uting Italy, brought strong pressure to bear on Austria
to surrender at least a portion of the regions in question. Austria,
however, bluntly refused to heed either Italy's demands or Germany's
suggestions. She refused even to discuss the question of ceding any
part of her Italian provinces. She attempted, indeed, to reverse the
situation by claiming compensation from Italy for the occupation of
the Dodecannesus and Vallona. The Dodecannesus was held as a pledge of
Turkish good faith, while the occupation of Vallona was indispensable
for the protection of Italian interests in Albania, where anarchy
reigned, and where much the same conditions prevailed which existed in
Mexico at the time of the American occupation of Vera Cruz.

The discussions might well have dragged on indefinitely, but late in
March, 1915, Austria, goaded by her ally into a more conciliatory
attitude, reluctantly consented to make concrete proposals. She
offered to Italy the southern half of the Trentino, but mentioned no
definite boundaries, and added that the bargain could not be carried
into effect until peace had been concluded. In return she claimed from
Italy heavy financial contributions to the National Debt and to the
provincial and communal loans, also full indemnity for all investments
made in the ceded territory, for all ecclesiastical property and
entailed estates, and for the pensions of State officials. To assign
even an approximate value to such concessions would entail a
prolonged delay--a fact of which Austria was perfectly aware.

Italy responded to the Austrian advances by presenting her
counter-claims, and for more than a month the negotiations pursued a
difficult and tedious course. It must be admitted that, everything
considered, Italy's claims were not particularly exorbitant. She
claimed (1) a more extended and more easily defendable frontier in the
Trentino, but she refrained from demanding the cession of the entire
region lying south of the Brenner, as she would have been justified in
doing from a strategic point of view; (2) a new boundary on the Isonzo
which would give her possession of the towns of Gradisca and Gorizia
(she has since taken them by arms); (3) the cession of certain islands
of the Curzolari group; (4) the withdrawal of Austrian pretensions in
Albania and the acknowledgement of Italy's right to occupy the
Dodecannesus and Vallona; (5) the formation of the city of Trieste,
together with the adjacent judicial