But though at first sight a general survey of the
week's war seems disappointing, only those who judge at short range can really be disturbed by the recent setbacks suffered by the Allies. Take the case of Italy, in which the loss of ground has been on the greatest Neale. Though the fighting in the Trentino still continues on Austrian soil, our Allies have had to give way along a considerable front just where an Austrian advance is specially perilous to them. Owing to the fact that when the frontier line was drawn in 1866 the Austrians insisted on keeping positions which, so to speak, placed the key of Italy in their pocket, the Trentino and the various passes leading from it into Venetia have always been a source of extreme anxiety to the Italian Staff. If once Austrian troops can come down the Brenner to the foot of Lake Garda, the military position in the Nofth of Italy must be placed in grave jeopardy.
