Evening star., 1936-05-15
Anti.Fascism i'm Vienna.

Italys conquest OF Ethiopia has had
prompt repercussions not only in Geneva,
but in Vienna. AS the aftermath of a
super-fervid telegram of felicitation to
MuSSolini from Prince Won Starhemberg,
vice chancellor and leader of the Heinz
wehr, that young Fascist hotspur has
been expelled from the Austrian govern
ment. On the authority of President
Miklas, Chancellor Schuschnigg has re-
organized the government, clothed with
something akin to dictatorial power. He
has taken over leadership of the father
land front and the portfolios of foreign
affairs and the interior, in addition to
those of national defense and public in
struction, which he already held.
The shake-up Signalizes a declaration
Of war against the pro-Italian Fascist
group which has been fighting the demo-
cratic regime. The language of the con-
gratulatory message to II Duce vividly
reveals Starhemberg's leanings toward
an arrangement with the Roman dictator
of so intimate nature as to justify fears
that the deposed Heimwehr leader would
not shrink from conniving in outright
Italian domination of the decrepit Haps-
burg realm. Realizing that we are
closely tied to Fascist Italy, and in heart
felt delight at its glorious victory" the
prince wired MuSsolini, Il congratulate
you with my whole heart on the great
triumph of Italian Fascist arms over
barbarism and over democratic dishon-
esty and hypocrisy" Starhemberg added
that he was speaking both in his own
name and lin that of all those who are
struggling for the victory OF Fascism in
Austria"
Following the princes recent defiant
threat that his private army would
forcibly resist absorption into the new
conscript Austrian military establish
ment, his unblushing avowal of devotion
to the Mussolini cause, especially its gibe
at democracy, was evidently regarded in
Vienna as the last straw. His expulsion
from Office became inevitable. Far more
important than any personal conse-
quences to him is the notice Chancellor
Schuschnigg implicitly serves that Ital-
ian interference in the domestic affairs
of Austria is intolerable. Emphasis on
this score is lent by the dismissal OF
Egon Berger -Waldenegg, Heimwehr ad-
herent and Fascist sympathizer, from
the foreign ministership.
Coming on the heels of the critical feud
between Italy and the League, and the
threat that Mussolini's withdrawal from
Geneva would be followed by an Italo-
German entente comprehending union
of Austria with the Reich, current de-
velopments at Vienna gravely complicate
and aggravate the already explosive
Austrian situation. Now and then cer-
tain elements within the Ball-Platz gov
ernment have been suspected Of pro-
German proclivities, circumstance
which was supposed largely to have in
spired Starhemberg's hostility. Events
will show whether the latest upheaval is
QcStlllCu w HlOALiOtV 3NaAAAASneAOAA VA @ANS
tria by Berlin or from within, or whether
Mussolini will succeed in frustrating such
a movement and maintaining his guard
ianship over the country against Hitler
ite designs on its independence. What
ever betides, Austria seems doomed to
remain a bone of contention between
rival European relationships in their
Vaccinations for the overlordship of
Central Europe. Her fate may we'll be-
come the issue on which peace or war in
the immediate future will depend.
Meantime, Chancellor Schuschnigg has
hastened to assure Italy that the dismis-
sal of Starhemberg involves no disloyalty
to Rome, indicating that Vienna still
looks to Mussolini as bulwark against
anschluss advances by Germany.