The weekly messenger., 1919-01-11
ITALYS EFFORT
IN WORLD war
Military, Financial and Industrial
Contributions Equal to
Allies.
ENLISTED $500, 900 SOLDIERS
Created Huge Industries-War
Bill $4,000, 600, 900.
.. BY Or. FELlcg FERRERo,
Director Italian Bureau q Public
Information.

The blood and treasure Of Italy vsre
freely spent in the successful effort to
put Austria Hungary out OF the war.
While Italy's efforts were not confined
to the Austrian front, her contribution
to allied success was greater here than
in the other places where her troops
fought the battle for civilization. Her
financial and Industrial efforts have
been equal to her military effort, and
in all these directions Italy has not
Jagged behind her allies.
Italy's soldiers have gone far aneld.
They contributed largely h The slori-
Gus victory on the Balkan front A
large contingent in France hrst gave
powerful aid in the defense Of Rheims.
then took part In the advance Of the
allied forces.
Italy Had $500 900 UAtse Anna
Since the beginning Of the war Italy
has called to the colors little less than
$500, 900 men and has suffered q loss
Of almost !, ,5OO, 900 Of them OF that loss
nearly 35O, 900 died in battle. and 100.
600 from disease. Over $4,000 are
totally incapacitatsd, either By blind
ness, loss of limb Or tuberculosis. At
the present moment the strength ol
the Italian army IL 4.025.0 900, including
the class Of men bern In 1900. whs
have been called to the eolors recent
". 1t may bs said, then, that the M
tion's man-power has suffered q per
nanent loss Of nearly q million.
But Italy has inflicted An even great.
or punishment upon the foe. In Aus
trian prisoners alone she has taken
approximately q million. The Aus.
trian loss in killed and wounded ID
Of course, unknown to ~, but even
the most conservative estimates make
II far greater than ours. In the June
offensive on the Piavs alone over
200 900 Austrian dead were left On the
held.
Aside from their achievements In
other theatres Of the war, Italy's sol.
diers have fought through fifteen fu
rious offensives on the Isonso and the
Piave, infiicting terrible losses On the
foe IN each. These campaigns were
carried on in mountainous regions and
under rigorous weather conditions that
taxed to the utmost the genius Of the
military engineers and the endurance
Of the troops.
Over $500 miles Of roads have been
constructed on the mountains of Italy
and Of Albania, and 1000 miles Of
aerial cable railroads (Teleferiche)
have been built to carry food, ammu-
milton and guns over deep ravines.
Economic DiffIeuItles.
The magnitude Of this military effort
can be fully appreciated only when one
takes into consideration the economic
structure Of the nation and the nature
and number Of its population. One
must remember that out Of $4,000, ,OOC
Inhabitants in Italy at the beginning
Of the war only 10000 were male
This seeming disproportion Is caused
by emigrati ton, which was largely com
posed Of male adults. Out Of thos<
1900, 900 only 100000 were adult'
economically productive. Consequent
~ the subtraction Of the mObilize1
forces has had an acute reaction on
the economic life Of the nation. 1t 4.
estimated that on an average only 1O(
adults remained In each town or vii
lage to provide in each case for som'
800 children below the age of fifteen.
Furthermore, the traditions Of Ital
ian family life render the work Of theil
women an economic factor Of less i'm
portance than In some other countries
though it has been utilized to the ut
most and is becoming more available
as old traditions give. way to wars ne
cessity.
Italy got no help from colonial con
tingents On the contrary, the scarcit!
Of native troops in Italy's colonies
compelled the government to reinforc'
them with troops from the mothe
country. Nor has help come to Ital'