If only it abandoned its old-fashioned and unrealistic imperialist ambitions, pro-Entente socialists and liberals saw no reason why Italy’s strategic interests could not be made compatible with the new era of self-determination.14 As we have seen, by the spring of 1918 the Entente and the United States were coming around to the view that the Habsburg Empire must be dismantled.15 Just as German progressives had hoped to fashion a liberal hegemony in the East, Italian progressives foresaw a future in which Italy would play the role of promoter and protector of self-determination throughout
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