At last Germany, weighed down by the burden of war and anxious to keep Italy neutral, appeared to believe that the difficulty had been settled. But Baron Sonnino's reply proved disappointing. He found the proposals too vague. They did not settle the Irredentist problem; above all they made no appreciable improvement in Italy's military frontier; finally, they did not offer adequate compensation for the freedom of action Austria would enjoy in the Balkans. "A strip of territory in the Trentino," he concluded, would not satisfy any of Italy's requirements.
On April 2, 1915, Austria, spurred on by Germany, endeavored to meet the Italian objections by offering more specific concessions. She expressed willingness to cede the districts of Trento, Roveredo, Riva, Tione (except Madonna di Campiglio and the neighborhood), and Borgo. This readjustment would give Italy a frontier cutting the valley of the Adige just north of Lavis. These districts Baron Burian considered far more than a "strip of territory," and he hoped Italy would be satisfied.
But Italy was far from satisfied, and six days later, in response to an invitation for counterproposals, Baron Sonnino drafted the following demands:
I. The Trentino, with the boundaries fixed for the Kingdom of Italy in 1811.
II. A new eastern frontier, to include Gradisca and Gorizia.
III. Trieste and its neighborhood, including Nabresina and the judicial districts of Capo d'Istria and Pirano, to be formed into an autonomous state with complete independence from Austro-Hungarian rule. Trieste to be a free port.
IV. The cession by Austria-Hungary of the Curzolari Islands off the coast of Dalmatia.
V. The immediate occupation by Italy of the ceded territories and the immediate evacuation by Austria-Hungary of Trieste and the neighborhood.
VI. The recognition by Austria-Hungary of Italian sovereignty over Valona and district.
VII. The renunciation by Austria-Hungary of any claims in Albania.