The Washington herald., 1914-08-11
MOTIVES BEHIND
EUROPEAN war
plot TO Crush Austria Com
peIs Move to Halt Pan
Slavic Campaign.
DREAM OF AN EMPIRE
Dr.. George Barthelme Says Slaves
Really Opposed to Russia Are
Posing as Servia's 5 Friends.
By DIR. GEORGE BARTHELME.

~ OAs. 1EOhGG 6AaNIELAAEAs
tAnerzn cOrrrzondent Cologne Gaz.ttsJ
With paralyzing horror the whole world
looks today toward the European theater
of war, in which the blazing spark may
fall at any moment into dominicas that
for the present seem entirely excirded
from the danger zone.
The conquest OF distances through. mod
ern methods of transportation has made
All nations .neighbors. 50 that the conse-
quences Of a war, NO matter how much
confined to a restricted locality, will yet
be felt throughout ,he world, and close
proximity has deve;opec such couspli-
Gated international relationships that
cpe state drags another irresistibly into
TIE v5rte5 OF calamity.
America Feels Effects.
America is so far distant from the
arena of events that she will hardly
suffer under the immediate terrors OF
European carnage; but Indirectly she
viii feel the effects Of the conflict. Yes,
they have already made themselves
plainly felt in the closing Of the stock
exchanges and the occurrences on the
Chicago Board Of Trade, not to speak
Of the hardships of the American Wis
itors detained in Europe.
To this must be added the fact that
the people Of America are bound with
100 many InOu6dlu ties oA BaOOu anu
Friendship 10 the lands OF their ancestors
to be able to watch European events
as uninterested bystanders. Despite
these bonds Of consanguinity and COM
merce, America enjoys a position. 30 en-
viable and God given, that she may
watch the progress of events with deep
est human sympathy. and yet with dis
interestedness, without prejudice, and.
therefore with justice.
To meet the demands Of this high and
responsible function of unprejudiced
restrict herself to the news dispatches
Of the day that necessarily can only
skim the surface and are often dictated
by the passion OF the moment She must
study. as well the great forces that labor
within the depths and struggle with the
irresistibility Of elemental powers to the
surface. II will not suffice to attack this
problem with a single. simple formula.
One must go deep into Its historical de-
velopment to reach a real understanding
and a just judgment.
Spark In a Powder Magazine.
The first question will be: What roll
ing stone started this avalanche2
Whence comes the spark that has
fallen into this powder magazine?
1t is well known that the immediate
cause lies in the ultimatum which the
Austrian government sent to Belgrade
on July 20. But here we find at once
the next question: What led to this
ultimatum2 And in seeking to answer
IL we fnd ourselves at once at the
parting of the ways.
There are those who say that Aus
tria has used the murder OF the heir
apparent only as an ostensible cloak
to cover her designs to destroy Servia
and absorb her realm, as she has long
since planned to do; while on the other
hand are those who view-and with far
greater right-the terrible assassina-
nation at SArajevo as the last blow
that aroused the indignation OF pa
tient nation, and who look upon the
as the command to halt a
movement that for decades has sought
to deal a death blow 10 the dual mon
archy.
The first group views the murder only
as the deed of a maniac, or criminal.
but always the deed OF a single indi-
vidual. while Austria sees in It the re-
suit of long-planned and far-reaching
plot of the pan-Slavic movement that
seeks in the unification OF all Slavic
nationalities to build a single Slavic
empire, and which found in Austria its
chief opportunity. and saw in the muir
dered crown prince its most powerful
opponent.
For more than i've centuries the Slavic
races have been scattered throughout the
nations Of Eastern and Southeastern
Europe We find them in great numbers
in Russia, then in Servia and Montene
gro in Bulgaria and the other Balkan
countries, and finally to the number of
"A, 900, 900 in Austria-Hungary, of whose
population they constitute almost one
half.
A union Of all the Slavs would neces-
sariiy result in tearing from Austria her
Slavic subjects; ske would lose half Of
ber dominions and thereby cease to
exist not only as a world power but even
as an Independent state. And II wculd
be presumptuoIs 20 say in advance thai
Russia would then be willing to release
her non-Slavic population. or that the
nom Russian Slavs would accept with
eagerness the sovereignty Of the czar.
or that they would even be willing to
join a Slavic empire undor Russian lead
ership. Even the Servia of today would
ponder long before II would be willing
10 give up Its sovereign Independence as
A kingdom TO become a vassal satrapy OF
Russia, as its sacrifice to this pan-Slavic |
dream.
The pan-Slavic movement Is In reality |
Intended less to realize the pan-Slavlc |
fantasy of great empire than to lay |
down the buiWark AGAINST Ruseia'g ex-