Territorial Redivision

TERRITORIAL REDIVISION The Adriatic Question.—The ministerial crisis initiated by Bissolati's resignation came to a head on Jan. 18, and resulted in the resignation of Nitti (who wished to prepare the way for assum ing the premiership himself) and of four other ministers. The Italian peace delegation to the Paris conference, which first met on that same day, was composed of Orlando, Sonnino, Salandra, Barzi.lai and the ambassador, Marquis Salvago-Raggi. On Feb. 17 the debate on the Adriatic question began, but led to no re sult. In the meanwhile frequent incidents between Italian and Yugoslav soldiers occurred on the frontier. On April 23, Wilson published his famous appeal to the Italian people over the heads of their Government, setting forth his reasons for opposing certain claims. The message caused wide-spread astonishment as a viola tion of the rules of diplomacy, while in Italy it aroused great in dignation. Orlando started for Rome on the 24th to consult par liament and the country, and was received with enthusiastic demonstrations. In the Chamber his policy was approved by 382 votes to 4o and found adherents even in the Socialist camp.

D'Annunzio took up the Fiume-Dalmatia question with fiery eloquence, and the Nationalists urged the Government to annex both. Orlando failed to take advantage of the anxiety of Britain and France that Italy should sign the treaty with Germany, or of Wilson's desire that she should adhere to the League Covenant, to secure advantages for his country, and on May 5 he returned to Paris without having obtained any guarantees for Italy's claims. Discussion on the Adriatic question was resumed, and various proposals for its solution were advanced, including one suggested by M. Tardieu, on which agreement would have been possible, if President Wilson had not agreed to its rejection by Yugoslavia. Orlando returned to Rome in June, and on the 19th he was beaten in the Chamber and resigned. Nitti now formed a new cabinet, with Tittoni at the Foreign Office, Schanzer at the Treasury and Gen. Albricci a s war minister. On June 28 the new peace delegation, presided over by Tittoni, left for Paris, and the same day the treaty with Germany was signed by Sonnino and the Marquis Imperiali.

The internal situation grew more serious. The bread subsidy involved a huge deficit in the budget, the doles to the unemployed encouraged idleness, and the regulations hampering trade ren dered production ever more difficult. The workers received high wages, but were discontented because prices were rising, while both they and the war profiteers indulged in an orgy of extrava gance. Ex-neutralists helped to foment discontent. In Jan. 1919 the Partito Popolare Italiano (Catholic) was formed; it had a more definite programme and a more complete organization than the old Catholic group, and it developed rapidly under the guid ance of its political secretary, the Sicilian priest, Don Luigi Sturzo. It advocated reforms of a Christian-Socialist character, including the expropriation of the landed estates for the benefit of the peasants, but with compensation to the landlords. A series of avowedly revolutionary strikes broke out in every trade, and even in the public services. A postal strike was threatened in Dec. 1918, fomented by the Socialist party, and only called off on the Government's promise of higher wages. During a Bolshevist demonstration on April 13, 1919, at Milan, a shot was fired at a patriotic cortege, which provoked a reaction in the crowd, and the offices of the Socialist paper Avanti were wrecked.

At the Peace conference, during the absence of the Italian dele gation, Lloyd George and Clemenceau repudiated the St. Jean de Maurienne agreement, and in accord with President Wilson decided to send Greek troops to Smyrna. Immediately after the Greek landing Italian troops occupied various points in south west Anatolia. Italian forces co-operated with the British and the French in occupying other parts of Turkey, but the Italian view was that real peace could only be secured by a more con ciliatory attitude towards the Turks. At the same time, in order to conciliate Greece, Tittoni concluded an arrangement with Venezelos in July 1919 for the delimitation of their respective spheres of military occupation in Anatolia, leaving the Greeks a free hand in Southern Albania.

D'Annunzio and Fiume.

Fresh troubles broke out at Fiume (q.v.), where on July 2-5, 1919, the antipathy of the French troops (mostly colonials) to the Italians and sympathy with the Croats, led to reprisals, in which some French and Annamite soldiers were killed or wounded. The Peace conference thereupon appointed an inter-Allied commission of inquiry, which proposed the dissolution of the Fiume national council, elections to be held under inter-Allied control, the disbanding of the Fiume volunteers, the reduction of the Italian garrison, and the impor tation of British or American police. These proposals were about to be carried out when on Sept. 12 D'Annunzio arrived at Fiume from Ronchi, at the head of some Italian troops, whom he had induced to follow him to save the town for Italy, and a number of volunteers. Most of the Italian troops and seamen in the town and port joined him, and he set up a government of his own. The Allied troops departed, and Nitti stigmatized the poet's conduct in the most violent terms, calling on the workmen and peasants of Italy to back him up against the Patriotards. But a large part of Italian opinion supported D'Annunzio, and volun teers flocked to his standard. Further and more serious general strikes and riots followed, but a reaction in public opinion was beginning to show itself, especially in the Fascist movement, under Benito Mussolini (see FAscism). Nitti expressed the belief that the only remedy was to let the spirit of unrest wear itself out, regardless of the immediate danger to the country. The premier's treatment of the army caused much dissatisfaction. In his desire to restore the "Peace spirit," he failed to protect the officers from outrage and insult, and advised them to go about in mufti and disarmed when off duty : while a decree of the minister of war granted an amnesty to deserters, thereby placing them on an equal footing with those who had done their duty in the war.

