through official diplomatic channels it was transmitted to the Allies. This was a victory for the Jugoslavs and all their friends, a victory which had been won with difficulty, and which was received in all the Allied countries with much gratification.
Under these circumstances I felt sure that I should meet with no opposition. I had discussed things in detail first of all with the Italian Ambassador in Paris. I had given him a full account of my negotiations with the French Government, of the plans which the National Council had in view for the definite establishment of a provisional Government, and I had asked him to secure a favourable attitude on the part of Italy towards these plans. After reaching an agreement with him I handed him, on September 24th, a comprehensive memorandum on the position of our movement at that time and particularly on its future development, which I asked him to transmit to Orlando, relying on the amicable attitude which the latter had shown towards us on various occasions.
I left for Italy on October 1, 1918, immediately after the French Agreement was signed. My intention was, after arriving at a political agreement at Rome, to proceed to the front, and to arrange with those in charge of our troops there what should be done as soon as the provisional Government had been proclaimed. The process of constituting the Government was to be accomplished by a special solemn declaration which, as previously arranged between us, was to be prepared by Masaryk and published simultaneously in all Allied countries at the moment when the Government had been constituted. These proceedings were to culminate in solemn ceremonies at the front among the troops in France, Italy, Russia, and Siberia, and also by celebrations in the colonies, especially in America. As I have already mentioned, we had contemplated fixing the proclamation of our independence for November 8, 1918, the anniversary of the battle of the White Mountain.
144
While travelling to Rome I decided to visit our troops on the Italo-Austrian front, and this visit was one of my war experiences which I recall with the greatest pleasure. I started from Verona for the front by Lake Garda, and it is still with emotion that I remember the sight of the Alps occupied by our troops. Our cars passed through places where suddenly on the slopes there appeared hundreds of green uniforms and Italian hats
