ly objects and purposes is established by the letter
and spirit of the treaty, as well as by the intentions clearly described
and set forth in official acts of the ministers who created the alliance
and confirmed and renewed it in the interests of peace, which always has
inspired Italian policy. The treaty, as long as its intents and purposes
had been loyally interpreted and regarded, and as long as it had not
been used as a pretext for aggression against others, greatly
contributed to the elimination and settlement of causes of conflict, and
for many years assured to Europe the inestimable benefits of peace. But
Austria-Hungary severed the treaty by her own hands. She rejected the
response of Serbia which gave to her all the satisfaction she could
legitimately claim. She refused to listen to the conciliatory proposals
presented by Italy in conjunction with other powers in the effort to
spare Europe from a vast conflict, certain to drench the Continent with
blood and to reduce it to ruin beyond the conception of human
imagination, and finally she provoked that conflict.

"Article first of the treaty embodied the usual and necessary obligation
of such pacts--the pledge to exchange views upon any fact and economic
questions of a general nature that might arise pursuant to its terms.
None of the contracting parties had the right to undertake without a
previous agreement any step the consequence of which might impose a duty
upon the other signatories arising under the alliance, or which would in
any way whatsoever encroach upon their vital interests. This article was
violated by Austria-Hungary, when she sent to Serbia her note dated July
23, 1914, an action taken without the previous assent of Italy. Thus,
Austria-Hungary violated beyond doubt one of the fundamental provisions
of the treaty. The obligation of Austria-Hungary to come to a previous
understanding with Italy was the greater because her obstinate policy
against Serbia gave rise to a situation which directly tended toward the
provocation of a European war.

"As far back as the beginning of July, 1914, the Italian Government,
preoccupied by the prevailing feeling in Vienna, caused to be laid
before the Austro-Hungarian Government a number of suggestions advising
moderation, and warning it of the impending danger of a European
outbreak. The course adopted by Austria-Hungary against Serbia
constituted, moreover, a direct encroachment upon the general interests
of