ITALY'S SAFETY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 4, 5 July 1927, Page 3

ITALY'S SAFETY

HOLD ON ADRIATIC

PROBLEM OF ALBANIA

JUGO-SLAVIA'S PART

Italy in 1914 was a member of the Triple Alliance, but 1-she declined to go to war on the side of Austria and Germany be.cause they would not guarantee that she should possess the eastern Shore of the Adriatic if they were victorious. Later, Italy went into the war on the side of the Allies chiefly bocause they guaranteed that she should have all the chief strategic points on the Adriatic. When" the Paris Peace Conference refused to carry out this bargain, Italy flew in the face of the great Powers and took Fiume, the harbour that dominates the upper Adriatic, and tried to hold Albania, which dominates the lower part of the sea. When a chance arose through a quarrel with Greece, Italy tried to take over the island of Corfu at the southern entrance to the Adriatic, but was forced by the other Powers .to give it up. Last November the Borne Government made a treaty with Albania, whereby that country practically became a protectorate of Italy; and now the treaty and the Albanian situation are the centre of a Balkan crisis because Italy is determined to keep the advantage she thus gained. . .

Those facts should be kept in mind as we watch the development of the dispute between Italy and Jugo-Slavia, writes Eugene S. Young in the "San Francisco Chronicle." This is not a case of imperialistic adventuring on the part of Mussolini. It is something that arose from the determination of the ilfjian nation to be safe and on which the Italian nation is united! ALBANIA'S IMPORTANCE. Albania is of importance to Italy in the Adriatic. Its flue harbour of Avlona is right opposite the heel of the Italian boot and only about sixty miles from Otranto across the strait of Otranto.

About three years ago the partisans of Jugo-Slavia overthrew the Albanian Government and put Bishop Fan Noli of the Greek Church in power. At Christmas time, 1924, liowever, . the Italians helped Ahmed Zogu, the Mohammedan leader, to take back, the Government. Ahmed Zogu actually made a treaty giving the Italians a protectorate, and Italy has agreed to keep Zogu in power.

Finally, Zogu's actions have' aroused a revolt in his own country, and Jugoslavia has extended aid to the Albanian revolutionaries. In the case of Albania all the great Powers are deeply interested, and if Italy goes" too far there is grave danger. , :„

Jugo-Slavia has a champion in France, which is not only an ally, but is concerned in seeing that Italy shall not gain too powerful a position and" shall be faced with, a potential enemy in the East which will keep her from attacking France. Also Russia is'the traditional protector of the Slavs on the Adriatic, not only because of racial rea- • sons, but because Russia still hopes to march through the Balkans to Constantinople, and will want her western flank protected by a friendly people. GERMANY'S INTERESTS. Germany, too, has her vital interests in tho.Adriatic. It was part of the Holionzollern plan tb absorb Austria-Hun-gary and have an outlet in the Mediterranean and tho East through the Adriatic; and this plan has' not been abandoned. Berlin will do everything possible to keep Italy from gaining a. position from which she could dominate the entrance to the Mediterranean.

Britain at the moment is on the side of Italy. It is accepted as fact that support of the Albanian protectorate was part of tho price the London Government paid- for Italian support in the anti-Russian policy and for Italian cooperation in China —of which wo are likely to hear more as the situation at Shanghai develops. How far Britain will be involved in what Italy may do hereafter is a matter on which Europe is doing much guessing. . There is one element which adds to tho danger of the situation. Mussolini finds himself in a very uncomfortable situation at home. He has been proclaiming for years that, ho would do something to restore the prestigo and power* of Italy abroad, but ho has accomplished nothing concrete. His personal prestige has suffered since the recent abortive attonipt to overthrow tho King, which led to closer control of tho military forces by monarchists. His Government has suffered from the failure of tho lictors' loan; and with the strain of tho purchase of food and raw materials for the people and factories there-will be fresh economic and financial trouble.

So there will -be a strong temptation' to do something that will set the Italian people aflame with patriotism and enthusiasm for the dictatorship. Nothing would bo more popular than a movement to occupy Albania and inako war on Jugo-Slavia.

Not only is there the consideration of national safety, which lies close vto the heart of all Italians, but there is a deep enmity against the Slavs of Western Jugo-Slavia, which grew out of bitter and cruel fighting in the Great War. That such a project is in contemplation is indicated by tho tone the Fascist papers have been taking for weeks in dealing with Jugo-Slavia. Whether correct or not, they havo led the Italian people to believe the Eastern neighbour is planning to absorb Albania and is arming against Italy. '

There is another thing that might bo accomplished by a war. The army would be involved in operations on or across frontiers and the nation would be left under the guardianship of the Fascist militia. If Mussolini really wants to be Emperor ho would then meet with no real opposition.

And all this trouble centres around a country whose chief desire is to be let alone with its ancient customs and its tribal and personal feuds. Far back in the centuries, so far that nobody can trace their beginnings, an Aryan people came into these mountains, occupying a land about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont, with fever in the lowlands and a stern climate in the highlands. Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Slavs, Turks, and others have tried to overwhelm them, but have never succeeded. The country might be conquered, but it could not bo subdued.

It has only a few miles of railroad. It does not want modern way's and facilities. United Europe tried to reconstruct the country before the war, putting a German Prince on its throne. He left soon and precipitately. Italy, after the Great War, undertook to hold its territory, but the Italian Army was almost driven in to the sea. And all that independence held by a people which numbers not more than 1,500,000 aiid inayhiot even number 1,000,000.