The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-10 00:00:00

THE STATE OF dIUSTRA.

There seems to be reason to believe that that
wonderful vitality which has been so marked a
characteristic of the Austrian empire is once again
about to give token of its existence by resuscitating
the apparently moribund State even at its list gasp,
!gut under conditions which will materially affee:tt
the map of Europe, and still more the balance of
power in Germany. In the b,_giuning of the prea
sent century the Emperor was the heir of Charle-
magne, of whose dominions what is now called
Germany formed a comparatively small portion.
His sway extended over all France, over Catalonia
and part of Arragon, over Switzerland and Italy
as far as Gaeta, and over Hungary as far as the
Theiss, and over Holstein and Denmark as far es
the Eider; but all that important part of Northern
Germany which lies to the east of the Elbe, n s
well as Bohemia, Moravia, and the greater part of
Hungary and the Bulgarian nations, were indepen-
dent of him. The Saxons were savages and pagans,
and were never thoroughly subdued by his areas,
though repeatedly defeated ; and •Wends eald
se
laves (for the great Polish kingdom was not yet
in existence) for centuries after his time occupied
the sandy plains of Prussia. It is needless to trr ce
the imperial dignity during. :
its long descent in: a
thousand years : it was a glorious and a venerable
institution that German empire ; it christianised
and civilised Europe in its unruly youth ; it tuna-
pered and restrained it in its turbulent manhood;
but its hour arrived, and, strange to say, when the
ancient empire fell, the likeness of the last Emperor
found but one panel remaining in the historical
wall of the Itomerburg at Frankfort to receive it.
But though in 1806 Francis ceased to be Emperor
of Germany, the traditions of long supremacy still
lingered about his house, and by common consent
Austria was acknowledged the chief of the German
Confederation, and retained in Germany an influ-
ence by no means commensurate with the number
of her German subjects, which does not reach.
7,000,000, or her German territory, which does not
form more than an eighth or a ninth part of the
Austrian dominions. The population of Austria
consists of about 7,000,000 Germans, 6,000.00(1
Magyars, 2,000,000 Wallachians, Jews, Gipsies,
Greeks, BIC Tartars, and no less than 16,000,00 or
17,000,000 of Sclavonic races, which may be &sided
roughly into Greeks, 4,000,000; Slowacks, 3,e,00,000;
Poles, 2,500,000 ; Serbs, 2,500,000 ;
2,500,000 ; Wends, 1,000,000 ; and Croats,
1,000,000. It will be seen, therefore, that, as' a
purely German State, Austria is not so compara-
tively powerful in the Confederation as would,
appear, from her presidentship of the Diet and a
general leadership ; while in her internal compcsi-
tion the German element, so Tar from being pre-
ponderating, is very much outweighed by the Scla-
vonic ; and as that, in all imperial matters, may be
considered as united to the Magyar and the scat-
tered races, it is outnumbered by something like
three to one, and all attempts to spread its moral
influence by the enforced use of the German lan-
guage, the appointment of German officials, or the
extension of German institutions, have been at-
tended with lamentable disaster.

This is what is shaking the empire to ite very
foundation at this present moment'. It is the
retracing false steps made in this direction which
holds out the only prospect of safety to the totter-
ingfabric ; and it is the circumstance of the Hun-
garians seeming disposed to accept, though only as
an instalment, the concessions wrung from the
necessities of the Emperor, that will, if that prince
is acting and continues to act in good faith, save the
empire. Once the Diet is assembled, and the King.
of Hungary crowned, the grip on the throat of
Austria will be loosened ; but the King of Hungary,
henceforth and for ever, must remember that he is
only Archduke of Austria. The two Duchies and
the Tyrol, his only strict German possessions, do
not occupy 30,000 square miles; the entire empire
257,000. Hitherto the welght of Hungary and its
cognate provinces has been employed to enforce on
Germany the influence of Austria, whilst the weight
of Germany has equally been used to impress upon
Hungary the supremacy of Vienna; but it is not
likely that this game can be played any longer,
and though the imperial residence may not be re-
moved from the old and cherished Kaiserstadt, the
heart of the empire will vibrate in Hungary. The
demand for its due influence in the affairs of the
State on the part of Hungary is nothing new.
Long before the unfortunate troubles of 1848, and
the consequent abrogation of the ancient constitu-
tion, great discontent prevailed with respect to the
provincial status in which Hungary—which, with
Transylvania and Galicia, covers more than half
the territory of Austria—was kept by the Austrian
Government. Since that time German oppression
has assumed the form of a malignant monomania,
and has only been maintained by measures which
necessarily render the reaction, when it does come,
more fierce and deadly ; and now, at last, with a
bankrupt exchequer, a beaten army, and a sullen
population in her most loyal provinces, Austria
stands disarmed. Hungary's opportunity arrives,
and she demands her own again and something
more. The greater will draw the less, and the
scattered kingdoms, of which the Austrian
monarch's " greater title" includes nine, to say no-
thing of a page full of dukedoms and countships,
will gravitate towards the great State that lords
over the valley of the Danube, and would be infe-
rior to no country in Europe in riches were its na-
tural resources allowed free development.
The tendency of the present movement in the
Austrian dominions, carried out to its legitimate
issue, is to move that Power eastward, to abandon
' in a great degree the German basis upon which it
has hitherto rested, and td reconstruct it on a
Magyar-Sclavonic basis, which would be at once
safer for it to rest upon itself, and more advanta-
geous to Europe, as a check upon Panslavism,
whenever that dangerous principle reappears on
the scene of continental politics. A strong German
State can no more exist in the valley of the Danube,
from Presburg to Belgrade, than it can in the
valley of the Tagus, between Toledo and Lisbon ;
but the former valley is the natural home and
stronghold of a powerful Sclavonic nation with a
Magyar gentry, and if his Apostolic Majesty
cordially accepts that position he will probably
find himself once more a first-rate Power in Europe.
Nor need he be shorn of his legitimate influence in
Germany; the military organisation of that country
would be infinitely more effective' were the armies
of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Baden placed defi-
nitely under the command of Austria, and all the
northern States under Prussia. Prussian !incl.
Austrian commanders may co-operate as allies;,
they never can act together as confederates,j for an
inveterate and remarkably childish jealousy
will
always prevent the one from serving properly
the other.-111orning Post.