Vito Volterra and the Italian Academies during the Great War

When Austria-Hungary and Germany found themselves at war with Britain, France and Russia in July 1914, Italy proclaimed its neutrality. Italian neutrality reflected an ambiguous attitude of the Italian government and ruling elite. On one hand, the national mood was hostile to Austria-Hungary, the long-time enemy of Italy’s "Risorgimento”; on the other hand. Italian intellectuals were attracted to German philosophical and scientific culture, and institutional models in education and research, not to mention the influential presence of German finance in the Italian economy. The mathematician Vito VOLTERRA (1860-1940) supported an anti-Austrian and anti-German attitude since the beginning of the war. He became a leading figure among Italian pro-Entente intellectuals and was one of the organizers of the so-called "Intellectual Entente" between Italy, France, Britain and the United States. When Italy entered the war in May 1915, VOLTERRA joined the Army as a volunteer to work on airship engineering. In 1916-1917, when Italy declared war on Germany, and the United States joined the Entente at war, the government appointed VOLTERRA to coordinate Italian war research and to foster the technical and scientific cooperation between the allies. A prominent member of the Accademia dei Lincei and other Italian and international academies, his renown and connections allowed him to play a key role in the restructuring of scientific organization in Italy and abroad during and after World War I