Gaetano Salvemini - La politica estera italiana dal 1871 al 1915

Parte quarta the Turkish fleet had been annihilated. The Turks were so little impressed that on J uly 28th, the Swisss negotiations broke down. They were resumed on August 13th. The Snag remained the same - the demand for unconditional ltalian sovereignty over Libya which the Turks refused to admit. August passed as did September in endless proposals and counter-proposals. On October 2nd, the Italian gave the Turks eight days in which to make up their minds. Although Montenegro had already opened hostilities by October 8th, the Turks continued to hedge. By October 11th, the negotiations seemed to have run aground. The Italians deferred the expiry of their ultimatum until midnight of October 15th. The Cabinets of Berlin and Vienna pressed Constantinople to abandon any last resistance. The Turks fìnally gave in on October 15th. By a fìrman dated October 16th, 1912, the Sultan, in the exercise of his sovereign rights,. announced that his government found it impossible to give inhabitants of Cyrenaica and. Tripolitania the necessary protection; there– fore, "wishing to avoid the continuation of a disastrous war" he granted "full and entire autonomy" to the two provinces. The ne:,çtday, October 17th, the King of Italy, also in the exercise of the sovereign rights which he had attributed to himself on November 5th, 1911, granted full amnesty to all those who had fought to that date against the Italian troops, and promis– ed full religious freedom to his new subjects. It was as if Mahomet told two of his daughters that he was henceforth unable to support them and was therefore forced to ask them to leave home; and the girls, no sooner out of the door, fell into the arms of a man who had long been threatening to burn down the house unless they were handed over to him. The publication of these two documents was followed on October 18th by the signing of the real treaty of peace (Treaty of Ouchy) in which the . two belligerent governments who had feigned to ignore one another in the two documents published during the preceding days, decided to com– municate to one another that they wished to end the state of war and consequently pledged themselves to withdraw their respective troops, the Ottoman Government from Libya, and the Italian Government from the Aegean Islands. The evacuation of the islands, however, was to take place only after Libya had been evacuateci by the Ottoman troops and civil officials. . The peace brought the war between Italy and Turkey to a dose and thus eliminated Libya from the number of territories ove!'. which there existed conflicting international daims. But the colonia! war between Italy and the natives of Libya continued for severa! years. While one international problem - that of Libya - had been settled, another - that of the Dodecanese - had been opened. San Giµliano had repeatedly stated that nothing was farther from his mind than a permanent occupation of those islands. They were merely a pledge during the war meant to force the Turks .to accept peace, and after the signing of peace, to force 450 BibliotecaGino Bianco