Italian foreign policies: the Triple Alliance; colonial ambitions in Abyssinia and Libya; Italy's decision to enter the war in 1915
Before 1915, Italy pursued an aggressive foreign policy to win colonies and great-power status. Repeated failures abroad fuelled national humiliation and pushed Italy into the First World War.
Real World
Italy's catastrophic defeat at Adwa in 1896 — where Ethiopian forces destroyed an Italian army — became a national humiliation that Mussolini would later invoke to justify his 1935 invasion of Abyssinia.
Exam Focus
Connect foreign policy failures to domestic consequences; showing how defeat abroad increased political instability at home earns the higher analytical marks.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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