The Italian–Irish Rifle Connection

A rifle’s journey often extends far beyond the battlefield it was built for. This image shows members of the Ulster Volunteer Force in Ireland marching in 1914 amid rising tensions over Home Rule. Among their weapons were likely Vetterli-Vitali rifles, first issued to the Italian infantry in the late 19th century. Declared obsolete and replaced by the Carcano 1891, their story was far from over. After being decommissioned by the Italian army, thousands of Vetterlis were sold off, flooding international arms markets. In 1914, the same year the photo was taken, more than 4,000 were smuggled into Ireland in one of Europe’s largest gun-running operations before the First World War – the infamous Larne episode. What was useless in Italy had become a crucial instrument abroad. This transformation – from military surplus to a tool of political struggle – shows how the afterlife of weapons shaped conflicts across national borders. And this deadly second-hand economy is precisely one of the major focuses of the GlobArms project: tracing the circulation, control, and impact of surplus arms in early 20th century Europe.

[Image source: Imperial War Museum, Q 81771, 1914 URL: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205022520]