We are bound to say that these apprehensions appear to
us groundless. If Greece ever closes the Straits of Otranto it will be through a floating force and not through forts on the mainland. After all, Italy does not dream of forcing Greece out of Corfu, and; as long as Greece holds that, she has the maximum amount of power which land possessions can give her. We presume that the real explanation of the trouble is that Italy thinks that some day she will be the inheritor of Albania ; therefore she wants to see her prospective inheritance as large as possible. If Austria-Hungary breaks up there will, Italy holds, be nothing to prevent her occupying Albania and thus getting control of the Adriatic—the sea which was the preoccupation of Italian statesmen from Roman times to the days of the Venetian Republic. The Italians (we speak as their warmest and most convinced friends) will be very foolish if they create an unnecessary sense of antagonism, from the naval standpoint, in the minds of France, Russia, and Britain. Remember that if such antagonism is created Austria-Hungary, Italy's real rival in the Adriatic, will not fail to squeeze her very hard indeed. Italy would, in a word, be mad to " burn her boats " as regards the Triple Entente. Greece, through the patronage of Russia, may very possibly become a naval satellite of the Triple Entente.
