ut dictator of Italy, hurried to Rome
and rallied his followers. The neutralists hailed him as the man to save
Italy from a ruinous war.

Parliament was to meet on May 20, 1915. It was clear that the
supporters of Giolitti, in majority both in the Senate and the Chamber
of Deputies, could, if they chose, overthrow the Government. Popular
anxiety was intense.

On the evening of May 13, 1915, came the announcement that the
Salandra ministry had resigned. If there had been any doubt of the
state of things throughout Italy up to that point, this news cleared
the situation. The whole country burst into a flame of indignation.
The next day Italy learned for the first time that the Triple Alliance
had been denounced early in the month.

It became clear that whatever the fate of Salandra and his cabinet,
his foreign policy was bound to be continued.

On May 15, 1915, announcement that the king had declined to accept
Salandra's resignation caused a great popular outburst of joy. In Rome
an immense gathering called to protest against the Giolittians and
German influence was transformed into a demonstration of triumph; more
than 150,000 persons took part in a procession a mile long that moved
from the Piazza del Popolo to the Quirinal.

The next morning, May 16, 1915, there was nobody in Rome who doubted
what Italy would do. That day Giolitti left Rome, and his departure
marked the end of his active influence during the opening months of
the war. His party crumpled.

When Parliament met on May 20, 1915, Salandra received an overwhelming
vote of confidence in the passage of a bill conferring extraordinary
powers upon the Government in the event of war. Miles north of Rome,
word came to the Austrian commanders, working feverishly to strengthen
their forts in the fastnesses of the Alps, to brace themselves for the
assault.

CHAPTER LXIII

THE DECISION MADE--ITALIAN STRATEGIC PLAN

On the night of May 24, 1915, little groups of the Alpini, Italy's
famous mountain troops, moved silently. They passed from San Giorgio,
Cividale and Palmanova on the eastern frontier, from Paluzza and San
Stefano and Pieve on the north, from Agordo, Feltre and Asiago, from
Brentino and Malcesine toward Lake Garda, from Garganano the western
shore of the lake and from other positions all along the mountain
frontier up to the Stelvio Pass.

Marching silently and in single file, by three o'clock in the morning
of May 25, 1915, one detach