ABSTRACT
Fifty years after the unification of Italy, the anniversary of that historic event was widely celebrated, not least by the University of Padua. The cultural and social character of the city of Padua has always been determined by the university and its students, for instance, in the light of their material needs and their social life. Paduan student life has long been characterised by the spirit of goliardia, which, with inevitable highs and lows, has managed to survive through several centuries and every kind of political regime. On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was murdered with his wife by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. One month later, Austria declared war on Serbia. It was the beginning of the First World War. The outbreak of the war found the students of Padua already enthralled by the myth of action and the notion of the so-called 'Third Italy'.
