Antonio Salandra

Antonio Salandra (1853-08-13 – 1931-12-09) was a conservative Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916. He graduated from the University of Naples in 1875 and then became instructor and later professor of administrative law at the University of Rome.

Biography

Born in Troia (province of Foggia, Puglia), Salandra was brought in upon the fall of the government of Giovanni Giolitti, as the choice of Giolitti himself, who still commanded a majority of the Italian parliament. However, he soon fell out with Giolitti over the question of Italian participation in World War I. While Giolitti supported neutrality, Salandra and his foreign minister, Sidney Sonnino, supported intervention on the side of the Allies, and secured Italy's entrance into the war despite the opposition of the majority in parliament. Salandra had expected that Italy's entrance on the allied side would bring the war to a quick solution, but in fact it changed little, and Italy's first year in the war was marked by little success. Following the success of an Austrian offensive from the Trentino in the spring of 1916, Salandra was forced to resign.

After World War I, Salandra moved further to the right, and supported Mussolini's accession to power in 1922.

He died in Rome, 1931.

Works

He is author of a considerable number of works on economics, finance, history, law, and politics.New International EncyclopediaThese include:

• Tratto della giustizia amministrativo (1904)
• La politica nazionale e il partito liberale (1912)
• Lezioni di diritto amministrativo (two volumes, 1912)
• Politica e legislazione : saggi, raccolti da Giustino Fortunato (1915)
• Il discorso contro la malafede tedesca (1915)