On Sept. I°, 1919 the Peace treaty with Austria was signed at St. Germain-en-Laye (see ST. GERMAIN, TREATY or), whereby Italy definitely acquired the frontiers assigned to her by the Treaty of London on the north and north-east, plus the Sexten valley and Tarvis, but the Adriatic question remained unsolved. On Nov. 12, Tittoni resigned from the Foreign Office and the peace delegation, and was succeeded by the eminent jurist, Vittorio Scialoja.

Industrial and Political Unrest.--In

spite of, or because of, the Government's restrictive measures, prices had more than doubled. The Government had made the wheat trade a state monopoly; while it requisitioned domestic wheat at a price be low the cost of production, it had to buy foreign wheat at the market price. Thus wheat-growing was discouraged at home, and bread was sold below cost, thereby increasing the deficit by six milliards. Transport was disorganized, and although the traffic was less, the staff, for demagogic reasons, had been increased from 154,00o to 18o,000, and afterwards to 240,000; the railwaymen had become more and more idle and insubordinate.

By the electoral law of Sept. 19i9 the proportional system, whereby the voter voted not for a candidate but for a list, was adopted to please the Socialists and the Popolari, who, as the only two mass parties, hoped to derive benefit from it. The So cialists demanded the abolition of capital and the institution of a Soviet republic, but the extremist group proposed abstention from the polls and an armed rising. The Popolari decided to present their own candidates instead of co-operating with other parties; an extreme wing promoted strikes and disorders and differed little from the Socialists. The constitutional groups were split up and without a programme or organization. The Government was discredited and unpopular. The elections were held on Nov. 16, 1919: 156 Socialists, To' Popolari and 3o ex-service men were re turned, but none of the Fascist candidates. On the opening of par liament by the king on Dec. 1 the Socialist deputies withdrew from the Chamber, and as a protest against this insult a patriotic demonstration was held outside, in which some Socialist deputies were injured. A general strike was proclaimed in consequence, and at Mantua there were serious riots.

The Socialist successes at the election resulted in further dis orders. On Jan 13, 192o, the postal employees went on strike because their demands for higher wages were not instantly com plied with; volunteers replaced the strikers, in spite of official discouragement, and this broke the back of the agitation. But on the 22nd the railwaymen struck, and although volunteers enabled the management to maintain a reduced service, on the 29th Nitti came forward with concessions and undertook not to punish a single striker, in spite of explicit provisions of the regulations. The strike ended in a triumph for the revolutionists. In the spring there was a strike at the Mazzonis cotton mills in Pied mont, where the Government legitimized the arbitrary seizure of the factories by the workmen, and the railwaymen in general re fused to run trains conveying soldiers or police to places where there were disorders. Nitti, finding himself unable to conduct the government in the face of the growing opposition, had re signed on March 12, 1920, but as no one else was prepared to as sume office in these difficult conditions, he reconstructed his cab inet with a few changes. On April 17, the Supreme Council met at San Remo to prepare the peace with Turkey. On May 12 the cabinet, having been defeated in the Chamber, resigned, but as no other combination proved possible, Nitti again reconstructed his cabinet. The prime minister's failure to solve the Adriatic prob lem and the indignation aroused by the arrest of the Dalmatians and Fiumani in Rome on account of an alleged plot, made his position untenable. On June 4 he enacted a decree reducing the bread subsidy, but yielding to the threats of the Socialists, he withdrew it five days later and resigned without waiting for a vote.

Giolitti now appeared the only man capable of forming a gov ernment, and this he achieved by June 16, with Count Sforza as minister of foreign affairs. The budget statement for 192o-21, presented on June 27, 192o, showed a deficit of 14 milliards.

Troubles now broke out in Albania. An Albanian government had been formed at Tirana and the Italian garrisons were greatly reduced; in the spring of 1920 Albanian bands began to disturb the Italian troops, and on June 5 they attacked and captured some of the outposts. An attack on Valona was repulsed, but on June 24, Giolitti, alarmed by a mutiny which had broken out as a result of anarchist propaganda at Ancona, and yielding to the Socialist demands, announced that Italy would withdraw her troops from Albania and negotiate with the Tirana Government. An agreement was arrived at on Aug. 3, and on Sept. 2 the last Italian troops departed, only the islet of Saseno being retained.

