AUSTRIA AND THE BALKANS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2212, 27 July 1914, Page 4

AUSTRIA AND THE BALKANS

Once. _ more Europe ' is' threatened with war, and it is possible, that at this . moment the guns may be boominpr on the Servian" frontier. With the: assassination- of the heir to the throne the whole future of the Austro-Hung'ar-,ian Empire was imperilled, for the only bond between'-; the.Extraordinary assemblage of,ri'val-nationalities of ; which it is composed-is,their allegiance to a common ruler. • The suspicion that this blow aft,the heart' was' struck with Sorviap connivance may well have exasperated Austria' beyond endurance. The four-million Servians over whom the'.' Emperor ■Fkanois Joseph rules do;' not love him,, and they share the-dreams of their'kinsmen across the frontier of a Greater Servia, a dream that, can only be realised at the expense of,. Austria.;'r.The Servians are Slavs,and their sympathies are much more Russian than Austrian. It is Russia to whom they will'now looJlfor. support,- and that Power can bo, relied on to-resist to the utmost of her strength any further advance of-Alls tria-Hungary towards the Aegean Sea'.- Since her enormous territorial -losses to Germany and Italy in 1866 expansion towards Salonika has been the goal of Austrian statecraft. To attain her ends Austria has by ceaseless intrigue sought to keep the Balkan States weak and divided among themselves. Sho it was .who inspired the declaration of the Powers that Europe would allow no territorial changes to follow' the war of- tho Balkan Allies against Turkey, and when that position became untenable .it was Austrian diplomacy which robbed victory of fl half its fruits by the creation of'ah independent Albania.. Austrian policy has been marked not so much by force as by cunning. In'l9oß when Turkey showed'some,-signs of- reviving life it was .Austria who struck a blow at the prestige of the Young Turks by annexing tho /provinces of Bosnia .and Herzogpvina, and incidentally violating the Treaty of Berlin. Tho incident brought Europe to the .verge of war, but the coup was well timed, for Russia, the rival .claimant in the Balkans, was so, weakened by .her war with Japan that - she dared make no' effective protest. It is curious that the present' move should come at a moment when the other nations most concerned are engrossed with their own domestic troubles. If the facts are as the Austrians allege_ they have every reason for demanding immediate satisfaction from Servia. The Pan-Serv-ian Part.y has long adopted a policy of "twisting the lion's tail," and ■Servian Ministers have declared ■from their places in Parliament that friendly relations can exist between Servia and Austria-Hungary only when the latter has given up all pre- , tensions of being a Great. Power. On the other- hand some light is thrown on the far-reaching aims of Austria's Balkan policy by the views of a i distinguished Austrian General which we reprint this mornina-. Tho creation of tho autonomous Albania recommended by General von Lang is now: a more-or less accomplished fact. The partitioning of Servia thus follows naturally as the next step. The day of small States is over in Europe, and the greatest menace to international stability is tho incessant strife among the Balkan peoples; ■ It is in the Balkan peninsula that East meets Wept, and it seems as if-the jumble of discordant races will, find no peace.except beneath the iron hand of a conqueror. If the present crisis should bring nearer the day when Russia and Austria-Hungary arc to 'subdivide the peninsula, among thems"lves Europe will not be the loser.. Neither Power represents Western civilisation at its but their rule is at least no worse than that of the petty- monarchs they will supersede.