Dalmatia changed hands frequently during the Napoleonic period. Perhaps it is on this account that the Dalmatian, when questioned regarding his nationality, answers by stating that he has two languages. Of these he calls one “lingua del cuore,” and the other “lingua del pane.” His native province was awarded to Austria by the treaty of Campoformio in 1797 and subsequently annexed to Napoleon’s Empire by the treaty of Presburg in 1805. It reverted to Austrian rule in 1814. Successive masters, however, failed to root out Italian in the region. The language was recognized as official until 1860. The formation of a united Italian state marked the beginning of a repressive policy directed against Italians by the Austrian government. The effort of the Hapsburg administration was entirely directed towards the development of the Adriatic Slavs in order to counterbalance Italian influence. A great revival of Croatian and Serbian national feeling resulted from this policy. The award of the entire eastern Adriatic coast to Italy would not only trespass on lands of alien speech, but would seriously hamper future economic development of Croatians and Serbians by preventing these peoples from attaining the sea. These points are admitted by most Italian irredentists. They therefore limit their claims to the Istrian peninsula and the coast region of Dalmatia comprised between the Velebiti range and the Narenta river. Italy’s position in the Adriatic would be improved by the recognition of the rights of her Slav neighbors. The goodwill of a united and liberated Jugoslavia, which would be bound to Italy by ties of interest and sentiment, would thus be acquired. The Croatian coastland, in the section which extends along the waterway of the same name from the gulf of Fiume to the mouth of the Zermagna river, is known as the Morlacca. The bay of Buccari is strategically necessary for the protection of Fiume, and Italians would probably make a strong claim for its possession in case the larger seaport came into their possession. The Serbian coastland really begins south of the Narenta river and centers around Ragusa. This is the only city of any importance on the Adriatic coast in which evidences of Serbian culture are discernible. The old Slavic settlers were probably traders who plied between the coasts of Dalmatia and Abruzzi during the Middle Ages. In the kingdom of Naples Slav colonists are known as early as the eleventh century, during the reign of Emperor Otto I. The bulk of Slavic immigration into Italy dates, however, from the beginning of the fifteenth century when possession of the coast provinces was disputed by the Aragonians and Angevins. Both claimants induced Slavs to colonize the contested regions on condition that they would recognize the authority of those who provided them with land. At a later period the advance of Turkish hordes in the Balkans drove a large number of Slavic families westward. [Illustration: