Extrajudicial Executions in the Italian Army during World War I

Abstract

When the Italian Army went to war, the military penal code in force dated back to 1869. This code contained only a few minor changes compared to its predecessor, enacted by the King of Sardinia on 1 October 1859. The latter, in turn, strictly followed the 1840 code. The military penal code thus drew its inspiration from pre-constitutional principles. It did not incorporate the innovations that had inspired the 1889 general penal code (Zanardelli’s Code), which had banned the death penalty. Th..