chless armies
defeated must henceforth be looked upon as friends and endowed with some
new colonies which would otherwise be hers? The Italian dramatist Sem
Benelli put the matter tersely: "The collapse of Austria transforms
itself therefore into a play of words, so much so that our people, who
are much more precise because they languished under the Austrian yoke
and the Austrian scourge, never call the Austrians by this name; they
call them always Croatians, knowing well that the Croatians and the
Slavs who constituted Austria were our fiercest taskmasters and most
cruel executioners. It is naive to think that the ineradicable
characteristics and tendencies of peoples can be modified by a change of
name and a new flag."

But there was another way of looking at the matter, and the Allies,
together with the Jugoslavs, made the most of it. The Slav character of
the disputed territory was emphasized, the principle of nationality
invoked, and the danger of incorporating an unfriendly foreign element
which could not be assimilated was solemnly pointed out. But where
sentiment actuates, reason is generally impotent. The policy of the
Italian government, like that of all other governments, was frankly
nationalistic; whether it was also statesman-like may well be
questioned--indeed the question has already been answered by some of
Italy's principal press organs in the negative.[204] They accuse the
Cabinet of having deliberately let loose popular passions which it
afterward vainly sought to allay, and the facts which they allege in
support of the charge have never been denied.

It was certainly to Italy's best interests to strike up a friendly
agreement with the new state, if that were feasible, and some of the men
in whose hands her destinies rested, feeling their responsibility, made
a laudable attempt to come to an understanding. Signor Orlando, whose
sagacity is equal to his resourcefulness, was one. In London he had
talked the subject over with the Croatian leader, M. Trumbic, and
favored the movement toward reconciliation[205] which Baron Sonnino, his
colleague, as resolutely discouraged. A congress was accordingly held in
Rome[206] and an accord projected. The reciprocal relations became
amicable. The Jugoslav committee in the Italian capital congratulated
Signor Orlando on the victory of the Piave. But owing to various causes,
especially to Baron Sonnino's opposition, these inchoate sentiments of
neighborliness quickl