GISBORiNE/ SAttJRDAT," obi. 27, 1917. ITALY'S GREAT FIGHT/ ;

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14439, 27 October 1917, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENINGS. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, OCT. 27, 1917. ITALY'S GREAT FIGHT.

The great battle now raging on the Isonzo ■ was not aine^pected, \ For some months past there h.ave, .been, reporfe from time to time of the heavy conce«tration of enemy troops with the object ■of frustrating the .steady drive thaifc Italy was-miikiiig into Austrian territory. Just exactly. 'where the blow wou,ld be strucl^Sras ' ndt apparent, though it was tolerably certain the Austrians would not repeat jbheir adventure" frorh .the Tyrol and Trentino which .cost them such tremendous v losses for a. sliort-lived victory. The enemy' 3' move has come ap a flank attack thrpngh Fletsch and Tot mftip upon the Italian lines. - extending across the Carso towards Trieste, , and Austria with all her available troops, supplemented, by stiipng German foifces, is making one last hid to stay the'linvader._ battle haf opened,' according; to German accounts* with, a con&ider' able^repwlse to ., the Jtalian .armies, the Austro-Germans having forced a, \yhy across the Isonzo at two places and succeeded m capturing a large number of prisoners. The. Italian bominuniques, whilst admitting the penetration of their advanced lines, claim to be offering formidable resistance, and there ia a strong note of confidence m the despatcheß thnt have come from .the' front, though i|^ vig acknowledged that .provision lias been made for the evacuation of Bainsiziia plateauy the winnihg- of wJiich has oost much Italian blood and treasure. Italy has faced several such crises as tJieaei &n(\ j hag alwttys conic oufc iriump3[i.afi<>\ifl the 'end* General tiadorna has provedVhim>self move than a matoh for ihe..AußtroGerman g&nerat > , staffs in ' . military strategy, aadvwe.imay firmly hope .that with; : the assistance that m .now 4>pldly comihgr to. him, from . France ,&hd Britain ho will succeed ajni ■ I ti^!Wy^-.-,t9;) : ?P^ upon the enemy aftd.' effect Cawn * defeat «b will shatter th© Außtriaii power

of resistance to his further advance. Much, depends upon the issue of the present battle.- It is Austria's last throw. If Cadorna oomes out' victorious, Austria can have lit Hot hope of staying a •movement towards Laibach, which* is the preliminary step towards an ;idv;moe on to the- Iliinrtanjiii plains^ iit/i- will' it ilo possible to avert tlit» capture of 'iViesle, with 'its "\nndmvs ont 'the Aclniitic." paly's ( hopes centre Vei'y- largely on (Trieste, and for a very good reason. A ;few days after Italy Vetitiwnee/into the War, Avrites Professor Vihcejizo'de Santo, a ui.ti7.en of Trieste climbed up the campanile'of San (Jilisto m the early hours of the morning and hoisted v large Italian Hug over it. That- was not tlie first time the tricolor had been unfurled upon the cathedral of .Trieste.* Several times, m fact, of recent years, that flag had been displayed by mysterious hands on the campanile and oi\;oi;her prominent places m the city. It was like a ray of hope of freedom that appeared from time''to time beneath the deep blue sky of the .second metropolis. o f the Mediterranean. /The sight of that sym-' bol of freedom never failed to send ' a thrill through the hearts the nqarly 200,000 of Italians who haaj been supe^ing«: under the Hapsburg yoke .. for "weegenerations. The Austrian rule ' : j>ve ( r x'rieste did riot actually begiiij as will be remembered', until 1015. Before that"

