o make the cession
effective before the end of the war.

The repeated refusals of Austria-Hungary were expressly confirmed in a
conversation between Baron Burian and the Italian Ambassador at Vienna
on April 29. While admitting the possibility of recognizing some of our
interests in Avlona and granting the above-mentioned territorial cession
in the Trentino, the Austro-Hungarian Government persisted in its
opposition to all our other demands, especially those regarding the
boundary of the Isonzo, Trieste, and the islands.

The attitude assumed by Austria-Hungary from the beginning of December
until the end of April made it evident that she was attempting to
temporize without coming to a conclusion. Under such circumstances Italy
was confronted by the danger of losing forever the opportunity of
realizing her aspirations based upon tradition, nationality, and her
desire for a safe position in the Adriatic, while other contingencies in
the European conflict menaced her principal interests in other seas.

Hence Italy faced the necessity and duty of recovering that liberty of
action to which she was entitled and of seeking protection for her
interests, apart from the negotiations which had been dragging uselessly
along for five months and without reference to the Treaty of Alliance
which had virtually failed as a result of its annullment by the action
of Austria-Hungary in July, 1914.

It would not be out of place to observe that the alliance having
terminated and there existing no longer any reason for the Italian
people to be bound by it, though they had loyally stood by it for so
many years because of their desire for peace, there naturally revived in
the public mind the grievances against Austria-Hungary which for so many
years had been voluntarily repressed.

While the Treaty of Alliance contained no formal agreement for the use
of the Italian language or the maintenance of Italian tradition and
Italian civilization in the Italian provinces of Austria, nevertheless
if the alliance was to be effective in preserving peace and harmony it
was indisputably clear that Austria-Hungary, as our ally, should have
taken into account the moral obligation of respecting what constituted
some of the most vital interests of Italy.

Instead, the constant policy of the Austro-Hungarian Government was to
destroy Italian nationality and Italian civilization all along the coast
of the Adriatic. A brief statement of the facts and of th