To be optimistic at such a moment is a proof
either of ignorance or cowardice. The rape of Albania gives to Italy a fortified base at Valona and the keys of the Adriatic. Once established in the country, Italy will be only twenty-four miles from Janina (the centre of Albanian irredentism), only thirty miles from Cettinje (the centre of Montenegrin un- rest), only forty miles from Uskub (the one-time centre of Macedonian revolution), and little more than one hundred miles from Salonika. Who in his senses could fail to feel dis- turbed by such an occurrence? Yet behind it all is the grave damage to confidence. One is reminded of Nietzsche's words : "Nicht doss du mich betrogst, sondern dass ich dir nicht mehr glaube, hat mich erschiittert." It is not so much that Signor Mussolini has broken the Anglo-Italian agree- ment ; it is that we cannot again give faith to any of his assurances. Diplomacy, in such conditions, becomes un- workable.
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