THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1916. THE GATEWAY OF ITALY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16234, 20 May 1916, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1916. THE GATEWAY OF ITALY.

The accepted explanation of the disinclination of the Italian Government to provide troops for any other campaign than the one it is conducting against Austria has been that the Trentino constitutes an open gateway into Northern Italy and must be conquered before the. home territory of our ally can be considered reasonably safe from invasion. Tne opening of a great Austrian attack in this region justifies this cautious policy. Some 300,000 Austrians are said to have been massed for the purpose of forcing a passage into the great Venetian plain. Thanks to the energy with which they pushed their advance into this difficult and extensively fortified district of Trentino, the Italians are in possession of strong lines lying beyond their old frontier, and hope to be ,able to stem at these lines the Austrian attack. It remains to be seen whether this expectation will be realised but the notable resource displayed by the Italian troops and the exceptional strength and service of the Italian artillery encourage the belief that the threatened invasion will not reach Italian soil. The natural frontier between Italy and Austria is formed by the Alpine range running eastwardly from Switzerland until it curves to the southward beyond the Adriatic. This natural frontier is so marked that it has created a clean-cut lingual division as distinct as that created by the Pyrenees between the French and the Spanish. The Gothic invaders of the falling Roman Empire who occupied and settled down in North Italy became as completely detached from their parent stock as did the Frankish invaders of Gaul and the Saxon invaders of Britain. They merged into and were absorbed by the Latin populations of the great peninsula, although the North Italian is still ethnologically distinguishable from the South Italian as the LowI land Scot is still distinguishable from the Highlander. The great . national uprising against Austrian tyranny will always be associated with the genius and personality of I Garibaldi, a South Italian, but the ' devotion of Piedmont, Lombardy and Venetia to the Italian cause was instrumental to its final triumph. When Austria, under . pressure from France, defeat from [Prussia and antagonism from Bri-

tain, -was finally forced to acknowledge Italian independence f witnM the memory of living men, she insisted on retaining in Italian-speak-ing. Trentino a "military -position which constantly threatened the new kingdom and in Istria and the Isonzo another military .position which covered .her access to the Adriatic at Italian-speaking Trieste. The Italian part in the war has therefore been mainly confined to an attempt to drive the Austrians out of "Italia Irredenta,' The strategical necessity for this military policy is graphically expounded by the use now being made by Austria ,of the Trentino country.

Were the Italian troops once in possession of the Italian-speaking Austrian provinces a formidable mountain barrier would separate them from their ancient enemies. A few difficult passes and some easily closed tunnels would replace a frontier imposed upon them by Austrian diplomacy and designed to facilitate invasion of their fertile and populous plains and to maintain Austrian pretensions in the Adriatic. The passionate desire of the Italian people to redeem their fellownationals who still bowed under the Austrian yoke and their warm rei membrance of British sympathy and I French aid in their past adversity was strengthened by the shrewd perception that the time was opportune for freeing themselves from a military and naval threat which amounted to nothing less than poli- i tical blackmail. Hence, Italian intervention! In. estimating the value of this intervention we must realise, firstly, that its motive was wholly harmonious with the spiritual basis of the Great Alliance and, secondly, that, while in no way confusing or complicating the Allied purpose, it compelled Austria to employ an immense number of her best troops against a new and unexpected foe. At the very beginning of the war, an Italian legion under the grandsons of Garibaldi joined the French, and the attitude of the Italian people was so unmistakable that France was in no concern as to her Italian frontier. Since Italy's first denial of any obligation to join her senior partners of the old Triple Alliance in a war of aggression was replaced by her declaration of war against Austria, her navy has been actively operating in the Adriatic and a tireless offensive has been waged against the Austrian strongholds. In January last, an officially approved Italian estimate gave the number of Austrians engaged in meeting this offensive as 800,000, while 30,000 Austrian prisoners had been taken; it has been otherwise estimated that at least 250,000 casualties have been inflicted on the enemy. . Taking this in conjunction with the present massing of Austrian troops, it is a low estimate to say that Italy has drawn a million Austrians, with much artillery and other munitions, from the eastern front, and has to a corresponding degree hampered co-ordinating German activities in other fields.