London Pact
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London Pact (Italian Patto di Londra) was a secret pact between Italy and Triple Entente, signed in London on April 26, 1915 by Kingdom of Italy, United Kingdom, France and Russia.
According to the pact, Italy was to leave the Triple Alliance and join Triple Entente, as already stated in a secret agreement signed in London, on 4-5 September 1914. Furthermore, Italy was to declare war against Germany and Austria-Hungary within a month — and in fact the declaration of war was published May 23 of the same year. In exchange, Italy was to obtain some territorial gains (see Italia irredenta) at the end of the war:
- Trieste
- Trento
- Gorizia
- Istria, but not Fiume
- Zara
- Dodecanese
- Protectorate over Albania
- Vlorë
- part of Dalmatia
- part of the German Asian and African colonial empire
To the Kingdom of Serbia was promised
The Kingdom of Montenegro was assigned
Also, but less precisely, Serbia was promised
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Srem
- Bačka
- Slavonia (this one against the Italian objections),
- and some unspecified areas of Albania (to be divided between Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece).
The Italians insisted, and the Allies agreed, that the question of the Croatian coast between Zara and Istria should be settled after the war. They also insisted that Serbia should not be informed about the agreements. This, however, the Allies overruled by sending to the Government of Serbia an official Note, dated August 4, 1915, confirming the postwar territorial claims of Serbia and Montenegro.
The pact was to be kept secret, but after the October Revolution, it was published by Russian journal Izsvestia, in November 1917.
The pact was nullified with the Treaty of Versailles, because Woodrow Wilson, supporting Slavic claims and not recognizing the treaty, rejected Italian requests on Dalmatian territories.
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