with the Entente, he announced, in a public letter to his faithful
henchman Sig. Peano, that he believed still that Italy might
obtain a great deal (the famous parecchio) without going to war.
He knew that he could rely on a majority in the Chamber (300
deputies left cards on him during those days), and that if he
declared his opposition the Cabinet was bound to fall. Salandra
realized this too and on May 13 he resigned, on the ground
of the disagreement between the various Constitutional groups
as to Italy's foreign policy, but in reality in consequence of
Giolitti's manoeuvre. It seemed as though the latter's triumph
were assured, but at this juncture the true voice of the country
made itself heard. Huge demonstrations against Giolitti, and
in favour of Salandra and the war, were held in every town, and
in an instant the whole political system built up by Giolitti was
swept away. The various leading political men summoned by the
King all advised him to refuse Salandra's resignation, as he evi-
dently enjoyed the country's favour, and this advice was followed.
Prince von Billow now informed Giolitti of Austria's final offer
(before communicating it to the Government), which comprised,
besides the Trentino, a strip of territory as far as the Isonzo,
the town of Gradisca, but excluding Gorizia and all the east
bank of the river, while Trieste was to be autonomous. But it
was now too late, even if Austria's terms had been satisfactory.
On May 20 Parliament met, and the Chamber granted the Cabinet full powers by a large majority, only 74 members (about half of them Official Socialists and the rest impenitent Giolittians) voting against it. Giolitti himself retired to Pied- mont, while most of his supporters disappeared or voted for Salandra. The Senate, in spite of its strong neutralist tendencies, voted the bill unanimously. Neutralism and Germanophilism disappeared as if by magic. Many former opponents had been genuinely converted, to a large extent by the revelations con- tained in the official " Green Book," which set forth the dip- lomatic history of the preceding months, while others found it expedient to draw a veil over their feelings. The Official Social- ists remained in opposition, but they thought it safer not to run counter to the general trend of public opinion too openly, and so kept in the background. On May 23 the general mobilization was ordered and on the 24th war against Austria declared. It was not then declared against Germany, but the German ambassador, his staff, the consuls and most of the ""'y German residents left Italy together with the Aus-
War. trians. The Austrian, Prussian and Bavarian rep-
resentatives to the Holy See also departed, although the Italian Government did not obh'ge them to do so. The outbreak of war was received with sober enthusiasm. The mobilization had to a considerable extent been carried out already, and the staffs of many corps as well as large numbers of troops had been concentrating in the Veneto for some weeks. Consequently there was no general disorganization of the economic and commercial life of the country. In July an internal loan at 45% was floated and brought in 1,100 million lire. A new member was added to the Cabinet in the person of Sig. Salvatore Barzilai, deputy for Rome, without a portfolio but entrusted with the civil affairs of the Austrian districts occupied by Italian troops. The significance of the appointment lay in the fact that he was one of the leaders of the Republican group in the Chamber, but, being a Triestino, he was an ir- redentist first and a Republican afterwards.
Although Italy did not declare war on Turkey, Italian subjects in the Ottoman Empire were persecuted and those in the Asiatic provinces prevented from leaving, while the Turkish Government continued to send officers, emissaries, funds and supplies to foment rebellion in Libya, in violation of the Treaty of Ouchy. On Aug. 3 the Italian ambassador at Constantinople presented an ultimatum to the Porte, and, no satisfactory reply having been received, war was declared on the 2ist. When Bulgaria invaded Serbia in Sept. 1915 Italy followed the example of her Allies and declared war on the former. No operations were conducted either against Turkey or Bulgaria except the bombardment of the Bulgarian port of Dede Aghach by an Itah'an cruiser. In Dec., in view of the invasion of Serbia by Austrian, German and
Bulgarian armies which constituted a menace to Albania, an expeditionary force was sent to that country. The Albanian expedition, in addition to other operations, was instrumental in saving the remains of the beaten Serbian army, which had been driven from its own country by Mackensen's offensive. It is indeed chiefly due to Italian assistance that 150,000 Serbo- Montenegrin troops were spared death by starvation and disease, and could be afterwards transferred to Corfu to refit and eventually to Macedonia to fight again. Large numbers of civilians found a refuge and a cordial welcome in Italy, while some 30,000 Austrian prisoners captured by the Serbs were interned in Sardinia. On Dec. i Baron Sonnino informed Parliament that Italy adhered to the London agreement, where- by the Allied Powers undertook not to conclude a separate peace with the enemy.
In Feb. 1916 a new internal loan brought in 3,000 million lire. When the Chamber reassembled on March i there appeared to be some opposition to the Cabinet. The Giolittians and the Socialists regained courage from the fact that the war still continued and no, decisive success had been achieved on any front, which they hoped would alienate the country from the Government's policy. The interventionists, on the other hand, criticized the Ministry for what they regarded as its insufficient energy in conducting the campaign, and, above all, they were anxious that war should be declared against Germany. Criti- cisms were also levelled at the Government's economic policy: facilities for the import of wheat and coal had proved inadequate, nor had anything been done to keep down freights, the rise of which had resulted in large increases in the price of many imported goods (coal had risen to six times its normal price). But the general opinion of the country was unfavourable to a change of Ministry, and when Sig. Salandra asked for an explicit vote of confidence, he obtained it on March 19 by 394 to 61, the Nationalist group voting this time with the opposition. On Feb. 7 the Government issued a decree absolutely forbidding trade with Germany. Trade relations had practically been broken off since Italy entered the war, but a small amount of trade had still been carried on through neutral countries; the new measure put an end even to this, and brought the declara- tion of war against Germany a step nearer.
In the winter of 1915-6 an exchange of visits between Allied statesmen and military chiefs began. In Feb. M. Briand, the French premier, visited Rome, and as a result of his conversa- tions with Sig. Salandra and Baron Sonnino, a joint inter-Alli council was created; the first meeting was settled for the end ol March. On March 20 Gen. Cadorna departed for Paris and the French G.H.Q., after which he visited London and then returned to Paris to take part in the above-mentioned council, on which Italy was represented by the premier and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. On the return of the two statesmen to Rome they were visited by Mr. Asquith, the British Premier, who was very warmly welcomed; he also went to the Italian front and was received by the King. Gen. Zupelli resigned from the War Ministry on April 6, as the result of a disagreement with Gen. Cadorna about the Albanian force, which the latter insisted on having under his own control as commander-in-chief and not under that of the War Ministry. Gen. Morrone, one of the corps commanders at the front, succeeded him.
The initial successes of the Austrian offensive in the Trentino and on the Asiago plateau (May 1916) caused a painful impres- sion, as it was the first setback which the Italian troops had suffered and resulted in the first enemy oc- cupation of any part of Italian territory. Coming after a long period of only partial Italian successes, combined with the very heavy losses suffered, it caused a certain revival of anti-war tendencies. There was also much criticism of the Supreme Command, which had apparently allowed itself to be taken by surprise. Gen. Brusati, commanding the I. Army (Trentino-Asiago), was relieved of his command, together with several other generals. As a matter of fact Gen. Cadorna, knowing that the great Russian offensive was imminent, never believed that the Austrians would have attempted their famous
