The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-01-14

. against which the masses have risen
3 many times, but the Germans mean
to use it as the preteXt for erecting
state which will actually be dom
mated by Prussian bayOnets. In a
word some 100000 Slays are to be
| put under the control of not more
than 100000 Germans resident in this
region, but the latter are to be back
ed by Prussian bayonets. Thus Ger
many adds a territory ten times as
large as AIsace- Lorraine to her own
empire and closes Russia's doorway
to tho Baltic.
The second German proposal af-
feCts Russian Poland. Some ten mill
lion Poles living in Russian Poland
and the adjoining Russian govern
ments are to be taken from Russian
rule and turned over 10 Austrian. 1t
is announced that with them are to
he joined the 5000, 900 Poles and pos
sibly the 4,O0O,0O0 Ruthenians Of
GaliCia, but in any event some sort
of Polish state is to be erected under
Hapsburg rule. But Germany refus-
ed utterly to consider joining with
| this state her own four millions of
! Poles in Posen, East and West Prus-
I STA and Silesia. Thus she purposes
| to keep her hands not alone upon all
! the great mineral districts Of the
! Polish speaking regions Of Silesia,
| but also upon. Danzig and the sea-
| coast by which Poland would be able
to touch the Baltic and trade with
! the world.
| This Poland to be created. then, is
| 10 be politically subject to the Haps-
! burg, but economically subject to
the Hohenzollern. Nor does IL require
any great stretch Of imagination to
| look forward to the time when the
| German will repeat the Schleswig-
HOlstein episode and deprive the old
ally of ground conquered Jointly, but
needed for rounding out" German
estates and completing the realiza-
ton Of German purposes. But, laying
aside future considerations. these
facts are clear: Nearly 5000, 900
Slavs Of the Baltic provinces are to
be distracted from the bulk Of Slav-
dom and placed under Prussian con-
troll: 10000, 900 peoples. fiVe-sixths Of
them Poles-that is, Slavs-are to be
taken from Russia and assigned tenn
porarily or permanently to the Aus
TRANS, but Germany is to retain their
outlets upon the sea and thus the
economic supremacy in this new
state. Here, then, are upward of
is, 900 900 Slavs subtracted from the
central Slav block.
Now, in addition. It Is plain that
the Germans and Austrians con-
template some temporary arrange
ment which will throw the Galician
Slavs into the new Polish state, thus
removing the Slavs who give the
Slavonic element a majority in
Austria proper. With $1,000 600 Poles |
and Ruthenians thus eliminated, |
the German speaking element |
would regain numerical supremacy
in Austria and be able to deal with |
the Czechs and Southern Slavs as
it chose. Poland. as created by the
congress of Brest- Litovsk. will be
commercially at the mercy of Prus-
STA. politically under the rule of
Austria, militarily dominated by
Austrian and Prussian bayOnets, and
in this state the Poles Of Austria will
disappear as potent Slav forces.
In this situation Germany pushed |
Austria forward against Serbia, and |
the world war was the result. Now, |
so far as the world war is concern
ed, il has been a German failure in |
the west and on the sea. Germany
has occupied 1000 square miles Of
French territory, but by contrast |
Britain and France have seized l. |
600, 900 square miles Of German ter |
ritory and 10000 900 German colon |
ial subjects Germany has been ex- |
Cluded from the sea. and against sea
power and the loss of her colonies |
she holds only French and Belgian |
territories as an insurance. AS far |
as Austria and Italy are concerned. |
after many reveTses Austria, aided |
by Germany, has occupied consider
able territory in Nenetia, but Italy i
has closed the Adriatic, occupied Al
bania and remains across Austria s
only commercial routes.
On the east, on the other hand,
the German, with his Magyar ally,
has overwhelmed the Slav. "He has
occupied 10000 square miles OF
Russian territory, holding upward of /
20, 100000 Slavs, and he has brought |
down the whole edihce Of Russian /
government. There is no more gov
eminent, no leadership, only i'm
potent anarchy in the great Slay
state, aand the Slavs OF eastern
Europe are therefore pOwerless be-
tion. by enlisting the Bulgar the
German has been able TO destroy
the Slav states Of Serbia and Mon
tenegrO. now occupied by Bulgar
and Austrian troops and also to con-
Quer mos of Rumania. whose COL
lapse is assured by the Russian sur
render.
Accordingly, the German finds
himself today in a position to deal
with the problem of the Slavs. He
has crushed the great Slav move
ment toward liberty and union by
overthrowing Russia; the Russian
revolutionists have forsaken all
racial aspirations. all thought Of lib
Grating their brethren OF Austria
and Of the Balkans. TO pursue the
phantom of industrial and economic
Utopias; they have destroyed their
army, and they have now no choice
but to yield to German terms or else
to face the consequences of resisting
without weapons an enemy provided
with weapons and holding all the
roads leading to the heart Of Slav-
dom. Russia, as the German would
say, is "kaput."
So much for the northern Slavs.
Now as for the Serbs Of Serbia and
their fate has already
been set forth in Bulgar and Prus-
sian statements. Most of Serbia, the
valleys Of the Morava and the Var
dar, are to fall to the Bulgar, the
balance to be added to Austrian
or permitted to subsist under
a. semblance of independence, butt
ruled by an Austrian princeling, In
a word. 100000 more Slavs are to
be placed under alien rule, under
Bulgar and Austrian, and the last
obstacle to Austro- German power in
the Balkans is to be eliminated.
Now, exactly what this means is
clear. in the present war, when ;
and Austria assailed Rus
sia. they were able to throw the MILF
tarv resources of $4,000, 900 Slavs
within their own frontier against
the great Slav state which they were /
attacking because IL had ventured to
the Slav cause I'm the Bal /
lzans. without the aid of these Slav
troops, Austria would have been1
overcome long ago, for she had but ]
D non nnn nA German ana LmnEar-