La Grande Guerra lontana dalle trincee: la questione adriatica dentro il conflitto militare

The control of the sea routes became urgent during the Great War because in the Mediterranean sea sailed English and French ships which, besides transporting goods and weapons, moved troops from colonial areas. In the northern area of the Adriatic, sheltered among the rocky coasts and the closed gulf of Cattaro, was installed the Austro-Hungarian fleet that through the Channel of Otranto reached the open sea and with the help of the submarines threatened the navigation of the Triple Entente. The control of the Channel of Otranto became therefore a priority. The neutrality position that Italy had assumed showed soon its uselessness because it would have meant staying out of the games and being crushed among the other great powers of Europe. The young Italian Royal Navy felt the urgency of opposing the dominance exercised in the Adriatic sea by the Austro-Hungarian and since 1909 it had elaborated military plans for the control of those coasts. The declaration of war of May 24th 1915 didn't caught the Royal Navy completely unprepared and with the collaboration of the Allies prepared a barrier line at the entrance to the Channel of Otranto that, despite some deficiencies, opposed the Austro-Hungarian war activities and not a few were the naval battles recorded in the Adriatic sea.