Tommaso Tittoni | |||||||||||||||||
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| Prime Minister of Italy | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 March 1905 – 28 March 1905 | |||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Giovanni Giolitti | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alessandro Fortis | ||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 June 1919 – 25 November 1919 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Giovanni Giolitti | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sidney Sonnino | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vittorio Scialoja | ||||||||||||||||
| In office 29 May 1906 – 11 December 1909 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Giovanni Giolitti | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Francesco Guicciardini | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Francesco Guicciardini | ||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 November 1903 – 24 December 1905 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Giovanni Giolitti Himself Alessandro Fortis | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Giulio Prinetti | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Antonino Paternò Castello | ||||||||||||||||
| President of the Senate | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 December 1919 – 21 January 1929 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Adeodato Bonasi | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Luigi Federzoni | ||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1855-11-16)16 November 1855 | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 February 1931(1931-02-07) (aged 75) | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Historical Right | ||||||||||||||||
Tommaso Tittoni (Italian:[tomˈmaːzotitˈtoːni]; 16 November 1855 – 7 February 1931) was an Italian diplomat, politician andKnight of the Annunziata. He was Italy'sforeign minister from 1903 until 1909, except for a five-month period. He also was interimprime minister for about two weeks in March 1905,[1] making him the shortest-serving prime minister in the history of Italy.
Tommaso Tittoni was born inRome. His father, Vincenzo, a tenant farmer on a large scale at La Manziana, had taken part in the defence of the Roman Republic underGiuseppe Garibaldi in 1849, was exiled byPius IX, and re-entered Rome in 1870 through the breach ofPorta Pia. Tittoni was educated first atNaples, and subsequently atOxford andLiège.[2]
Tittoni became an alderman of Rome, before becoming a deputy in theChamber of Deputies for Civitavecchia in 1886, aligning himself with the right wing. He resigned his seat in 1897, having been appointed prefect ofPerugia. Three years later he went to Naples in a similar capacity, and in 1902 he entered the Senate.[2][3][4]
WhenGiovanni Giolitti became premier for the second time in1903, Tittoni became hisforeign minister. He aimed at improving relations withAustria-Hungary, and also tried to bring about a reconciliation withFrance. It was under his auspices that French PresidentÉmile Loubet visited Rome.[2][4]
On the resignation of Giolitti inMarch 1905, Tittoni became interim premier for a few days and remained inAlessandro Fortis's cabinet as foreign minister. His proposal to reduce the duty on Spanish wines in connection with an Italo-Spanish commercial treaty aroused a storm of indignation among the agricultural classes and caused the fall of the cabinet on 24 December 1905, and although Fortis composed a new administration, Tittoni did not enter it.[2]
A few months later he was appointed ambassador inLondon (March 1906), but in May, on the fall ofSidney Sonnino's ministry and the return of Giolitti to power, he was again summoned to the Consulta (the Foreign Ministry). He continued the policy of improving relations withAustria-Hungary, which did not contribute to his popularity. After theBosnian crisis and the annexation ofBosnia-Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, his imprudently worded speech atCarate created the illusion that Italy was to be compensated, perhaps by the cession of theTrentino, and the disappointment when nothing of the kind materialized greatly weakened his prestige. He remained in office until the fall of Giolitti in December 1909.[2]
As foreign minister, Tittoni prudently advanced Italian claims onTripolitania, at the time part of theOttoman Empire, without resorting to outright threats of annexation.[5] The Tittoni family had interests in the area. In 1907, theBanco di Roma founded a branch inTripoli and built significant interests in banking, shipping and agriculture. The bank's vice-president wasRomolo Tittoni, the brother of Tommaso Tittoni. The bank also financed the important newspaperCorriere d'Italia, which campaigned for theItalo-Turkish War in 1911.[6][7]
On 24 October 1909, Tittoni and the Russian diplomatAleksandr Izvolsky exchanged diplomatic notes on an informal agreement, known as theRacconigi Bargain, for Russia and Italy to support each other's interests in the Balkans and in theOttoman Empire, at the Italian city ofRacconigi, TsarNicholas II of Russia was hosted by King Victor Emmanuel III.[8] Italy and the Russian Empire concluded another agreement withAustro-Hungarian Empire a few days later disregarding this agreement. In April 1910, he was appointed ambassador inParis.[2][4][9]
WhenWorld War I broke out, in spite of his Triplicist policy (supporting theTriple Alliance, theTriplice, of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) he openly expressed himself in favour of Italian neutrality, and on Italy's entry into the war he was careful not to compromise himself with Giolitti's attitude.[2] But he was not at his ease in the French capital, and in November 1916 he resigned from the Paris embassy. On the fall of the Orlando Cabinet in June 1919, the new Premier,Francesco Saverio Nitti, chose Tittoni as foreign minister and first delegate at theParis Peace Conference.[2][4] Nitti and Tittoni played down Italy's territorial claims, which disappointed interventionist likeGabriele D'Annunzio.[10]
In July 1919, Tittoni and thePrime Minister of Greece,Eleftherios Venizelos, agreed on a secret non-binding agreement, known as theVenizelos–Tittoni agreement about the conflicting territorial claims of the two countries. Greece pledged to support the Italian claims overVlorë and the establishment of an Italian protectorate over Albania.[11] Greece would also secure for Italy a free zone at the port ofSmyrna (underGreek administration from May 1919), while Italy pledged to support the Greek territorial claims overNorthern Epirus and transfer theDodecanese to Greece, except for the island ofRhodes, which would remain under Italian rule until such time asCyprus would be ceded to Greece by Britain.
The severe strain of the work told on his health forced Tittoni to resign in November 1919. He was chosen president of theItalian Senate in December 1919, and soon after was appointed Italian delegate on the Council and Assembly of theLeague of Nations, but ill-health again forced him to relinquish the latter two appointments. He remained president of the Senate until January 1929.[4][9]
After theMarch on Rome, Tittoni supportedMussolini's government and later became the first president ofRoyal Academy of Italy (28 October 1929 – 16 September 1930), the most important cultural institution of the fascist dictatorship.[4][12] On 8 April 1923, he had received the supreme honour of the knighthood of the Annunziata by KingVictor Emmanuel.[9]
He died from a heart attack in Rome on 7 February 1931.[3]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1903–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Italy 1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of the Interior 1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1906–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Italian Senate 1919–1929 | Succeeded by |
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