He had supported Italy’s entry into World War I and after the Caporetto disaster (1917) became Premier. At the Versailles Peace Settlement he clashed with President Woodrow Wilson over what Wilson thought were excessive claims by Italy to former Austrian territory. In 1922 he at first supported Mussolini, but after the murder of Matteotti he resigned from Parliament in protest (1925) and fled the country. After the fall of Mussolini (1943) he became a leader of the Conservative Democratic Union.