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LEFT GORIZIA 365 GORKY watches, and it is a center of agricul- tural produce. The population which numbers about 30,000, is mainly German- speaking and Ttalian-speaking, but in race and history the town is more Italian than Austrian. During the war Gorizia was one of the most hardly contested points of fhe Austro-Italian front. It was strongly held by the Austrian forces. On August 4, 1916, General Cadorna opened fire along the Isonzo front, de- livering a frontal attack on the forces opposite Gorizia. The Italian forces went forward with the utmost vehemence and the heights of Monte Calvario and Monte Podgora above Gorizia were car- ried in the first rush. South of Gor- izia the Italians also took Monte San Michele, the key to the Gorizia position, which had been a heavily contested point from the first clash between Italy and the Austrians. The Austrian forces met the repeated attacks of the enemy with great stubbornness ; nevertheless, after a battle lasting two days, the heights west of Gorizia were occupied, and King Victor Emmanuel at the head of his in- fantry entered Gorizia on August 9. From that time forth the Italian com- mander put forth all his efforts to con- solidate his position around Gorizia, The city was turned into a veritable strong- hold, and was made a base of supply for the advance toward the capture of Trieste. But east of Gorizia were great elevations well guarded by Austrian guns, with whole labyrinthine intrench- ments blocking the way. During the Italian offensive in the early part of August the Austrians had lost, accord- ing to the Italian estimate, 65,000 men, including 18,758 prisoners. In November, Italian forces, attacking the heights east of Gorizia, brought in 9,000 more Austri- ans. During the winter the Italians made preparations for a great offensive, start- ing from Gorizia, which was intended to capture Trieste, destroy Austrian naval power in the Adriatic and open the road to Vienna. The enemy was first to be engaged all along the line, and then a surprise attack was to be launched north of Gorizia. An attempt of this sort was made in May, 1917, and some initial suc- cesses were obtained, Monte Cucco, Monte Sa7ito, Lucati, and Bagni, being captured. But the Austrians had also been making preparations, and were re-enforced by the collapse of Russia. In June they launched a strong offensive, driving back the Italians. Austrians and Italians then for a time answered offensive with offensive, and the Italians won some sig- nal successes crossing the Isonzo in August, after diverting the river by an important engineering feat. Toward Vol. IV— Cyc— X the ena of 1917, however, the Austrian forces staged a big surprise. Austro- G©rman batteries on October 21 bom- barded the Plezzo-Tolmino front with ex- traordinary intensity, the infantry break- ing through the Italian positions and crossing the Isonzo. Advancing down the Natisone and Indrio river valleys, they forced the second and third Italian armies to retire. In five days the Austro-Germans were able to announce that they had captured 60,000 men and 500 guns. Seizing Monte Matajar, which overlooked the Italian rear, and capturing the workers on the roads be- hind the front, they forced the Italians on the Carso plateau hastily to fall back over the Isonzo, and menaced the entire army in that region. On Oct. 28 rail- way communication between the front and Udine was interrupted by the cap- ture of Cividale, and Gorizia fell simul- taneously into the hands of the Aus- trians. The Austrian advance did not halt till the Piave river was reached. Before the enemy reached the Taglia- mento, Italy had lost 180,000 men, and 1,500 guns. At the Livenza the totals had swelled to 250,000 and 2,300 guns. At the Piave, German reports showed a gain of 300,000 men, 2,700 guns, with the occupation of 4,000 square miles of Italian territory. From those positions there was little charge to the end of the war and Gorizia was made a powerful base of supply behind the Austrian front. GORKY, MAXIM, the pseudonym of a Russian novelist and short story writer, whose real name is Alexei Maximo tch Pyeshkov, born in Nizhni-Novgorod, 1868, He was of humble parentage, and, being an orphan at nine, became a shoemaker's apprentice. He did not remain long at this trade, nor at any trade, in fact, but wandered about the country doing odd jobs and tramping between whiles. Thus he became intimately acquainted with the class of people, outcasts and beggars, who are the chief characters of his stories and novels. Gradually his ex- periences found expression in literary form and by 1905 Gorky was one of the most popular writers of Russia. He was in close sympathy with the Russian revolutionary parties, and was twice ar- rested for his revolutionary activities, but his prominence as a literary man, abroad as well as in Russia, made it in- advisable for the Czar's Government to punish him severely. In 1906 he visited the United States to raise money for the Russian revolutionary movement, but his mission failed because of the fact that the Russian Church had not legalized his marriage to the woman who accompanied him. For some years he l^ed in Italy,