New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-22
Patriotism Ten1perS Sw0rd
Italy Draws for the War
Centuries of Hatred for Austria, Nurtured by Tyranny
Aggression and Seizure of Lost Provinces Be
hind the Peoples Demand for Revenge.

The sword which Italy draws against
her late allies is tempered and sharp
ened by something more than mere
sordid desire for territorial gain. The
cry for war which has sounded on
every Italian tongue from the lonian
Sea to the Swiss border is not the
clamor Of a purely mercenary people.
Trieste and Dalmatia. Austrian prov
inces on the Adriatic. hold in the heart
of Italy the same place and the iden-
tical significance which Alsace and
Lorraine occupy in that of France.
They are the italia irridenta," the
unredeemed Italy, and the same spirit
which for forty years kept swathed in
Grape the statue of Strasburg in the
Place de la Concorde holds a million
and quarter Italian soldiers massed
along the Austrian frontier to-day.
There is patriotism and what the
erstwhile member OF the Triple ALI
ance considers real struggle for ma
tional independence behind Italy's
aggression. 1t has been the irridentist
movement which has brought about her
entry into the European conflict. Her
King has been opposed to war. Her
Ministry has been deliberate. 1t is the
mighty surge Of a people united by one
idea which has carried her to battle
people hating Austria with thou
4, sand years of tyranny and aggression
as the cause, a people clamoring for
the redemption of the "lost provinces,
whose cities bear Italian names and
l. ho oil
people whose domination of the
Adriatic hinges on the checking OF the
Germanic drive southwark into the
Balkans.
The heel Of the Italian boot" marks
the mouth Of the Adriatic. The west
ern and northern shore Of the sea is
Italy's territory. On the eastern side
lie Trieste, once Italian and now Aus
trian; Dalmatia, formerly part Of
Italy, now Austrian; Montenegro, a
weak kingdom at swords points with
the Dual Monarchy, and Albania, al
ready coveted by Austria.
Wants the Adriatic;
Italy's Adriatic coast is Improbable.
Its waters are shallow. Its harbors
are few and insignificant. The seas
opposite border is excellently adapted
for offence or defence, deeply indented
by bays and guarded by rugged cliffs,
with numerous indentations where the
ships of the world can anchor or bat
tleships may lie secure. Who domi-
mates the Adriatics western border
holds Italy's eastern coast at his mercy.
This is the nations belief. 1t is Tor
this belief that she goes to war, feel
ing that il the German forces are vic
torious in the present struggle the
Adriatic would become an Austrian
lake.
Since 9ei A. D., when Otto the Great
was crowned Emperor at Rome. and
thus fell heir TO Italy, the people of
the peninsula have been crushed under
the hand of Germanic oppression.
When. in 1870, the land finally shook
itself free from Austrian dominance
and became a united nation, the men
ace still chung to the northern rampant
of the Alps. By the terms of peace in
1859 Victor Emmanuel, with the grudg-
/ ing aid of Napoleon III, wrested from
Austria all of Northern Italy to the
foot Of the Alps, with the exception of
/ Venetia, Trieste and Dalmatia. BY
astute diplomacy Venetia became part
Of the kingdom at the conclusion Of
| the Prussia-Austrian War in 1866.
/ The other two provinces renamed to
| Austria.
From that time on the Dual Mon
archy has been the Italian bugbear.
/ The northern boundaries of the PENN
sular nation have been the foot of the
Austrian Alps. To possible invasion OF
Austria they present an almost lnsur-
mountable fertilization. AS protection
/ against attack by Franz Josefs troops
Italy has only a fiat, fertile plain. DOM
| mated by the mountains of her enemy.
| The Austrian Tyrol. the lower part Of
which is Italian in population-the old
province of Trent-thrusts its bastion
far into the northern frontier Of the
Latin kingdom. within striking distance
of Verona. The terms Of the treaty
, which made Italy a nation left her still
at the mercy of Austria.
II was the young Emperor Franz
Josef from whose hands King Victor
| Emmanuel III tore the peninsula. 1t is
that same Franz Josef, aged and broken
after the most tragic life ever sover-
eign led. whom Victor Emmanuel III
now attacks. France was 1taly's ally in
/ 1859. France is her ally to-day.
battle-ground of Europe.
From medieval tunes on the PENN
sula has been the battle-ground Of prac-
tically every nation in Europe. In its
spoliation the Germanic races have al
ways taken the lead and have built up
for themselves by ten centuries Of ag-
J erosion a hate and a distrust in the
Italian mind which burn clear and hot
! to-day.
The Germanic tribes swept south
ward and FASTENED Rome TO its down
/ fall When nations began to coalesce
at the end of the Middle Ages it was
a German Emperor who dominated
1 Italy as head of the Holy Roman En-
pire. The struggles of these emperors
against the popes at Rome formed in
/ the peninsula two factions, the
| Guelphs and Ghibellines. whose inter-
necine warfare lasted for centuries. Al
the beginning of the eighteenth century
all of Italy was under Austrian domi-
nance. For few years at the end OF
/ that century and the beginning Of the
next Napoleon drove out Austria and
| consolidated the land into several king
| doms subordinate TO him as Emperor OF
/ the French
After Waterloo the yoke Of the Dual
,ionarchy fell again upon the PENN
sula. 1t was the ideal of the French
Revolution which leavened the Italian