Indiana daily times., 1920-02-20
AUSTRIA ASKED
PEACE EARLIER
Diplomatic Delays Blocked
Separate Pact With Allies.

PARIS, Feb. 2o-"Was a sepa-
rate peace with Austria possiblef" Such
Is the question which Jean de Pierrefeu
proceeds TO answer in The Opinion, with
. the aid OF documents concerning the Sc
1ret mission undertaken in the spring Of
1915 by Prince Sixte OF Parma The de-
tails of this mission were unknown IN
I'll now, and these notes, written in the
form Of memoranda, throw full light on
the interviews which the young prince
had with the high personalities of the
different countries and on the negotia-
tions which NJ Clemenceau had revealed
In part in April. 1918.
Il appears that in 1917 the former
Emperor Charles was convinced that the
certainty of ultimate victory still en-
tertained at that time by his German
ally was a dangerous illusion-and that
In consequence he was seeking to save
The integrity of the dual monarchy.
Prince Sixte, who was serving in the
Belgian army, was told by his mother,
the princess of Parma, that the Emperor
Charles OF Austria was anxious for him
to enter into informal negotiations with
the allies.
ADVISED FACING
GERMANY WITH EDICT.
The emperor begged his brother in law
to do his best to obtain peace, but
K
had no chance of success. both Germany
and Italy being determined to thwart 1t.
He advised the emperor to have recourse
TO the Straightforward method of con-
fronting Germany with the accomplished
fact in the form of an imperial edict by
which, while saving the appearance Of
friend1iness with Germany, Austria would
offer peace to the entente on certain con-
ditions.
After various negotiations bad taken
place the prime repaired to Paris. where
he had another interview with Mr.. Poin-
care, at which Mr.. Cambon was present.
Shortly after Mr.. RibOt met Lloyd
George, who informed him that England
was favorable to continuing the negotia-
tions with Austria, but considered that
the allies should not delay any longer
In advising Italy of the fact
WAS CONFIDENT
OF EARLY PEACE.
But Italy was the cause OF the fall
ure of the negotiations. When Mr.. Ri
bot, Lloyd George and Baron Sonnino
met at st. Jean de Maurienne on Nov.
Is. 1917, the last-named maintained that
the Italian government would not consent
60 a continuance of these negotiations
When Lloyd George informed Prince
Sixte of this decision, the latter was not
discouraged, but decided to pursue his
efforts
On May he received an amazing piece
of news. which was that the emperor OF
Austria considered it was unnecessary
TO take too much notice of the exag
gerated demands of Italy, as three weeks
previously an envoy from Gen. Cadorna
had proposed peace to the Austrian min
lister in Berne on condition that the
Italian Trentino should be returned to
italy, But the emperor refused to trest
with Italy without informing the en-
tente.
Prince Sixte decided TO return to Aus
tria, and having again met his brother
ln-law at Laxenburg, he wrote a mem
0randum in which he seemed quite con-
fident that peace would be concluded
come time in June. This time the prince
brought back to Mr.. Poincare 4 letter
from the emperor, which the entente
never answered. and an autograph note
from Count Czernin. The text of the
letter is particularly interesting, as it
proves that, contrarily to what he af-
Trims, Count Czernin was fully aware OF
the negotiations conducted by his SOW
ereign in view Of a separate peace.