Evening star., 1934-08-12
nv NICHOLAS ROOSEVELT.

Il 81 Ia known to all students of
European politics II vas par
tieularly pertinent IN the century that
began with the Congress OF Vienna
and ended with the outbreak Of the
great world war During this period
the Austro. Hungarian Empire helped
20 maintain order In Eastern Europe
and overrode the bitterly conflicting
5ealousiea Of small racial groups.
But today the problem Ia not 70
''inyent" Austria, but rather to de-
teru1ine whether or not II can con-
tinue TO exist in any form. In fact
IL may be seriously contended that
whatever the immediate political fu-
ture OF Austria, We are witnessing the
collapse Of a civilization. The De
cline and Pail Of Austria may some
day be a companion volume 10 Glib
bonk famous history OF Rome II
might even be an appendix, for the
little republic of Austria is the last
remnant OF what until the beginning
OF the nineteenth century was still
the Holy Roman Empire, and which
prided itself on being the spiritual
ara In part the temporal heir Of the
Caeaass
Ia. immediate problem Is, of
course political. What Is 20 become
of the present Austrian state? Can
the new government maintain order
and power2 Can 1t continue 10 defy
the Eazis in Austria who are prob
ably numerically In the majority? II
II maintains It's political independ-
elce, how viii it survive economically?
Will the Hapsbures be restored to the
Austrian throne as part OF the cam
peign against the union OF Austria
with Germany?
In Precarious Position.
These and many similar questions
win be much discussed In coming
months. Their main features are be-
ginning 10 be well known to American
readers. The present government in
Austria Is a dictatorship based on
the power Of the army and the police.
Such machine is always precarious,
especially when in the hands OF new
men, as in the case today. Its life
cannot possibly be foretold--it might
be overthrown between the writing
and the publication of this article, or
It might last for years.
II 1t lasts it should be as able as
the government of Or. Engelbert DOLL
fuss TO defy the Nazis, as IL controls
the police forces OF the nation and
so can suppress political opposition.
In the flnal analysis, this, like the
previous factor. will be decided by
the skill and ability Of the new men
In power. II they fail, there may be
more civil war in Austria. which may
result in foreign ntervention--which,
In turn, may materially affect the
entire European political situation.
But that is long story involving
many Ifs"
What II they succeed? On what
Is the Unbalanced and impoverished
little Austrian state to live2 It lacks
adequate resources to be elf-support-
ing, Since the end of the World War
it has lived on gifts and loans. Sew
eral hundred millions Of dollars have
been poured into its apparently bot
tomless treasury. From where will
more money come? If it does come,
what will happen?
These questions also are hard to
answer positively. The truth is that
no really practical solution has yet
been devised TO insure Austria's eco
nomic independence The common
est suggestion--that Austria enter
into series of economic treaties with
its neighbors, having as their pur-
pose to grant special trade conces-
sions-has not yet had the effective
support Of the other nations involved.
At the same time it runs counter to
the economic interests of some OF
the great world powers-including the
United States
The restoration OF economic entity
of the old Austro- Hungarian Empire
is improbable, both politically and
economically-politically because the
other succession states do not want
II, and economically because the basic
economic structure of the area has
changed during the is years that it
has been split into five separate states
The march of time and human prog
ress had outdistanced Austria. Its
reason for existence is finished.
What, then, is to become of Aus
tria?
For the present probably nothing
other than the continued slow disin-
tegration which has been in progress
ever since the death of the old EN-
peror. Franz Joseph. in the middle of
the World War. Students Of AuStro-
Hungarian affairs at the turn of the
last century were agreed that the en-
pire could not long outlast Franz
Joseph, who had assembled the throne
IN l84e. The reason for this was
that the separatist tendencies of the
ii different racial groups which con-
stituted the old Austro- Hungarian
Empire had become so strong during
the last half of the nineteenth CEN
%ury that only the dominant person.
Rlity Of Franz Joseph, reinforced by
his great traditional prestige, could
hold them together The different
racial groups were loyal. not to the
empire, but to the Emperor, and the
Emperor for them was one man only
Franz Joseph. His heir, the Arch
duke Franz Ferdinand, whose murder
on June 2S. 1914, at Sarajevo. was
the inciting incident of the World
War, was never popular His sue
ceSsor. the late Emperor Charles. was
good-natured weakling who was
untitled by personality or training "a
hold the loyalty OF his subjects,
Empire Split Into Fragments.
What would have happened on the
death of Franz Joseph had there been
no World War will never be known
The fact remains that no sooner hac
the old Emperor died than the empire
became demoralized. It made plan;
to negotiate q separate peace behind
Germany's back. 1t finally collapsed
militarily. due not so much to lacl
Of military strength or skilled lead
erShip as 10 the inherent weakness ol
the state. When the armistice wa
signed the empire split into frsg.
ments. One entirely new state wa:
created out Of its former territories
C7echoSlovsk The region inhah
tied by the southern Slavs was ioineC
to Serbia and today is known a!
Yugoslavis- TranSylvania and East