ITALY: Recall to Respect

Italy’s Foreign Minister was busy last week. Growing more & more nervous over his mounting influence in Austria and Hungary, Jugoslavia topped off a two-month press attack with a violent outburst against Fascist Italy and all its works. Published were entirely imaginary stories of strikes and riots in Milan and Turin in which dozens were supposed to have been killed. The semi-official Vreme of Belgrade touched the sorest spot of all with a sneering description of Italy’s Wartime defeat at Caporetto and ugly references to the cowardice of the Italian army.

That did the trick. Foreign Minister Benito Mussolini, puffing with rage, sent the Italian Minister at Belgrade hot-footing around to the Jugoslavian Foreign Office with an official protest. Wrote the Giornale d’Italia:

“It is a case of recalling Jugoslavia to the respectful ranks of honest and responsible peoples who remember the benefits they have received.”

The Jugoslavian incident rubbed Foreign Minister Mussolini the wrong way because for three months Italy’s puppet King Zog of Albania has been acting uppity. Albania was violently objecting to Italian officers commanding her troops. She was refusing to allow Italian immigrants to settle in the rich Mushakia Valley. Italy had pretty definite knowledge that Jugoslavia was secretly backing Albania’s stand, had offered to fight on her side if Italian troops landed in Albania.

In June tempers were at the snapping point. Six Italian cruisers and 16 smaller craft steamed into the harbor of Durazzo and Albanian troops started digging trenches on the hillside. Two British officers, Major General Sir Jocelyn Percy and a Major Cripps, instructors to the Albanian gendarmery, did more than anything else to prevent an open break. The cruisers were withdrawn, and last week reason returned to Puppet Zog. He was persuaded by Benito Mussolini to accept a handsome loan with which to buy more munitions from Italy. Ten thousand Italian settlers will be admitted and Italian officers will continue to command the Albanian Army.