardinal Gasparri [2] and with the old bastard[3],with God help i will succeed.

Entry of the 18 April 1915 of the personal diary of Bernard von Bulow




Prince Von Bulow February 1915 during the Austro-Italian talk

Pope Benedetto XV with his pubblic proposal of a concordat between the Kingdom of Italy and the Catholic Church so to resolve all the problem born from the Unification wars was a sudden storm on the italian political scene, until this moment dominated by the fight between neutralist and who will want join one the alliance in the european war.
The papal proposal consisted in three parts:

1 - A political treaty recognising the full sovereignty of the Holy See in the State of Vatican City, which was thereby established.
2- A concordat regulating the position of the Catholic Churc and the Catholic religion in the Italian state.
3 -A financial convention agreed on as a definitive settlement of the claims of the Holy See following the losses of its territories and property.
The signing of this accord will finally end the proibithion of the catholic to partecipate to the italian political life and ease internal and external tension, at the same time giving to the goverment some need good press and breath from all the economic and social tension bring by the war. What was really important was instead the secret protocol included in the proposal, basically the Pope stated that the condicio sine qua non for the signing of the document was the succesfull end of the talk with the Austro-Hungarian empire regarding Italian neutrality. In later years this clerical intrusion on the italian internal affair had bringed a lot of criticism, expecially from the ultranationalistic crowd, who see the italian failure to join the conflict as a wasted occasion for completing the work beginned with the Risorgimento and to destroy an old enemy, but at the time this controversial move resulted in a little political coup, because with this provision a 'peculiar' interpretation of the concordat transformed the diplomacay between Vienna and Rome in an italian internal affair and so outside the king prerogative. The motive of the acceptance by Benedict XV of the Von Bulow proposal was numerous, and the final answer at this question many time simple depend by the political leaning of the interested party. The true is probably a mix of the various theories floating in the cultural and accademic circles; the idea of the Prince give at the Pope the occasion to play peacemaker (a role he sincerely pursuit during the entire great war period) and at the same time give him the occasion to normalize the relationship with the italian state, an objective who the pope tried from his days as cardinal, the fact that all this endevour in the end will help a staunch catholic power as the Austro-Hungarian Empire was simply the ice in the cake
Noi non ci saremo – La neutralità italiana nella grande guerra (italian neutrality in the great war) – M.Rossi Einaudi editori 1980

Yesterday the ambassador of Great Britain and France were seen enter the house of his excellency the Prime Minister early in the morning and leave in the evening, reliable source indicated that they were not happy and some strong words were exchanged between the foreign ambassadors and recently appointed for the fifth time Prime Minister Giolitti.
Corriere della Sera 27 April 1915


Italy will stay neutral, all this rumors about secret negotiations, of honorless behind the scene pact between us and other powers are pure nonsense. Simple the usual alarmist rubbish who thrive in period of great strife like this. In all sincerity is not in the best interest of the Kingdom of Italy and his people to enter the war, so his majesty government will mantain his current policy, but the other nations be warned that we are ready to defend ourself and protect our interest and the sacred border of Italy from any enemy, from east and west, to guarantee the independece of the country and at the sole goal of the indissoluble good of the king and country. Long live the King, Long live the army.
Original transcript of Prime minister Giovanni Giolitti adressing the Parliament 30 April 1915 - Historical archive of the Chamber of Deputies



Prime minister Giovanni Giolitti in 1916 at the apex of his success walking in the streets of Rome

The immediate consequence of the declaration of neutrality, apart the diminishing of the commerce with France and Britain and the following need to find alternative source of raw material, were a series of riot in all North Italy great cities and some in the South expecially in Naples, but luckily for the governement the interventionist greatly overstimated the support of the common people for their cause and the carabinieri and the police quickly quell them, even if in Milan at least three days were needed to end the protest and at the cost of 23 deaths and numerous wounded. Naturally the fact the leaders of the movement like Mussolini and D'Annunzio were arrested little before the declaration helped a lot.

History professor and author R. Drago during an interview by Emilio Fede for the documentary 'La storia siamo noi - 150 anni d'Italia'

Giovanni Giolitti know of how terrible the first great war will be, so keep Italy neutral to avoid the other empire fate, using the Prophecy of Nostradamus? We of Voyager believe so.
Roberto Giacobbo - Voyager: ai confini della conoscenza - 24 November 2009 episode (season 4) - Rai tre


[1] Maria Anna Von Bulow, wife of the Prince, born in Naples
[2] Cardinal Pietro Gasparri – Cardinal Segretary of State
[3] Giovanni Giolitti, former italian prime minister and very influential political
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