time lb had been, for many cettfcuViesy 1 a free Italian commune. /The official municipal documents, spoke/ 01, it mdst ofteiv aY an 'Italian: republic." In the : middle ages it was a part of the empire but this mtfant nothing politically .\ It simply implied that the city had to pay a small annual tribute to the J£mperor On Join© 9, 1815, the Congress of Vienna annexed, the city .to the Austrian monarchy by right of ;conquest. On April' 6 Emperor $ 'ti&ncis I ordered that Trieste oe aggregated to the Germanic confederation. This, order was the beginning of a great struggle between the population of the; city and;, the Hapsbunr authorities, fa struggle which: became more and more bitter . with the passing of, the years and whicn has already lasted, over .a oentury. The^aiise tot the f ™S«}* W%« The mpsburg. rule* told the city, "You inusfc; forget that you are Italian, "'and (the ; ! etiS. replied, "I can not forget it; it Vis nP my power " to change >my nature." And the more lneste resisted the Emperor's wish, the more bitter^y&S; the ; puuishment inliioild upon her.: Ori^theJotivof 'j^uie, 1848, &c population of .Trieste and^tria declateefc and voted! in- a great plebiscite that the' aggregation -of: their territory to the fel^f ■ C^- &s<& waa i4egal.ana th^ reiusea io,sejid ; *heir ;^epresenta, Yes \^ankfort fo negotiated with the irN'^ samey/ear Facchinettrf Madomzza and! ..;©*? Istriaii members of A theXu ? tnan ; Chamber of D ?V"b es , \-\. taemor^idum to the constituents at Viel^na^rotest against li-ieste) to the Germanio coiifedGration Istna is entirely Italian," read 4he memorandum, "ft is Italian b^;S ET'ltSff 0 " 11 !' traditions ™* religionl cLH\} i - '-^ on ac count of its geo': graphical position and its sympathy ma ] r°Tf- f °^" u tho other Italian Sn a i Sh f i^.^-Mmnl. thatSS turnout at stake its Italian . nationality ftelp and well-being made to it' by the confedei-ation." On April 20, 1861^ the Haps burg Qov&rmnent- disced the gtmn Uiet and ordered the population k> c ect new deputies,- f6r the^iennese The anstver to this oS ™» ajforcef.nl, protest .. .against^ th e un Two . | f ballots, bore the S ignifie«. n t word "i o . body What precedes can give only a *hrn idea i oi the great struggle'fbetween Italians and their rul2 J^nthe^ltal^s after the Tinmcatioi^ 4 itai} The loss of Lombardv and Veratia angered' the Hapsburg g mpei^ gndjje decide to,give'vW to his^wS^ by oppressing the Italians whom \* had been able to retam.as his subjects. In the war tor'- the Italian ind^pendenci thousands of yontlis from TrieW an* Istna, as as from the Trentino and ll a^nl a ' f n Ug ? & ayel y ly lender Garibaldi and KinevTictor anmanfcel I|^^ey were, howlver^ h^vv^f their brothers from Lornbaidy Venetia and other, Italian regions., King VictoT Emmanuel was compelled; by force '.qf, circumstances, to f make peace_ with the Austrian Emperor before •the Italian unification was completed. Hundreds of thousands of Italians were lei t at the mercy of a ruthless arid vindictive monarch. They were forbidden even to breathe the name of' Italy. Ihe Italian language Avas banished froni the schools. ' Italians were expelled from government' and municipal positions and replaced bjr Austrians or Hungarians Newspapers and' periodicals of Italian tendencies were: repeatedly suspended and them editors were condemned to: l mg, periods^of imprisonment and heavy* fines. To ready "own or sell an italian. book or pamphlet >on,liistory or politiqs was : absolutely. forbidden under heavy, penalties A yo^ung / : lady; once was dragged from a. dance floor m Trieste and! carried to gaol because she : was .wearing pver :^er; white dress a red rose This, with, the gteen ,of the leaves and the white> of the gown, suggested the Italian. flag 4 At anbther time a boy aged about nine was. arrested and beaten because he had' been caught whistling the hymn of Garibaldi: The suffering Of Trieste and' of ojther" unredeemed Italian cities has been as a thorn m the heart of every citizen of the kingdom. This explains, at least m part,; the irresistible dash of £h> Italian troops over; the rocky -jji-ound 1 of the Carso and' their capture of moiintain, positions actually within sight of Trieste. It explains' the stubbornness with which they will resist the^ attacks now being made" upon them and endeavor to hold the positions their :saljantry, has won.) "The, -hearth of all Istna, says Prolessor.de Santo "is beaming faster- nQw that the Italian guns lire thundering upon Hermada and nn. San Gabriele. Ihe day of redemption tor that region may not come for weeks or months yet, but it is bound to come. Justice is .bound, to triumph. -It can not be very long, before an. Italian flas tHII. be hoisted again on the campanile of San Giusto and flutter : freely under the blue sky as a .symbol of justice and freedom for which the united civilised world is fighting, and , is determined not . to stop until complete victory is attainea 1 •» For such, a cause as this Britain nnd France ■■'may well send troops, guns and munitions to help Italy m her great strtiggle for the liberation of an oppressed pepplo.. .It .is. believpd- that thesereinforcements will t.hr<>w such 'a weight into the scale as may speedily turn the fortunes of .the day and givb. the Allied? armies a. -great victory, A crushing detent to Austyia at the present juncture Acombincd %vnth the severe knocks, . that the Anglo-French foircSs are administering io the GQrmans iivl^rance and Flanders woultf.go a long way to hasten' the; end of the.way. ;/■■>/ ■ , '