Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-02-26
THE ITALIAN RETREAT
INSIDE STORY OF TTALYS PART IN THE WAR-VII.
By Herb ert Corey

cal representative of Germany in Italy. FThey
could have starved her"
But that disingenuos way of stating the
situation 1t being granted that Italy forced to
fight StarVe-and no one will question that
statement-there was but side which she
could fight. That side the allies. Italy was
prO-German in sentiment but an effort to make
her fight the side of Austria would have brought
about a revolution over night. The Italian is
peaceful, but he has a grand memory. He remem-
bers years, generations, of hostility and aggres-
sion by Austria. The hatred of Austria is as deep
ly implanted in every Italian heart as is the love
of the sunshine.
So that was settled. The German and Austrian
diplomats thought they could hold Italy out of the
by sheer force of bargaining all the time that
this fury against Austria gathering in the
Italian breast. Buelow and Burian, the German
Austrian representatives, had a wine dinner in
Rome in honor of their success the very night
when Giolitti, the man through whom they worked,
being stoned in the streets for working for
them. D'Annunzio and other orators made week
long campaign Tor war and won. The declaration
OF made in the chamber of deputies
But even then it was made by viva vote.
The parliamentary leaders were not sure of their
ground
1t is grave injustice to Italy to represent that
she entered the war for selfish motives only. That
mas been the attitude taken by the enemy powers.
and 1t has been tactly accepted by large part Of
the allied and American press Her reasons for
going to war were the highest that any nation
have-those of self-preserVation. Being entirely
human, Italy at the same time hoped to make
profit out of her expenditure. She hoped to
recify her frontiers that she would be safe in the
future from treacherOuS aggression by Austria.
Italy and Austria were members of the triple
alliance for years. Yet there is abundance of
proof that through every year of that period Aus
tria medtated advancing her interests at the
pense of her ally. Austria frankly regarded Italy
a state to be vctimized crushed.
Italy has long felt that her safety lies in win
ming footing top of the Alps, now held by
Austria. Italy knows herself to be peaceful in in
tention, just she knows her former ally to have
been snaBily treacherous in plan and openly hostile
in act during their years of alliance. If those
forts built by Austria the Alpine SUBMITS were
in her possession she would be fairly against
Austrian aggression. Similarly, possession of
Trieste the Adratic shores would be safe
guard against Austrian thrust. Italians have
long cherished the very natural and proper ambi-
tion to the Greater Italy come into being.
But their territorial aspirations in reality lin
tied to rectifcation of line to make the political
frontier coincide with the defensibe military from
tier In other words, not expansion, but safety
has been the Italian dream.
Both interest and long-standing enInity, then
as we'll as the pressure of necessity, inspired the
Italian declaration of war on Austria. But for
some time after that had been accomplished it was
the italian hope that war with Germany might be
avoided. 1t seems absurd now for her to have at
tempted to make fish of sort Of boche and
flesh of another-though even now do not know
whether the United States is at war with Turkey
and Bulgaria-but it did not at the time. Nor is
it fair to say that Italy disloyal to the
of the allies in this hesitation to take on war
against Germany, unless we coincidentally admit
that the United States is disoyal to its allies in
not assailing Turkey.