Italy
Giovanni Giolitti
1842–1928 Prime Minister of Italy, 1892–1893, 1903–1905, 1906–1909, 1911–1914 and 1920–1921; leading neutralist, 1914–1915
Born at Mondovì in Piedmont on 27 October 1842, Giovanni Giolitti made his career in the civil service before entering parliament in 1882 and served as prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921. From 1901 to 1914 he dominated Italian politics, passing social reforms, widening the franchise and, in September 1911, taking Italy to war with the Ottoman Empire over Libya. After his fourth government fell in March 1914, he opposed Italian entry into the First World War, believing Italy unprepared. In May 1915 he declined to form a government when Salandra offered to resign; denounced by interventionist crowds, he withdrew to Cavour, and Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May. He returned for a last term in 1920–21 and died in Cavour on 17 July 1928.