nd do.
Italy, like Russia and Germany, had been having trouble in holding
down her people. A revolution had been threatened which would
overthrow the king and set up a republic. The Socialist Party,
representing the working class, had been growing very strong, and one
of their greatest principles was that all war is wrong. They felt that
the Triple Alliance made by the Italian statesmen had never bound the
Italian people. Throughout the entire peninsula, the Austrians were
hated.

You will remember that France had aroused the Italians' anger in 1881
by seizing Tunis. Italy had hoped to snap up this province for
herself, for the Italian peninsula was crowded with people, and as the
population increased, it was thought necessary that colonies be
established to which the people could migrate to have more room.
Finally in 1911, in order to divert the minds of the people from
revolutionary thoughts, the government organized an expedition to
swoop down on Tripoli, which, like Egypt, was supposed to belong to
Turkey.

This meant war with the government at Constantinople, and Germany and
Austria were very angry at Italy, their ally, for attacking Turkey,
with which the Austrians and Germans were trying to establish a firm
friendship. However, "self-preservation is the first law of nature,"
and the Italian king and nobles valued their leadership in the nation
much more than they dreaded the dislike of Germany and Austria.

The Germans had counted on Italy to join in the attack on Russia and
France, but the Italian statesmen knew the feelings of their people
too well to attempt this. Of late years, there had been growing up a
friendship between the people of Italy and those of France, and the
Italian generals knew that it would be a difficult task to induce
their men to fire upon their kinsmen from across the Alps. Therefore,
when Austria and Germany demanded their support in the war, they
replied by pointing out that the terms of the Triple Alliance bound
Italy to go to their help only if they were attacked. "In this case,"
said the Italians, "you are the attacking party. The treaty does not
bind us to support you in any war conquest. What is more, we were not
consulted before Austria sent to Serbia her impossible demands. Expect
no help from us."

Now the great question arose as to England. The English statesmen were
not blind to the German plan. They saw that Germany intended to crush
France first, capturing Paris and de