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Mon 15 Oct 1923 - The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929)
Page 11 - THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS.
THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS.
What the League of Nations
Did.
By Professor Darnley Naylor.
Viscount Grey, in a letter to the news-
papers on October 8, wrote: — "The Italo-
Greek episode exhibited the use of force
in the roughest form as a first step, and
the matter was closed by a decision not
based on justice." M. Poincare, in a
speech delivered on October 7, said:—
"Only recently, by loyal co-operation in
the Conference of Ambassadors and the
League of Nations, England and France
have contributed to allay conflicts which
might have disturbed the peace of
Europe." Sir Joseph Cook, in an inter-
view with the Australian Press Associa-
tion at Geneva, on September 30, said:—
'The Ambassadors' Conference, whose ser-
vants were foully murdered, insisted on
exercising condign judgment. My impres-
sion is that had the League done it, the
result would not have been very different,
if at all. It is also safe to say that the
League played a greater part in the settle-
ment than is popularly supposed.'
If those on the spot can reach con-
clusions to divergent, it is not likely that
we, in Australia, can decide whether the
League has succeeded in this matter or
failed. But a review of the facts, while
fresh in our memories, will do something
to dispel the mist of doubt, and the pur-
pose of this article is to state the events
in their proper order, and so enable
any thinking person to give a rational
verdict on the evidence forthcoming.
Frontier Questions.
The Conference of Ambassadors has
taken go prominent a part that it is welt
to go back to the year 1913, when, at the
close of the Balkan War, this conference
came into existence for the purpose of re-
arranging the Balkan States after the
combatants had fought to a standstill.
One of their earliest decisions was to make
Albania a sovereign State. They even
arranged for a German princeling to take
the throne. But before the frontiers of
Albania were fixed, the European War
broke out, and Albania's sovereignty be-
came the plaything of the Allies. In 1915
Albania was promised to Italy; in
1920 to Serbia, Greece, and Italy;
in 1921 she became a member of the
League, and then, but not before, the
Conference of Ambassadors woke up and
claimed the right to delimit the frontiers.
The attempt by Serbia to seize the nor-
thern districts, the threat against Serbia
of blockade by the League, and the quick
withdrawal of Serbian troops is a piece of
history which marks the beginning oi a
new and better order. The northern
frontier was then settled once for all. But
the southern frontier had not been fixed;
and during August last a commission, con
sisting of English, French, and Italian offi-
cials, was engaged in this work on behalf
of the Conference of Ambassadors.
The Janina Incident.
On August 28, at Janina, in Greece, and
close to the Albanian frontier, Gen. Telini
and two other Italians were shot by un-
known assassins. The next day Italy de-
manded reparation, from Greece, and the
Italian fleet began to concentrate. This
was Wednesday, and on Thursday the
Greek Government received a note from
the Ambassadors' Conference protesting
against the crime, and demanding a strict
enquiry into the murders. It is must
important to bear this fact in mind, and
to notice that the Ambassadors' Confe-
rence came upon the stage almost as soon
as Italy. Moreover, there is little doubt
that this body, through its commissioners,
had a better chance of discovering the
truth, if it was minded, to do so. The
commissioners were on the spot, they knew
the country and the inhabitants, and an
enqniry could Be instituted without delay.
Revengeful Italy.
But now Mussolini began the methods
of frightfulness. Greece had assented to
all his demands except those which en-
tailed insult to her own flag. Thereupon
the Italian ships, on August 31, wantonly
bombarded Corfu. The news of the bom-
bardment reached the Greek Government
at the same time as the despatch announc-
ing that its request for a modification of
terms , had been rejected. Italy, landed
8,000 troops on a defenceless island whose
neutrality was guaranteed by the treaty
of 1864. Greece, at once and very pro-
perly appeared to the League of Nations.
Fortunately for the world, the Council of
the League was in session, and the As-
sembly was also about to meet. On Sep-
tember 1 Signor Salandra informed the
Council that he had no permission to dis-
cuss the crisis. On Sunday (September
2) it was stated that Italy would refuse
to accept the League's intervention, and
would withdraw from the League,
Greece, on the other hand, announced
that she was prepared to pay any
reparations considered necessary by the
ambassadors.
Plain Speaking to Mussolini.
