Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-10
RUSSlA,S FALL MAY EVENTUALLY
HAMPER, RATHER THAN AID, WAR
AIMS OF GERMANY, SLNOND SAYS

! east are unfavorabIe to German expan-
sion and absorption. However the lines
may he drawn At the end OF the world
war. the facts viii remain as they re-
manned in Italy and in Germany after
the congress of Vienna had completed
its work. There are going TO be twen-
~ millions OF Poles hostile TO Germany.
| the Lithuanian state is incapable of ex-
iSteace as a German dependency. save
when guarded by German bayonets; and
even a Romanoff dynasty restored in
PetroSrad would be driven to adopt a
national as opposed to a Teutonic poll
icy or would fall as the similar res
torations' have fallen in all history
when faced by national uprising.
Austria's Old Trouble Gone.
| There is. too one more aspect OF tho
new situation in the east which must
not escape attention. BY destroying
Russian unity and reducing Russia to
| fragments Germany has raised the Pol
| ish question in form destined to
plague her statesmen and threaten her
security for long years to come, but in
the same way she has put the Austrian
situation with reference to Germany on
a totally different basis. With the coll
lapse OF Russia Austria resumes her
political independence. For half a CEN
fury. ever since her defeat by Bismarck
in 1866. Austria has been bound to
Germany by her fear OF the Russian
menace both along her Galician from
:
We must not forget that the occasion
! of the present war was the rise OF the
Serbian question. and the Serbian Ques-
/ ton was only one detail in Austro-Rus-
sian rivalry. Serbia was but the soi-
der Of Russia. and, since this was
true, a greatly enlarged Serbia on the
Austro- Hungarian frontier along the
Danube and the Slav was a deadly
threat TO Austria. Moreover. the Sla-
Vonic clements In austria, " no make up
d clear majority of the population. were
held in subsection through fear of Ger
srnan intervention, and eliminated from
political influence, in a measure. be-
| cause il was recognized that their true
sympathieS were with the Russian and
their real desires to aid in the over
| throw OF Austrian unity and the reali-
cation OF pan-Slav hopes.
But with Russia in ruins Austria has
no longer need of German bayonets to
save her from invading Russian armies
Not SO far as one can see into the future
I is there peril for Austria on the Russian
| side In the same fashion Austrian SlaVs,
! no longer obsesscd VITA ambitions born of
/ Russian intrigue. must take a more ma
tlonai policy, they must more and more
confine their activities to Austrian ends, to
realizing race autonomy within Austrp-
! Hungarian frontiers. And since they con-
stitute a majority of all the population
/ they are bound in the end TO gain some
| thing like complete control. And such a
/ control VIII not be used to further Ger
! man ends. but to assert Austrian indie
! l,endence and build up Austrian strength
Ii is well to remember that it is fear.
! not affection, which has created the GEN.
| trail alliance Austria has been the rival
, and foe of Prussia for more than 4 CEN
tury and half. Austrian statesmen and
/ sovereigns have no desire to become mere
. tools of the HohenzollerIls. and Vienna has
long been jealous of the supremacy of Ber-
| lin in central Europe. But for this there
was no remedy. just so long as Russia was
! strong and able. as the hrst two years OF
! and sweep through Austrian provinces.
! Not until the Russian peril was abolished
could Austria. have d policy independents
! OF Germany Submission 70 Ge' i....i pol
! icy the price paid for the defense Of
! the Carpathians and the liberation OF
GaIicia.
Yet in all this the Austrians had little
! but ill-concealed fear for the future. That
Mtteleuropa, which has filed the world
. with apprehension for three years. was
! preticated upon the practical. if peaceful,
conquest OF Austria Hungary By the Ger
mans. Vienna and Budapest We're after
all but way stations on the Rerlin-to-
Ba gdad railway. and Vienna, Sofia and
Constantinople were to occupy in the new
Mtte!europa positions suggesting those oc-
cUpied by Munich. Dresden ard Stuttgart
in the existing German empire. ancient
: pitfalls now relecated 20 the empty glory
, of provincial centers IF adnlinistra ton.
We have seen, already, the Begin
ninES Of unrest and protest in Austria
J at the prolengation of the war for Ger
man purposes after Austrian ends had
been realized. These are the first signs
Of the escape Of Austrian policy from
German control. and they are bound to
multiply. because Austria has no desire
! to see Germany expanded. Austrian
Sl2vS are certain to oppose German
projects aiming at the enslavement Of
any portion of the Slav world. and,
finally, the one solid reason for Aus
; TRAN alliance with Germany was de-
stroyed when Russia fell AS for Italy
Austria can now deal with the italian
danger herself; she has the men and the
/ resources.