Gaetano Salvemini - La politica estera italiana dal 1871 al 1915

Parte quarta f . h . " Th h " h f . " . orce as m any ot er provmce. us, t e exc anges o v1ews maugurat- ed by Sazonoff during the previous December were brought definitely to an end. Sir Edward Grey complained that the closure of the Dardanelles paralised the export of grain from the Black Sea to the British Isles and asked the Italians to abstain from other enterprises of that nature until such time as the ports had been cleared of ships. Sazonoff proteste against the Turkish action but refused to support the English initiative. The Cabinets of Berlin and Paris remained on the fence. Finally, during the night of the 1st of May, the Ottoman Government decided to re-open the Darda– nelles to navigation. Matters stood as before. On Aprii 28th, while the closure of the Dardanelles was under discus– sion, the Italian fleet occupied Stampalia, the first of the islands about which Berchtold had promised to raise no objections. On May 4th, the Italians landèd at Rhodes. The small Turkish garrison offerèd some resistance before surrendering. By the 16th of that month the Italians were in full contro! of the island. During the same days, they occupied other neighbouring small islands. The Greek population everywhere greeted the Italians without hostility in the hope that they would hand over the islands to Greece. Giolitti and San Giuliano were not long in discovering that they had again been beating the air. The leaders of the Young Turks announced that they would expel all Italian subjects from the Ottoman Empire and in fact did expel severa! thousand - the poorest, who could find no protector. On May 21st, the Italians also occupied the island of Còs. At this point Berchtold carne forward with a protest to the effect that any further occupation would constitute a violation of the Alliance unless it were preced– ed by an agreement in which the Rome Cabinet recognized the right of Vienna to compensation (May 22nd). When the Italian Government gave notice that it would occupy still another island - Chio, Berchtold put in his veto. If the island were occupied he "would regard himself as freed from the obligations resulting from the Triple Alliance'' and would act in the fu– ture "without seeking any accord with the Italian government" (May 31st). Giolitti and San Giuliano then considered occupying the island of Samos. But here they ran up against a French and English veto. The absence of protest on the part of Berlin and Vienna about the occupation of Rhodes and the neighbouring island, coupled with the anti-French sentiments in the Italian press and the telegrams which San Giuliano was sending to the Italian ambassador to Saint Petersburg, which the Russian Secret Service decoded, had roused in the diplomats of the Triple Entente the suspicion that the links between the Rome Cabinet and those of the Centrai Powers had become closer than either Giolitti or San Giuliano cared to acknowledge. Sir Edward Grey and Poincaré decided that the time had come to make Rome realize that they were also to be taken into account and refused to budge on the question of the occupation of Samos. 448 BibliotecaGino Bianco