The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-08-09
THE WHIRLPOOL OF EUROPE,

THE WHIRLPOOL OF EUROPE"
Thus the historian, Archibald R. Col
Quhoun, once described Austria-Hun.
gary, which is responsible for the
turbulence overseas today. Apart from
the position OF Importance which the
dual monarchy occupies in European
politics, the land itself is packed with
historical associations Of the most
absorbing character and at the same
time pulsates with modern life and the
problems Of eocial and political de-
yelopment. 1t has been well said that
nowhere else in Europe il the past SO
intermingIed with the present, and
under the Emperor-King Francis Jo-
seph one may study at the same time
every phase Of European civilization
and every question, racial, political
and social, which has agttated Europe
in the last two centuries, says the
Los Angeles Times.
The ruler of this remarkable land, a
veritable old man OF sorrows, rs one
OF the most striking figures OF the age.
No ordinary man could have survived
the blows that fate has dealt to Fran
els Joseph. his family life has been
no less troublous than his public life.
His beautiful wife was assassinated
by an anarchist. his only son com.
mttted suicide. and his last days are
still further embittered By war, one
OF whose causes was the assassination
OF his heir.
The cradle Of this imperial line is
in Switzerland. The beginning Of the
Hapsburgs were small. The family
| took Its name from castle, romantic.
! ally psrched like the nest of a hawk
above the river Aar. The ruins of it
exist today, despite the fact that il
was built in 1927. and although offers
have been made to buy it and restore
It to the Hapsburgs, the Swiss have
always refused to part with IT.
The first Hapsburgg were simple
| German counts with domains in swift
eriand and in Alsace and Lorraine oc-
| cupied by far from peaceable tenants.
The famous 'Hapsburg lip" was
| brought into the family when one of
the counts, Ernest known as the
Man Of Iron," married a Polish noble
woman, daughter OF the duke OF Ma
IOWA. She was mother of the EN-
peror Frederick III and grandmother
to Macmillan and she bequeathed the
Haps burg lip to her descendants. 1t
was in Frederick's time that Slay,
Magyar and German were first drawn
together to resist the assaults OF the
Turk.
Max1milian may be said to be the
~ ia I'll
Hungary empire and he accomplished
this by the marriage route. He ar.
ranged the marriages Of his grandson
and granddaughter, which eventually
led to the reuniting Of the crowns OF
Hungary and Bohemia under the Haps-
'urgs. From that time the history Of
the house of Austria, or the Haps-
burss. is Intimately linked with that
OF Hungary, Bohemia and the old and
new German empires.
The subjects Of the Emperor Fran
els Joseph are various in race. Rough
ly they may be divided into Germans,
Slavs and Magyars. There is also
population using the Latin tongue
and claiming descent from the Rom
ans. The SIavs have never taken
kindly to Austrian predominance and
they have always seemed to be des-
tined to occupy the position of the
under dog. Mr.. Colquhoun writes:
Despite their peaceful and virle
character, their love OF liberty, their
ancient civilization, and many noble
qualities, one after another Of the
Slav peoples became enslaved. The
Mongol invasion kept Russia the vas
sal or the great horde for centuries
and when at last she overthrow the
yoke she undoubtedly owed much to
the infusion OF Mongol blood as well
: as to the influence Of her Variay in
vaders. Bulgaria, a Slavicised Mongol
power. ruling a people who were a
mixture OF Latin and Slav. was the
first and possibly the greatest slav
power for many centuries. Its rulers
| received from Byzantium the title o,
car two centuries before It was adop,.
} ed in Russia. Bulgaria spread ovsr
| the whole Balkan peninsula save the
: extreme south, and in her golden age
1.-THE tenth and eleventh centuries was