s Dr. Meyer's present feeling
toward Italy's defection:

The views which I have presented in this article are the
fruit of long years of study and research; and I feel myself
constrained to state explicitly that they are in no wise
influenced by the events which we have experienced during
the last few weeks. But it may be that a short postscript is
necessary.

Italy has not won her present national unity by reason of
her own strength; she owes it to the combinations of the
changing world-situation and the victories of foreign
powers, which her statesmen have known how to use to the
best advantage.

According to Dr. Meyer, Italy's claim to be one of the great powers is
not based on any actual ability to uphold that claim; it merely
happens that her assertion has not been challenged.

She has claimed for herself the status of a great power on a
par with the other large nations of the world; but she has
not possessed the inner strength of herself to support such
a claim without the help of stronger powers.

In August, 1914, Italy had the opportunity to decide her
fate. If she could have made the choice then, if she could
have gone into the world-war with all the might that she
possessed and, staking her whole existence, have fought
toward the highest goal, she might have won for herself a
powerful and self-sufficient place in the world.

On account of his many utterances since the outbreak of the war,
Ludwig Thoma's Maerz (Munich), a weekly founded by him, has attracted
much attention. An article entitled "Italy's Defection," in a recent
issue, is most bitter in tone, accusing Italy of long-standing
intrigue and treachery.

We know that Italy went still further from the fact that at
the renewal of the alliance in 1912 in Paris she expressly
announced that she would not march against France. It will
be remembered how quick the French army command was to take
stock of relations on the southeastern border, with the
result that in the very first days of mobilization their
troops were called from the Savoy Alps and by the eighth of
August were giving battle on the Alsatian border.

But Italy still guarded the neutrality which she had
proclaimed and with apparent reasonableness she was able to
hold that the letter of the Triple Alliance did not compel
he