Evening times-Republican., 1920-12-29
and Opera
Boufe Conspicuous
in Fiume AHai,
BY Associated r.ress.

spring OF 1916 between Italy and the
allied powers. under which Italy en-
/ tered the war against the central
powers.
The treaty assigned the part Of
T..tlrol south of Brenner Pass. as well
as Trieste. Gorilla Istrin and sec
ton OF the Dalmatian literal to
ltIy, but gave Fiume. the seaport of
Hungary, to Croatia.
When the war ended Italian ma
tionalists, including D'Annunzio de-
manded that Fiume, with it's pre-.
ponderant Italian population. should
DC given TO Italy, an act that would
have required the revision of the
treaty OF London The Italians. how
ever. invoked the principle of self
determination" enunciated by Presi-
dent Wilson and pointed to the fact
that the population OF Fiume, upon
the dissolution of the Austro- Hun
garian empire. had proclaimed thru
their national council, the union of
Fiume with italy.
eroatfa, now part of Jugo- Sla-
via, opposed the claim on the ground
that Sussak, an important suburb
OF tiume and part of the city it
self. was Overwhelmingly Jugo- Siav
In addition the Croatians charged
that. whereas italy already had an
excess Of valuable ports, their
country and the adjoining lands
ne'a'ied Finme as their only outlet to
the sea. This position won the sun
polt of President Wilson. who WIS
subsequently denounced by Dan
nunsio and his sympathizars cr the
only obstacle to the realization Of
ltalY's aspirations" President WI
SORTS view, however. was shared by
the British and French.
BACKED by Italian public opinion.
the Italian delegation to the Parts
peace conference. headed by Premier
Orlando and Foreign Minister SON
nlno, refused to yield Italy's claims.
In April. 1919, the crisis came to n
head when President Wilson threat
ened TO withdraw from the confer
ence. He issued public statement
sustaining the pact OF London in
scf'n' as it related to Fiume. Receipts
of the document in Italy precipitated
numerous anti.Nilson outbreaks. In
which DAnnunzio took leading
part. Meanwhile, Orlando and Son
nino quit the Faris conferences and
returned to Rome. where they were
receiVed with wild acclaim by tho
people. The Italian chamber or
asPffies adopted a vote c.f confidence.
In the Orlando ministry. Later. how
ever the two statesmen returned 10
Parts at the invitation of their. COL
leagues and participated In the ra-
sotiations and the signing OF the
Austrian peace treaty.
Failure to reach satisfactory so
luton Of the Fiume embroglio. how
ever, was one of the principal causes
OF the downfall of the Orlando min
lstrN ON June 19. 1919, and it was
succeeded by the moderate Nitti
CABINET. whose selection esasperated
the Italian national;sts and was the
forerunner of the D'Annunzio conn
d etat the following September
Fiume, at the time OF the entry of
the lpAnnunzio forces. was under the
military control of General Pittaluga.
OF the Italian army. The general had
led strong detachment to the out
skirts Of the city to intercept the in
vadsrs, who had armored automobiles
ana were armed with machine guns
pAnnunzio met him with the salu-
tatfon: Il understand you would fire
upon your brethren? bearing his
breasto Fire upon me-" At This II
was reported, Pittaluga embraced
DA'nnunzio and the soldiers on both
sides set up the cry: viva Fiume,
Viva D'Annunzio!" The D'Annunzio
troops then entered the city.
The fifteen months that had
elapsed since the poet warrior set
himself up as "a dictator have been
filie1 with tragic as we'll as opera.
bouffe events. Clashes between the
italians and Jugo-Slavs were fre-
ouent. D'Annunzio proclaimed the
annexation of Fiume to Italy even
while that country was appealing to
the allied powers to wrest the c,ty
from him. Riots, strikes and fires
were numerous and the United States
cruisers Olympia and Pittsburgh
We're sent to the Adriatic to protect
American interests. The Jugo -slavs
cut off D'Annunzio's food supply and
Italian warships blockaded Fiume
from the sea.
D'Annunzio put the city on scant
raticns and continued to issue defi-
ant rnanifestos and declare he would
never leave Fiume alive" Manv
italian sailors and soldiers Joined his
forces until, at one time, he was re-
ported to have an army of more than
10000 men. He occupied several
other places in the disputed region.
including Sussak. Risniak, Durazzo
Trau. Castua and lara and patro,,ed
the 1)almatian coast with his war
ships.
On Jan. 1. 1920. when the supreme
allied council disbanded In Paris. the
A Adriatic question was still unsettled
Last March Italy strengthened the
blockade, whereupon D'Annunzio
proclaimed Fiume "a free and indie
pendent state" In announcing this TO
the allied powers he said the action
did not mean Fumes ''renuncia tion"
OF Italy. He also summoned con-
stituent assembly to meet, an order
that precipitated the resignation of
the F'iume national council and left
D'Arnunzfo as chief of state. foreign
minister and commander of the army
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts were
in progress between Italy and Jugo
SlaVia. to compose their differences.
These led to the parley between dele
gates representing both nations at
Rapallo early in November, 1920. and
settlement of the long vexing Ad-
riatic question on the following bas-
is: 1Tirst-The Istrian frontier to be
controlled by the Jugo- -Slavs; second
-Fiime to be independent. with ter
ritorlatl contiguity to Italy; third
cara to be under italian suzerainty:
fourth-Islands of Cherso, Lussin
and Unie to be granted to Italy. The