70 



The Review of Reviews. 



WHAT IS ITALIA IRREDENTA? 



A Bone of Contention between Italy and 

 Austria. 



Mr. J. Ellis Barker, writing in the Fortnightly 

 Rcvinii for January on Italy, discusses the chances of 

 the threatened war between Austria and Italy. Mr. 

 Barker says : — 



The modern history of Italy is the history of her wars with 

 Austria. In the Southern Tyrol .Austria holds the key to Italy's 

 door. In the Adriatic and in [he Balkan Peninsula .\ustria 

 opposes Italy's political and economic expansion. Besides, she 

 oppresses the Italians living in Austria. 



If we wish to understand Italy's foreign policy we must 

 acquaint ourselves with two great political currents : the Irre- 

 dentist movement and tlie Expansionist movement. Irredenta 

 Italia means the unredeemed Italy. The larger part of Italy nas 

 until lately under Austrian domination. The policy of the'lrre- 

 denlists is to " retleem " those territories wliich, though Italian 

 in character, still belong to foreign countries, and to unite them 

 with the kingdom of Italy. The lands which the Irredentists 

 claim most loudly and most persistently belong to Austria- 

 Hungary, They are the Southern Tyrol and parts of the pro- 

 vinces of Istria and Dalmalia, with the towns of Trieste, Pola, 

 and Fiume. The spirit of the Irredentist has become the spirit 

 of Young Italy with the approval of the Italian Government. In 

 the school-book history of Giovanni Soli, which is used in the 

 majority of elementary scliools in Italy, occurs the following 

 pass.ige : " By the conquest of Rome' Italy was freed nearly 

 entirely from the domination of foreigners. We say iicaity 

 entirely because two parts of Italy belong still to Austria, 

 namely, the South of Tyrol and Istria with Trieste, two beauti- 

 ful countries which possess more than i,ooa,ooo inhabitants." 



.■\ustria-Hungary possesses, indeed, almost i,chdo,ck)o Italian 

 inhabitants, and these live in dense masses close to the Italian 

 frontier. It is not generally known th,'a of the 900,000 inhabi- 

 tants of the Austrian Tyrol abr.ut 400,000 are Italians, and 

 that the south of that country, with the towns of Trento. 

 Rovereto, Ala, Bondo, Borgo, etc., is purely Italian, 95 per 

 cent, of the inhabitants being Italians. France and Sn'itzer- 

 land also possess small districts peopled by Italians, but the 

 Irredentists are particularly hostile to .\ustria-Hungary because 

 the Austrians have in the past ruled Italy tyrannically, and are 

 endeavouring now to stifle and suppress Italian culture among 

 the Italians living in the Dual Monarchy by opposing the 

 creation of Italian scliools, etc. 



Austria's greatest harbour is Trieste. Trieste, the Hamburg 

 of Austria, is as Italian as is Genoa : nine-tenths of its inhabi" 

 tants are Italians. Of the inhabitants of Fiume, Austria- 

 Hungary's second largest commercial harbour, one-half are 

 Italians ; and of the inhabitants of I'ola, her most important 

 naval harbour, more than half are Italians. Italyhas ancient 

 historical claims to the possession of the whole of the eastern 

 shore of the Adriatic, ami •especially to that part which is now 

 in Austria's hands. The coasts of tlie .Adriatic Sea were 

 conquered, colonised, and civilised by the \'cnctians. The 

 names of the greatest .Austrian coast towns on the .Adriatic, 

 such as Trieste, Capo d'lstria, Parenzo, Rovigno, Pola, .Vlona,' 

 Fiume, Vcglia, Zara, Sebenico, Spalato, Ragusa, etc., proclaim 

 their Italian origin. They arc Italian in appearance and in 

 civilisation, and in most of them the endilem of the Venetian 

 Lion will still be found prominently displayed on the ohl public 

 buildings and on the gales and walls. The Adriatic used to be 

 a purely Italian sea. In old Italian documents it is called II 

 Golfo di Venczia, or simply II Golfo, and the modern Italians 

 refer to it frequently anrl siguiticantly as " II mare nostro." 



It is notable, however, that notwithstanding the 

 desire of the Italians to " redeem " the one million 

 Italian-speaking people living in Ati.stria, they con- 

 template with equanimity th*? loss of over six hundred 

 thousand emigrants who .seek new homes in the New- 



World. The rate of emigration in 1909 per thousand 

 of population was 39 from Genua../, 64-2 from Great 

 Britain, and 182-6 from Italy. 



THE WAR IN TRIPOLI. AND ITS SEQUEL. 



Some Facts and Speculations. 



Mr. J. Ellis Barker, writing in the Foif- 

 ni,!;htty Review, says that he regards the isolation of 

 Germany as the natural sequel of Italy's war in 

 Tripoli. He says : — 



Germany and Austria-Hungary have allowed their unreliable 

 partner to knock down their strong and reliable friend. Italy's 

 ultimatum to Turkey ought to have been answered by a German 

 ultimatum to Italy, which would have prevented the war. By 

 abstaining from action, Germany and .Austria have at the same 

 time lost the friendship of Turkey and not gained the goodwill 

 of Italy. By attacking Turkey, Italy has revenged herself upon 

 Germany and Austria for the Congress of Berlin. For all 

 practical purposes the Triple .Alliance is dead. 



The weakening of the central European group of Powers by 

 the secession of Italy, and the strengthening of the Franco- 

 Russian group by Italy's joining them'; would alter completely 

 the balance of power in Europe. It would again make France 

 the predominant Power on the Continent, and then France 

 might feel tempted to seek revenge for Sedan and endeavour to 

 induce .Austria to seek revenge for Kdniggratz. Germany is in 

 danger of becoming completely isolated. Herein lies the great 

 seriousness of the situation. 



M. DE LESSEES AND THE ENGLISH BLUEJACKET. 



In Blackwood is given a long and very interesting 

 sketch of .\hmed Pasha Arabi, whose ability and 

 courage are rated very low. A very vivid account is 

 given of the way in which the British seized Port Said 

 and Ismailia. The offices of the Suez Canal Com- 

 pany were quietly occupied : — 



.A midshipman, not more than fifteen years of age, was sent with 

 a few bluejackets to occupy the Company's telegraph station. 

 In the early morning the pompous French Telegraph .A"ent 

 arrived, as usual, at his oflice, but was stopped at ihe door by 

 the minute midshipman, who said politely in French that he was 

 not allowed to enter. " (^)ui etes-vous?" cried the official, 

 staring in furious amnzemont at this boy with the enormous 

 revolver in his hand. " (Jue vdulez-vous ici ? " The midshipman 

 drew himself up. "Jo suis ici," he said sternly, "pour em- 

 pccher le monde d'cnircr " ? and the infuriated Frenchman was 

 obliged to remain outside. 



M. de Lesseps, from his office at Ismailia, sullenly watched 

 the immense tleet of transports defile before him ; and when the 

 troops began to disembark, he is said to have taken up his 

 position on the quay, crying out that no English soldier should . 

 land except over his dead body. .A bluejacket, however, 

 quietly pushed him aside, remarking, " We don't want no de.ad 

 bo>lies about here, sir ; all you've got to do is to step back a bit." 



Blackwood for January is a good number, but not 

 ([uite up to Blachwoflls high-water mark. Papers 

 on the Duke of Devonshire, .Arabi Pasha, and military 

 aviation claim separate notice. The edge of political 

 invective which appears in " Musings without 

 Method" and in a paper on the Insurance Bill is 

 not as keen as formerly, though thrust with much 

 vigour. 



