CHAPTER XL
ADOWAH AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
The dolorous history of the defeat at Adowah, the decisive event
in the decline of Italy, is an epitome of all the tendencies and
weaknesses of the Italian nation; and, as I was more or less
intimately informed of all the causes of it, the intrigues and
treachery which made it possible, and as no Italian who knows the
story will, for very shame, tell it, I will leave the record of what I
learned and what I believe to be the indisputable facts.
When Lord Salisbury came to power in 1895, he renewed a compact with
Italy and Austria which had been made when Crispi was in office in his
first premiership, about 1888, for a common action in all questions
concerning the Turkish Empire; and on the occasion of the Armenian
massacres he called for the execution of its provisions, sending the
English fleet to Turkish waters and making a requisition on Austria
and Italy for the support of their fleets. Crispi, who saw in the
measure the longed-for opportunity of action in league with England,
ordered the fleet to follow that of England, and prepared the
mobilization of an army corps to co?perate by land. He had already
revived the ancient hostility of France by the rejection of an offer
of the French government, made at his accession to office, of
all desirable friendly offices, a treaty of commerce, financial
facilities, etc.
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