Evening star., 1934-08-15
This
Changing
World
Yugoslavia Frown S
Upon French Aid
to Prince Otto.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

The ambition of woman-EmpresS
Zita-to have her boy on the throne
of Austria, and the desire of Musso-
lini to have an obedient puppet as the
nominal ruler of the Danubian repub-
lie, may lead to a breach between
France and Yugoslavia, Frances most
powerful ally in Central Europe in
case of a war.
after haUing succeeded in block
ing the return of Otto of HapS-
burg, to the dual throne OF Austria
and Hungary, the YugoSlGrs made
up their mind that he should not
return eUen to Vienna.
The Paris government had accepted
the idea of the Hapsburg restoration
in Austria, but faced with an increased
pressure from Belgrade, it may have
tc back out and oppose Otto now.
The tactics of Belgrade are simple
and effective. AS warning to France,
they adopted friendly attitude to-
ward the Nazi refugees in Serbia. The
concentration camps are such only in
name, since the Nazis can move about
freely within certain region near the
Austrian frontiers. Furthermore, the
relations between Berlin and Belgrade
have improved considerably. The
YugoSlavs are quite frank in stating
that between the two evils-the Nazi-
flcation of Austria and the domina-
ton of that republic by Italy-they
would prefer the former. They told
the French that while the reduction
of Austria into an Italian protectorate
may be a matter of indifference to the
Paris government, it is of vital i'm
portance for the future of Yugoslavia.
Consequently, unless France decided
to adopt a strong attitude against a
permanent mixing of Italy in Austrian
affairs, the Yugoslav government
might be compelled to change it's pol
icy and turn toward Germany. The
opposition by France to the return of
Otto as King of Austria will be the
test case in the Yugoslav-French re-
lations.
Starhemberg's Patriotism.
Prince Starhemberg, the Austrian
vice chancellor, has just left Rome,
where he discussed, with MuSSolini the
necessity of bringing Otto back.
Despite his limitations as a states
man, Starhemberg is an intense pa
triot. His family has been for hun
dreds of years devoted to the dynasty,
yet they have never been courtiers.
The princes of Starhemberg, who have
always remained purely Austrians, liv-
ing on their estates far from Vienna,
showed up only when the country was
actually in need of them When VI
emma was in danger of being occupied
by the Turks in the seventeenth CEN
tury, it was Starhemberg who joined
his forces with those of King Sobiesky
of Poland and saved the capital. After
having fought valiantly, he returned
with his vassals to the castle without
waiting for the thanks of the EN-
peror.
Prince Ruediger, the present
head OF the family, nrortgaged all
his properties-dnd they are very
ldrge-in order to organize, single
handed, the HeimUehr troops to
saUe the country again.
He told Mussolini that none of the
present rulers can ever hope to stem
the growing influence of the Nazis
in Austria and the only solution to
restore peace is the restoration of
Otto. The Hapsburg dynasty has
still SO many followers throughout
the country that the return of the
young prince is the only thing that
may reunite the policitical factions
around the throne and put an end to
civil war.
Mussolini sees the point fully; so
do the London and the Paris gov
ernments, but how to calm the Yugo-
slavs is the question which nobody
can answer.