Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-31
THE ITAL0-SLAV DUAL MONARCHY

There were published October rs
certain diplomatic documents con-
corning tho rela-
Diplomatic lions of Austria Hun
gary with italy"
OiscIosuIes. which are Instructive.
document No. l of the series presented
to the italian parliament on the eve
of the italian declaration of war Is i'm
portant as indicating the very strong
ties binding Italy and Serbia
The telegram from the ministry of
foreign affairs ut Rome to the Italian
am ba ssador at Vienna. Duca dAvarna,
reads:
The actual military advance of Aus
tria-Hungary into Serbia is fact that
must at least serve as the basis of ne
gotiations between the governments of
Italy and Austria Hungary, according
to the stipuiations of article VII Of the
treaty of the triple alliance. This arti-
Gle obliges Austria Hungary. even In
the case Of a temporary occupancy, to
come to q previous accord with Italy
and to consent to cohnpensations. -
Italy has an interest Of the first order
in the preservation Of the full integ-
rity and political and economic indie
pendence of Serbia"
These last lines Of tho italian min
istry's telegram forecast the future re-
lations between Italy and Serbia. These
relations constitute another of the sur
prising international problems which
grow out Of the actual war. Signor
Solvemini in his famous pamphlet.
Guerra Neutralita," doubtless had
in mind the union of Italy and Slavonia
when he wrote:
For the security of a durable peace
in Europe 1t is necessary that the peo-
pies who inhabit the Adriatic should
stretch out their hands to each other
over the sea as friends and even as
brothers. each remaining master in his
own land"
Italy assuredly these late years has
not been conscious of the part destiny
expected her to play in the problem of
the Balkans. The convention of Lon
don was only a piece played between
the acts.
Austria down to 1854 reserved her
protection and favor almost exclusively
for the italian element
Language in Dalmatia to the Ital-
oL. ian language there.
~uossioA' while the language of
the country-that is to say. serbo-
Croat. which had been maintained dur
ing centuries and which had produced
literary works of value-was treated
as a simple dialect. The privileges in
the schools. courts and administration
were reserved for the Italian language.
nf ha
Italian was only one Of the methods of
Austria Ito divide in order to conquer"
destined to create division and dssen-
sion between the Italian and the Serb
colonists.
The better to emphasize the policy
that the government at Rome failed to
follow with regard to the Slav ele-
ments Of the Austria Hungarian gov
eminent. those especially on the Adri-
attic, let US read textually what rep
resentative of the Iougo-slav commit
tee apropos to the diplomatic negotia-
tions which preceded the entry of Italy
into action with the triple entente and
the price which was demanded for their
collaboration.
The representative said:
1.-The sacrifices that Italy will sup
port in joining in the war should
receive their recompense, but not to
the detriment of those who have sup
ported until now the most terrible ex-
perience. Italy will find her true adj
vantage in the effacement of the Aus
trian domination on the Adriatic coast
and the southern side of the Alps. The
Iougo-Slavs cannot constitute for Italy
a dangerous rival, but, on the con-
trary, will serve as allies against the
pressure from the north. They will fur
nish besides outlets for her economical
and commercial expansion.
painful sensation at the thought that
her territory could became again
colony for a foreign nation. At the
skouptchina that question had been
raised and the government of the king
under all official reserves showed that
anguish. Our country cannot consent
benevolently that at the end of the
war our brother Slavs had simply
changed masters; the yoke of the new.
even if more mild than the old. would
prove intolerable."
History shows that the Italian domi-
nation on the eastern shore of the Adri-
attic failed to create a
EaSt-AdT1atlc veritable civilized
r;r;1:4: progress. Trieste has
oA'AAiAo'iou. always contested that
domination; so also Fiume. Dalmatia
was the most neglected of the Venetian
colonies, while Ragusa. of the free re-
public. is an example Of the vitality of
which these Adriatic coasts are sus-
ceptible under the administration of
Iougo-Slavs.
The representative of the Iougo-Slav
committee furthermore said:
Without these coasts, without the
liberty of the sea, without these re-
sources, our nation cannot raise itself
to a development worthy of sister ma
tons"
We had occasion to refer to the nat
ural Lucrative genius of the Italian on
the occasion of the Inauguration of the
monument at Quarto to Gen Carl
baldi, where, May Of this year, Ga
briele d'Annunzio delivered the Grafton
and recited an ode to "Garibaldi's 1000
Consecrated."
There was manifestly something left
out of the proceedings, and 1t appears
now that the Iougo-Slav committee sent