The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-13
|Merry-G Go-Round

VIENNA (By Cable) The place where the United States and Russia have closest to grips is not Berlin but Austria.
 Here the Red Army got in first and for time it kept the other Allies out Here the Russians im- medately appointed their own Austrian government and expected to run it and herein little country almost completely surrounded by Ssian-dom1nated Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia and Hungary-MoscoW planned to establish it's economic capital for the Danube
 The amazing thing is that with all the cards stacked in their favor the Reds have completely failed. This is due partly to the ruhessness of the Red Army which has alienated everyone it has come in contact wth and partly it is cue to the shreWd- ness of an American General who has outsmarted the Russians at every turn. His tactics are worth studying. They may be the key which the United States should adopt in other areas perhaps even as a national policy.
 Vienna, of course is the most famous city in history when it comes to Oriental invasions. For centuries armies from Asia have swept up the Balkan Peninsula the Caucasus n attempts to con- quer all Europe-only to be stopped at Vienna.
 The Turks came to the very gates of Vienna be- fore they turned back. The Mongols got as far Budapest and left behind them the Magyars of Hungary The Slavs penetrated most of the Balkans but Austria. Now Vienna is the battle-ground for another Historic invasion-a Slavic penetra- ton, waving not the banner of the Czar but slogans of Communism and determined to swallow Austria and it the sprngboard to the Adriatie, Italy and Southwest Europe.
 The man who has chiefly checked this latest invasion is taI ramrod built Gen. Mark Clark who, three years ago, landed at CaSablanca, fought inS way up through Italy, and now commands small but determined Army in Austria. On the other side of Austria Russian army four times large as the American force occupies much larger slice of the nations while French and British armies occupy the of Austria Here in the city of Vienna meets the Allied Counc-the real rulers of this beleaguered little nation. Under the Declaration of Moscow, the Allied Council is charged with the building up of Austria on the ground that it's people thrown into war by Hitler without their consent, and that healthy Austria is also healthy for a Democratic Europe. Although the Soviet 100-percent sub- scrber to this doctrine, its General the Vienna Allied Commission has followed exactly the opposite policy.
 At the start of the occupation for instance, the Russians demanded 900000000 schillings to pay for Red army costs in Austria Since Austria must also pay U. S., British and French army costs, this just about bankrupts the country. So Clark has urged, even demanded, that the Russians scale down their occupation costs Last month this argument finally came to crisis when Clark proposed that the Rus sians reduce their 900 sehings for the next quarter The Russians, however said NO that 200000000 schings the least they would take-and they threatened to walk out of the Council
 Clark, however, is American who has found the Russian veto strategy just as useful as M Mootov