AUSTRIA’S imperial designs were extinguished by the outcome
of the Great War. Italy’s, however, burned more brightly than ever. In an
article in “Foreign Affair”s of June
15, 1923, Mr. Francesco Coppola says:
“Although Italy entered the war to combat the German
attempt at hegemony and to wrest her historic frontiers and the control of the
Adriatic from Austria, Italy’s traditional instinct really aimed to secure the
indispensable modicum of security and freedom for expansion. It was for this
reason that in the fundamental pact of alliance—the Treaty of London of April,
1915—Baron Sonnino stipulated for Italian colonial compensation in Africa in
the event of a Franco-English partition of the German colonies, and for a
corresponding zone in Southern Anatolia in the event of Allied acquisitions in
the Levant. It was also for this reason that, later on, when he got wind of the
complete plan of a tripartite division of the Ottoman Empire, (disloyally
concluded in 1916 between France, Russia, and England without the knowledge of
Italy, who had been fighting for more than a year by their side), he forced the
Allies to reopen the question and to give an adequate share to Italy. The new
treaty was discussed in April, 1917, between Sounino, Ribot and Lloyd George at St. Jean de Maurienne— from which it took its
name—and was concluded and signed in London in August of the same year. While
leaving Constantinople and the Caucasus, Armenia and part of the Anatolian
coast of the Black Sea to Russia, Syria and Cilicia to France, and Mesopotamia
and the protectorate over Arabia to England, this
treaty assigned to Italy Southwestern Anatolia, the whole vilayet of Aidin with
Smyrna, the whole vilayet of Konia with Adalia and a small part of the vilayet
of Adana. But this very treaty contained the poison which was later to weaken
it. Even before the war was over, the Allies hastened to avail themselves
of the pretext of the absence of Russia’s signature to denounce the Treaty of
St. Jean de Maurienne. Thus it came about that in the spring of 1919, Lloyd
George, taking advantage of the weakness and temporary absence of Orlando, and
violating the treaty of St. Jean de Maurienne and the armistice of Mudros, was
able to arrange that Smyrna and the surrounding neighborhood be given to
Greece. This was done with the full consent of Wilson, who, absolutely
ignorant of European and Mediterranean affairs, blindly allowed himself to be
governed by idealistic impulses and natural prejudices and with the approbation
of Clemenceau, who was only too delighted to be able to ‘jouer un mauvais tour
a l’ Italie.’ ”
Some of the Italian publicist’s conclusions are open to
discussion, but his article sets forth the Italian frame of mind. There was
much talk at Smyrna during the time of the Greek occupation in military circles
and among the Levantines about Italian efforts to build a port farther to the
south, in the vicinity of ancient Ephesus, that would become the chief harbor
of Asia Minor and leave Smyrna to sink into insignificance. Many stories were told also of Italian efforts to win the
affections of the Turk. In any case, it is
certain that bands of Turkish marauders were in the habit of crossing the line
from the Italian zone and of attacking and killing Greeks, after which they
would take refuge with the Italians, where they could not be pursued.
The statement that the Turks received munitions
and many arms from Italian shippers was persistently repeated, and has never
been successfully refuted. The Italian
viewpoint has already been explained. They considered that Smyrna had been
promised them and that the Hellenic forces had been hurried there by their
unfaithful allies to forestall their own landing. Italy can consider herself
very fortunate that she did not beat the Greeks to Smyrna, for even with her
own resources, so superior to those of King Constantine, she would have had her
hands full.
But, the point is, her attitude contributed to
the Greek defeat, the burning of Smyrna and the final destruction of the
Christians of Asia Minor. Much valuable
Italian property was destroyed as well as that of others. An aftermath of Italian antipathy to Greece may be seen in
the bombardment of Corfu and the seizure of the island by the Italian fleet on
August 31, 1923.
On the twenty-seventh of the same month, five Italian
members of the commission for the delimitation of the frontier between Albania
and Greece were waylaid on a lonely road in Albania and foully murdered by
unknown persons. The demands of the Italian Government, including a payment of
fifty million liras, were refused by the Greeks, on the ground that culpability
had not been established. A request by Greece that the affair be referred to
the League of Nations was refused and the island bombarded, with the result
that sixty-five civilians, largely refugees, were killed or wounded. The indignation of the Italians is easily understandable, but
a knowledge of preceding events is necessary to explain the wholly unnecessary
bombardment of a Greek island on insufficient data and the killing or the
wounding of sixty-five entirely innocent persons. As these latter were killed
by cannon, they were not, of course, murdered.
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