Wilson and Wilsonianism in Italy between the Great War and the birth of Fascism

This chapter will explore a specific dimension of the influence of Woodrow Wilson and his liberal democratic internationalism between the Great War and the early post-war period. Following the approach developed by Klaus Schwabe in the 1970s to understand the connections between Wilsonianism and the German political sphere between 1914 and the early 1920s, 1 it will discuss the reaction in the Italian political sphere to various phases of Wilson’s grand design. In so doing, this study will reflect first on 1916–1917, the years in which “Wilson developed the ideology of Wilsonianism”. 2 Secondly, it will analyse how the Fourteen Points were interpreted in Italy. Finally, it will scrutinise the reactions of the Italian political class towards Wilson’s efforts to carry out his grand design after the conflict, particularly at the Paris Peace Conference