At the Spa conference (July 5-16, 192o) Italy succeeded in getting her share of the German indemnity raised to io%, and that of the Austrian, Hungarian and Bulgarian indemnities to 25%. On Aug. 6 the Tittoni-Venezelos agreement was rescinded, and on the loth the treaty with Turkey was signed at Sevres; by the terms of the tripartite agreement Italy obtained "economic priority" over a wide zone of Anatolia south and east of the Greek zone (Smyrna) and a concession for exploiting the Her aclea coal-fields. By a separate agreement with Greece,' Italy undertook to cede to the latter the Dodecanese minus Charki and Castellorizo, which together with Rhodes were to remain Italian for 15 years, and then, if Britain ceded Cyprus to Greece, a plebiscite was to decide the fate of those islands.

The Rapallo Conference.

Serious anti-Italian disorders oc curred on July x i at Spalato, where the Croat mob murdered the commander of the cruiser "Puglie" and wounded several officers and men; protest demonstrations were held at Trieste, and shots having been fired from one of the Yugoslav institutions, several of them were set on fire. At Fiume the national council resigned and D'Annunzio proclaimed the Reggenza del Carnaro, for which he drafted a curious, mystical, semi-mediaeval statute. The Yugoslays felt that a direct understanding with Italy would be the best solution. A conference was held at Rapallo on Nov. 8, Italy being represented by Giolitti, Count Sforza, Bonomi, Gen.

Badoglio and Admiral Acton; Yugoslavia by Vesnich, Trumbich, Kosta Stoyanovich and Col. Kalafatovich. On the 12th the treaty was signed. Italy waived her rights over Dalmatia, except for the town of Zara, and the following frontier was agreed upon: Mount Pec, Mount Yalovets, the watershed between the Isonzo and the Wurzen See and the Wocheiner Save, north-east slope of Mount Mezik, east slope of Mount Porzen, west slope of Mount Blegos, Zelse, Cabranska, east of Mount Trstenik, east of Griza, east of Mattuglie, frontier of the Fiume State on the Fiume Castua road; the islands of Cherso, Lussin, Lagosta and Pela gosa were assigned to Italy, while both Powers recognized the in dependence of Fiume; the Italian-speaking inhabitants of the territories assigned to Yugoslavia were entitled to opt for Italian citizenship without having to leave the country, and full freedom of language, culture and religion were granted to Yugoslays in Italian territory.

By a secret clause, which soon became public property, although Count Sforza denied its existence, Porto Baros, an integral part of the port of Fiume, was promised to Yugoslavia. D'Annunzio, however, refused to recognize the treaty, and on Dec. 23, as he refused to obey Gen. Caviglia's summons to submit, military operations were commenced. There was some fighting, but on the 3oth D'Annunzio accepted the conditions imposed. Fiume was to be placed under its own town council, with a local volunteer force assisted by Italian carabinieri, until after the elections for the constituent assembly. D'Annunzio left Fiume on Jan. 18, 1921. But the elections in the spring of that year led to dis orders necessitating the maintenance of Italian troops. The evac uation of Dalmatia, divided for the purpose into three zones, began in the spring of 1921.

Industrial Disturbances.—Internal troubles reached their zenith in the autumn of 192o. There were industrial, agricultural and railway strikes in various parts of the country, and in Sep tember a very serious agitation broke out in the metal trades. These industries had earned large profits during the war and were paying high wages. But the cost of production was increasing, and there were signs of a coming slump, so that it was impossible to grant the still higher wages which the workmen demanded. The men of the Romeo works in Milan adopted obstructive tactics and sabotage, and the management retorted by a lock-out on Aug. 20. Thereupon the F.I.O.M. (Federazione italiana operai inetallurgici) ordered all the metal workers in Milan to remain in permanence at the mills without working. The Federation of Mechanical In dustries then extended the lock-out to the whole of Italy on the 31st, and the workmen, many of them armed, seized a number of factories in Lombardy, Piedmont and elsewhere. Encouraged by the passive attitude of the authorities, they kidnapped owners and managers and tried to force them to run the works exclusively for the workers; armed "Red Guards" were organized, revolu tionary tribunals set up and persons approaching the factories were shot at. But the workmen found themselves incapable of 'Denounced by Italy, Oct. 8, 1922, in consequence of Greece's inability to carry out her share of the arrangement.

running the factories unaided, and the occupation ended by be coming merely an occasion for orgies. At Turin a Nationalist student and a prison warder who happened to be passing near an "occupied" factory were brutally murdered by "Red Guards," and in many works the safes were broken open and the contents pocketed by the leaders.

On Sept. 19 Giolitti summoned the representatives of the owners and the workers to meet him in Rome, where a rise in wages and a form of workmen's control over industry, which the Government undertook to embody in a bill, was agreed upon. The factories were evacuated on the 27th and work was resumed on Oct. 4. As a practical attempt to establish Communism, the agita tion had failed, but the "occupation" wrought serious injury to Italian credit at home and abroad.