ieich was relieved of the supreme command on Sept. 5, and sent as viceroy to the Caucasus. The supreme command was taken over by the TSAR NICHOLAS II in person. STALEMATE ON THE SOUTHERN FRONT. ITALY enters the war on the Entente Side. On Apr. 26, Britain, France, Russia, and Italy concluded the secret treaty of London, but the efforts to defend and support Italy cost the Allies more than they gained. The first two years of Italy's participation in the war were taken up with the fighting of eleven succes-sive BATTLES ON THE ISONZO, along a front of only about sixty miles. The Austrians held the two important bridgeheads at Gorizia and Tolmino. The Italian advance never exceeded ten or twelve miles. STALEMATE ON THE TURKISH FRONT. Turkey entered the war on the side of Germany in October of 1914. The British, hoping to use their navy to force open the Straits to aid Russia, failed because of mistakes and lack of coordination. Their ill-fated landing at GALLIPOLI failed also. This enabled the Germans to postpone a projected campaign in Serbia designed to make direct contact with the Turks, and to exploit fur-ther their great successes against Russia. In October, they did attack and defeat Serbia. There was a stalemate on the Greek border, however. The MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN was also indecisive, but tied down the resources of all sides. Conflicting National InterestsBy the early 1900's the emergence of new nations such as Germany and Italy and the decline of old empires like Austria and Turkey had changed the former balance of power in Europe. Unrest in many nations within Austria-Hungary threatened the unity of the empire. Austria tried to dominate the Balkans in order to check the anti-Habsburg propaganda coming from Serbia. Germany supported Austria's Balkan policy, for she herself planned to exploit the rich resources of Asia Minor and for that purpose needed a railway route through friendly territory in the Balkans. At the same time Rus...
