siness men who offer violence to the majority of peaceful Italian
people, are unutterably hated." On the other hand German papers spoke
with much more moderation and recognized that Italy was acting in an
entirely natural manner.

On the very day on which war was declared active operations were begun.
Both sides had been making elaborate preparations. Austria had prepared
herself by building strong fortifications in which were employed the
latest technical improvements in defensive warfare. Upon the Carso and
around Gorizia the Austrians had placed innumerable batteries of
powerful guns mounted on rails and protected by armor plates. They also
had a great number of medium and smaller guns. A net of trenches had
been excavated and constructed in cement all along the edge of the hills
which dominated the course of the Isonzo River.

[Illustration: Painting: Hundreds of soldiers using ropes to drag a
large gun up a mountain slope.]
ITALY'S TITANIC LABOR TO CONQUER THE ALPS
When the Italians were making their first mighty advance against
Austria descriptions came through of the almost unbelievable natural
obstacles they were conquering. Getting one of the monster guns into
position in the mountains, as shown above, over the track that had to
be built for every foot of its progress, was one such handicap.

[Illustration: Painting: Soldiers debarking from a transport under heavy
gun fire.]
THE HISTORIC LANDING FROM THE "RIVER CLYDE" AT SEDDUL BARR
An incident of the Dardanelles Expedition. Horrible losses were
sustained by the Allied troops from the concentrated fire of the
Turkish machine guns on shore.

These trenches, occupying a position nearly impregnable because so
mountainous, were defended by every modern device. They were protected
with numerous machine guns, surrounded by wire entanglements through
which ran a strong electric current. These lines of trenches followed
without interruption from the banks of the Isonzo to the summit of the
mountains which dominate it; they formed a kind of formidable staircase
which had to be conquered step by step with enormous sacrifice.

During this same period General Cadorna, then head of the Italian army,
had been bringing that army up to date, working for high efficiency and
piling up munitions.

The Army of Italy was a formidable one. Every man in Italy is liable to
military service for a period of nineteen years from the age of twenty
to thirt