A separate peace with Italy--her separation from her Allies--was entirely out of the question, but a general peace would have been possible if the Western Powers could have come to an understanding with Germany.
The only object gained by that appeal would have been to confirm the extent of our exhaustion from the war.

Had I answered that I was ready to give up this or that province, it would have been interpreted as a conclusive symptom of our increasing weakness, and would not have brought peace any nearer, but rather kept it at a greater distance.
I answered, therefore, in friendly tone that the Monarchy did not aim at conquests, and that I was ready to negotiate on the basis of pre-war conditions of possession.

No answer was sent.
After the downfall I was told by a person, certainly not competent to judge, that my tactics had been mistaken, as Italy would have separated from her Allies and concluded a separate peace.

Further accounts given in this chapter prove the injustice of the reproof.

But it is easy now to confirm the impression that there was not a single moment while the war lasted when Italy ever thought of leaving her Allies.
An extraordinary incident occurred at the end of February, 1917.