t they had made their position
at the opening of the war perfectly clear to Germany and Austria,
the world at large lacked knowledge of these negotiations upon
which to base satisfactory judgment of Italy's action--or lack
of action--at this time. Italy was in no position to go further
than this. The unsettled state of political and popular opinion
and her lack of equipment for war forced her to wait; but while
she temporized she made ready. In reality, the Italian diplomats
maintained that they took a definite position upon their charge
that Austria had violated the terms of the Triple Alliance, and
that from this stand they never receded. Negotiations with the
other members of the alliance received a check, also, through the
death of San Giuliano on October 16, 1914. On his deathbed the
foreign minister declared his sole regret was that he had not lived
to see the day of Italy's entrance into complete national unity.

* * * * *

CHAPTER LI

NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CENTRAL POWERS

During the fall and winter of 1914, the Italians had seemed about
equally divided in favor of intervention and neutrality. While a
large majority of the common people clamored for war, the neutralists
probably included the larger proportion of influential citizens.
Among the latter were the extreme clericals, who distrusted France
and Russia on religious grounds, aristocrats who viewed Germany
as a bulwark against socialism; bankers with German connections,
and a great body of the middle class who dreaded a war that would
interfere with their comfort and prosperity. A genuine admiration for
Germany's military prowess, exemplified in the successive victories
of 1914, offset to a large extent traditional antipathy to Austria.
Nevertheless, interventionist sentiment steadily gained, and Germany,
recognizing the trend, organized a determined effort to keep Italy on
the side of the alliance. German agents invaded Italy and conducted
a campaign of propaganda through the neutralist newspapers and
through more secret labors among various organizations influential
in their control of public sentiment.

This German campaign reached its climax in December with the arrival
at Rome of Prince von Buelow, one of the most skillful diplomats at
the call of the German Foreign Office. Von Buelow's capabilities
were particularly adapted to a task of this kind among a people
that set store upon the niceties of international r