His father Giuseppe, a man of irredentist views, was a teacher at the Imperial Regio Ginnasio Giustinopolitano, which Vittorio Italico attended.

At the same time the outbreak of the First Balkan War prompted Germany to consider the possibility of a general European mobilisation that would trigger the provisions of the Triple Alliance, and sought to establish how far Italy would be able to meet their obligations.

Chief of Staff Alberto Pollio therefore sent Zupelli as his personal envoy on a secret mission to Berlin make Italy’s position clear.

The plan was largely implemented through a generous increase in the military budget until Italy entered the war in May 1915, even if significant shortcomings and backlogs remained.

Zupelli also did not give way to Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino's urging in February 1915 for a general mobilization as soon as possible and replied that such a move could not be ordered before April.

[13]: 92 In June 1915, when Mussolini was agitating in support of the war, Zupelli sent the following ministerial circular to the commands of the various army corps and divisions: “This ministry understands that... interventionist revolutionary fasci are carrying out active propaganda among their members who have been conscripted or voluntarily enlisted... Prof. Mussolini is the head of this movement... it is essential that discreet and energetic steps be taken to entirely prevent such insane propaganda from penetrating the ranks of the army everywhere" (extract from circular n. 2025 of 10 June 1915).

[18] Gabriele D’Annunzio also wrote to Zupelli in May 1915, asking to be commissioned as an officer of the Novara lancers, and enclosing a copy of the second edition of his it:Laudi with a personal dedication.

In late 1915 Zupelli, along with Salandra, Sonnino and other members of the cabinet wanted to break the impasse on the Isonzo front with an expedition to expand Italy’s foothold in Albania.

All of Cadorna’s warnings were proved correct when the expeditionary force failed in its attempt to expand from its bridgehead at Valona (Vlorë) towards Durazzo (Durrës).

He pointed out to the cabinet that future offensives on the Isonzo would probably not do any better than those in the past; instead, he suggested a concentrated attack on a 12 kilometre front to take Trieste.

[28] Now free from political commitment, Zupelli requested and was granted permission to go to the front in command of a division in the upper Isonzo area.

The Legione Redenta joined a small expeditionary force that Zupelli had dispatched from Naples to the Italian concession of Tianjin in July 1918.

[23]: 146–7 Another task Zupelli had to take charge of in his second ministerial term was the provision of Italian military labourers to support the front in France.

In 1922 he coldly welcomed the appointment of Benito Mussolini as prime minister by king Vittorio Emanuele III, following the March on Rome.

[1] He presided over the final part of the Senate investigative commission in the High Court of Justice, which on 12 June 1925 led to the acquittal of Emilio De Bono in the Matteotti trial.

A few weeks before the fall of fascism (25 July 1943), Zupelli visited king Vittorio Emanuele III together with Admiral Thaon di Revel to try to find a way out of Italy’s military and political crisis by ousting Mussolini.