On Monday (September 3) Signor Salan-
dra asked for a postponement of the Coun-
cil meeting until instructions arrived from
his Government. In spite of Mussolini's
threats that he would withdraw from the
League if it interfered in any way, the
matter was discussed by the Council at a
meeting open to the public on the Wednes-
day (September 5). There Signor Salan-
dra stated the case for Italy, and M.
Politis replied on behalf of Greece. Two
facts are to be emphasized — the meeting
of the Council was not held in camera,
and the parties had to present their point
of view to the world, and not to a coterie
of diplomatists. Meanwhile the Confer-
ence of Ambassadors had drawn up a num-
ber of suggestions which were discussed by
the Council on September 6. The minutes
of this meeting were sent to the Confer-
ence of Ambassadors, who on September 8
announced to both Greece and Italy, as
well as to the League of Nations, the
terms upon which the Conference thought
that the dispute should be settled. They
were as follows:— The Greek military
authorities must apologize to the British,
French, and Italian representatives a
Athens; the enquiry into the murders
must be finished by September 27; and the
acceptance of the terms by Greece must be
communicated to the British, French, and
Italian representatives separately, and
simultaneously. The Conference con-
cluded by paying a tribute to the Coun-
cil's, high spirit of justice and its anxiety
to maintain international harmony. It
also emphasized the value of the minutes
of the Council in enabling it to come to
a decision. On September 8 Greece ac-
cepted these terms,and, on the next day,
Mussolini did the same, with the proviso,
however, that Corfu was not to be evacu-
ated until Greece had given full satisfac-
tion. On September 11 M. Politis in
formed the Council that Greece had de-
position in a Swiss bank 50,000,000 lire as
security for an indemnity which a com
mission at Janina might assess. Four
days later the Ambassadors' Conference in-
formed Mussoolini that he must evacuate
Corfu on September 27. This date was
accepted by Mussolini within 48 hours — a
result, it is said, due to pressure by
France and England, who threatened that
otherwise the whole question would be
discussed in the Assembly on
Monday, September 17. On that day.
therefore, the settlement was announced
in the Council, and Lord Robert Cecil,
not without justification, attributed this
happy conclusion of a most menacing
crisis to the action of the League.
Invaluable Work by the League.
At this point it is well to observe that
had the League of Nations not existed,
Italy would have over-run Greece at the
outset, and no one can say where the con-
flagration would have ended. Instead of
this, Italy had to share the apology with
England and France, and also to justify
herself in public at Geneva. Moreover,
the decision about Grecian reparations,
though not taken altogether out of Italy's
hands, was made in conjunction with other
interested parties. Lastly, not a word
was said by the conference about Italy's
demand from Greece of 1,000,000 lire per
day for the cost of the occupation of
Corfu.
Mussolini still denied the competence
of the League to discuss the Corfu inci-
dent. On September 19 the Council de-
bated, again in public, this question of
competence. Signor Salandra urged that
the League Covenant, did not prohibit
"pacific reprisals" (for so be described the
bombardment of Corfu); he stated, how-
ever, that Italy was willing to have the
matter interpreted by "authorized judi
cial authorities." Next morning the de
bate was continued, and it was finally de-
cided to refer the- question of competence
to a body of jurists. On September 26
the Conference of Ambassadors awarded
Italy an indemnity of 50,000,000 lire, on
the alleged ground that "the Greek au-
thorities had been guilty of a certain negli-
gence before and after the crime."
This decision may or may not be a just
one. Obviously it would be accepted with
much more confidence, if the evidence on
which it was founded could be made pub-
lic. That certain members of the As-
sembly were far from satisfied was shown
on Friday, September 28, when in a pub-
lic meeting of that body the representa-
tives of Sweden Norway, South Africa,
Finland, Ireland, Colombia, Denmark,
Persia, and the Netherlands mounted the
rostra, and, amid loud applause, denounced
the conduct of Mussolini. It would be
interesting to learn what instructions, if
any were given to the Australian delega
tion, and why we and Canada took no
part in this protest.
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65035758
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4567238
APA citation
THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS. (1923, October 15).The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), p. 11. Retrieved October 27, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65035758
MLA citation
"THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS."The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929) 15 October 1923: 11. Web. 27 Oct 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65035758>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1923 'THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS.',The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), 15 October, p. 11. , viewed 27 Oct 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65035758
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65035758 |title=THE ITALO-GREEK CRISIS. |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXXVIII, |issue=25,834 |location=South Australia |date=15 October 1923 |accessdate=27 October 2025 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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