rror of the Italian and
Allied statesmen for which Europe may have to suffer. That Italy's
policy cannot in the near future return to the lines on which it ran
ever since the establishment of her national unity, whatever her allies
may do or say, will hardly be gainsaid. Interests are decisive factors
of foreign policy, and the action of the Great Powers has determined
Italy's orientation.

Italy undoubtedly gained a great deal by the war, into which she entered
mainly for the purpose of achieving her unity and securing strong
frontiers. But she signed the Peace Treaty convinced that she had not
succeeded in either purpose, and that her allies were answerable for her
failure. It was certainly part of their policy to build up a strong
state on her frontier out of a race which she regards as her adversary
and to give it command of some of her strategic positions. And the overt
bearing manner in which this policy was sometimes carried out left as
much bitterness behind as the object it aimed at. It is alleged that the
Italian delegates were treated with an economy of consideration which
bordered on something much worse, while the arguments officially invoked
to non-suit them appeared to them in the light of bitter sarcasms.
President Wilson, they complained, ignored his far-resonant principle
of self-determination when Japan presented her claim for Shantung, but
refused to swerve from it when Italy relied on her treaty rights in
Dalmatia. And when the inhabitants of Fiume voted for union with the
mother country, the President abandoned that principle and gave judgment
for Jugoslavia on other grounds. He was right, but disappointing, they
observed, when he told his fellow-citizens that his presence in Europe
was indispensable in order to interpret his conceptions, for no other
rational being could have construed them thus.

The withdrawal of the Italian delegates was construed as an act of
insubordination, and punished as such. The Marquis de Viti de Varche has
since disclosed the fact that the Allied governments forthwith reduced
the credits accorded to Italy during hostilities, whereupon hardships
and distress were aggravated and the peasantry over a large area of the
country suffered intensely.[227] For Italy is more dependent on her
allies than ever, owing to the sacrifices which she offered up during
the war, and she was made to feel her dependence painfully. The military
assistance which they had received from her wa