Richard Bosworth, a leading specialist, describes Italy in 1914 as “the Least of the Great Powers.” Italy's allies, Austria-Hungary and Germany, paid it scant attention that July. Vienna and Berlin excluded Rome from their policy discussions in the aftermath of the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. And they did not inform the Italians of the terms of the ultimatum Vienna handed Belgrade on 23 July. Austria-Hungary, from the start, discounted the likelihood of Italian military support for the Triple Alliance. Germany feared that any information passed on to Rome would quickly find its way to St. Petersburg. During those four weeks, neither Austria-Hungary nor Germany treated Italy as a valued ally, much less as a great power.

Italy's first response to the war was a declaration of neutrality, this announced on 3 August 1914. That decision was largely the work of one man, Foreign Minister Antonio di San Giuliano. Italy at that point was the Continent's largest neutral nation. Both sides in the struggle, accordingly, competed for its support, encouraging either continued neutrality or active participation. Italy's leaders, from the start, welcomed these offers and for some nine months prepared for combat and weighed the options.