In 1915 he began as cultural manager of the Italian Publishing Institute and moved to Milan, overseeing the publication of classics of Italian literature. At the same time he was a collaborator of the Milanese newspaper Secolo and a war correspondent for the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero. A convinced interventionist, in 1917 he enlisted as an artillery officer, while also collaborating on the military newspaper Il Montello and obtaining two medals for valor and three war crosses.
