The Secret Committee of Italian Chamber of Deputies after the Defeat of Caporetto (13-18 December 1917)
The Secret Committee of Italian Chamber of Deputies after the Defeat of Caporetto (13-18 December 1917)

Summary/Abstract: The Albertine Statute of the Kingdom of Italy provider, at paragraph 54, that the Chamber of Deputies could held secret sittings only when the country would have been in dangerous situation, So, the Parliament met secretly once on 3 May, 1866, at the time of the third war of independence, since 1917, during the First world war, when it hold secret sittings in June and December. Because of the lack of standing orders and the confusions of the agenda, the sitting on 20 June had no result and lasted to 30 June in useless discussions. This not encouraging conclusion did not suggest to held other similar meetings. But after the defeat at Caporetto, sixteen Deputies asked to meet secretly in order to debate the political and military crisis more freely. The proposal was accepted by a confidence vote and the secret sitting opened on 13 December, 1917. In order to avoid confused and useless discussions, it was agreed to speak only on foreign policy and the recent, sad, military results. The sitting lasted until 18 December. This paper will describe the main speeches made in that occasion.

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