The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-16
TIE WEEKS War REVIEW
AUSTRIA AND PEACE
, Cermany's cause when the battle of
| 1918 begins on the western front
OR The TOPEKA STATE J0L
BY iNRi ZuNWAET

4, Cermany's cause when the battle of
1918 begins on the western front
Peace Not in Sight.
A general peace, however, is not yet
in sight. 1t may be near and It may
not. At the earliest it will not come
until after both sides have made one
more bid for decision on the fleld
of battle. That means that there will
be no cessation of hostilitieS before
fall.
| = Austria a Secondary Factor.
Neither is there any strong proba
bility that it will come then. A sepa-
rate peace with Austria even il at
tanned will not necessarily end the
war. Whenever Austria quits Italy
will drop out. There will be nothing
left for Italy to fight for. Italy is
fully as strong in military way as
! Austria. perhaps stronger. So the loss
| in military strength, if there were any
loss, would be to the allies. Further
| more Austria at peace would be able
largely to increase her production of
grain and cattle and could help feed
| Germany, whereas Italy produces
nothing of any consequence that
| would benefit her allies.
| The only gain to the allied cause
thru a separate peace with Austria
would be moral. The pan-Germans.
P, with the middle European empire OF
their dreams broken in sunder for
| the present, would not have the same
incentive for prolonging the war as
before. While among the masses.
| both in civil life and in the army, the
effect would be discouraging in the
extreme. The realization that their
neighbors in Austria had escaped from
the hell of war and were back at their
happy and peaceful pursuits would
| create, in Germany, demand for an
early peace that would be difficult to
restrain.
! From strictly military point of
view, Germany probably would now
be stronger without Austria than with
her, on account of the effect on Italy.
Peace With Austria Doubtful.
1t is by no means safe, however. to
| bank on a separate peace with Aus
tria. The dual monarchy is morally
| a crime and politically a constant
menace to the peace and safety of the
world. It must be remembered that
! it was political conditions in Austria
| that caused the murders at Sarajeva
and plunged Europe into a sea of
| blood in the summer of 1914. III the
world is to be safe for democracy,
| or for anybody else who wants to be
| decent and to pursue his own affairs
| in peace. Austria as an empire must
go. AS long as eleven million Ger
mans and ten million Magyars joined
| in an unholy alliance, controlled large
| ly by the German element. continue
| their dominion over subject races ag-
| gregating twenty-four millions, each
| race rebe1hous and aspiring to free
| nationality of it's own, just so long
will a war cloud Hang over central
J Europe. A separate peace with Aus
/ tria on any basis, other than self de-
| termination for these subject nation
alities who are just aas capable OF sell
! government as their rulers, would be
| betrayal of the cause for which Ameri-
! can boys are dying in France and
would lay the sure foundation for an
other bloody war. No such separate
peace is in the mind of President VIII
son.
| The president doubtless hopes, as a
remote posi- bility. that internal condi-
tions will force Austria to accept a
! separate peace that will insure free
dom to her subject peoples. In the
light of his official utterances no 9TH
| er Interpretation is possible.
| 1t is conceivable that such separ-
ate peace might come this spring, but
| it is only the remotest of possibilities.
1t is hardly proba BILE that one can be
I concluded even next fall. 1t is at
least an even break that the powers
that be in Austria will manage, some
how, to hold the reins and keep their
people in line That the Austrian
| government, unless forced by fear Of
| a revolution, should make a separate
peace that meant the giving up of the
greater portion of its dominions, is
! well nigh inconceivable.
| In any case the fundamental TACT
| that this is a war between the west
ern democracies on the one hand and
the German empire on the other,
must not be lost sight of. Italy and
| Austria may as well both be dropped
from consideration as major factors
in the outcome.
! Germany's Advantage.
| The population of Germany is about
equal to that of Britain and France
combined, exclusive of Ireland and
the colonies. Her superior military
uation at the heart of the continent
and the fact that she has been get
1 ting ready for forty years have given
her a tremendous advantage. While
her opponents were still rubbing their
eyes, she reached out and grabbed
| Belgium and northern France. She
still holds the principal mining and
| manufacturing districts of the latter
country. The war is being fought out
| on the territory of her enemies. These
factors have been of enormous econ
omic, political and military value to
her and have put her in position to
dictate terms long as the armies
are deadlocked along the battle front
! There seems to be little hope of q
decisive victory over Germany until
the United States can add an over
whelming weight of numbers to the
allied cause. That will not be before
the late fall of the present year. which
for military purposes, means the
/ spring of 1919.
If peace comes this fall it will be
the result of domestic breakdown
in Great Britain or America on the
one hand or in Germany on the other.
Victory Certain in 1919.
A military victory for the allies in
| 1919, if the war lasts that long, is as
inevitable anything human can be-
| Victory before that time can come
bonlNthru the moral collapse of Ger