The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1914. AUSTRIA’S AIMS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 84, 30 July 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1914. AUSTRIA’S AIMS.

Yesterday the news that war had been declared between Austria and Servia was confirmed, and it is now beyond doubt that, in pursuance of her known policy for extending her inllence southward into the Balkan Peninsula the Great Power has used the incident of the Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination as her excuse ror entering upon a line of action, the end of which it is impossible to foresee. All other national questions are overshadowed and dwarfed beside this great international one. The attitude of Germany in her reluctance to assent to Sir Edward Grey’s, suggestion that Germany, France, Italy and Britain should mediate on the dispute, is significant, and clearly indicates the direction of her sympathies. If the other Great Powers stand aloof the end of Scr- ( via must come quickly, and for many years past Austria has plainly had such a possibility in veiw. Eight years ago, Austria broke away from the European Concert by demanding the right to build a railway from the Bosnian frontier through the Balkans towards the sea. Later, despite treaty obligations with Turkey, she advanced another step to- , wards her ambitions by the seizure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hitherto provinces of Turkey. From that time onward Austria is credited with using every effort to bring about the disintegration of the Turkish Empire, while steadily checking any effort on the part of the individual Slav States to gain in power. Nov Bazar was, at Austria’s instigation, created a separate independent principality to keep Servia and Montenegro from joining territory and forces, and in the latest Balkan War settlements site used her greatest endeavors to make impossible a union of the Serb races because such would prove a barrier in her southward march to the sea. A writer of some authority recently discussed the relationship of Austria-Hungary and Servia in the Nineteenth Century, and in doing so shows the deep-seat-ed differences between the two countries. Speaking of the possible annexation of Servia by Austria, he describes it as ' a move layered by

the military in Austria and by a small section of the political world, though it never.had the support of the Government. The consideration upon which that policy was based is that the greater part of the Servian race i,s already under Austrian rule, and that it would eventually prove wise for the peace of Austro-Hungary and for the development of the race to unite the whole under one sovereign, giving them a place in the monarchy similar to that now occupied by Hungary. The same writer further says:—“Austro-Hungary has ever since the Treaty of Berlin, treated Servia merely as a market, and directed her commercial policy towards paving the way for a Customs union with that kingdom. Servian statesmen, however, were not prepared to fall in with her views, as they feared ■jfliat economic dependence upon the Dual Mofiarchy would lead inevitably to political dependence. Austro-Hungary suspects Servia of having a hand in every liberal movement among her southern Slavs, while Servia always feared that the policy of the Dual Monarchy was to advance her frontier to the south until she reached Salonika, thus hampering the expansion and progress of the kingdom. Any aggressive ambitions in the direction of Austro-Hungary would betray on the part of Servia a lack of political judgment which there is no ground for attributing to her.”- A correspondent of the “Quarterly Review” points out that when considering the peace of Europe, account must be taken of the Pan-Slav movement. It is admitted that the Slavs under the domination of Austria-Hungary are not a happy family, and the dream of the Slav patriots is not a Dual Monarchy, In which the ruling classes are merely Austrian and Hungarian, but a “Trialism” in which the Croatian will take his place on an equality with the other component nationalities of the Monarchy. The writer above referred to also speaks of “the conflict between the Germanic and Slavonic nations, which is becoming more and more a general menace,” and states, “There is the fear—to which bellicose German writers are constantly giving expression—that in a, few years, especially if Vienna adopts an irreconcilable attitude towards the Croats, Slavism and the Slav element in Europe will be too strong to be subdued, and that therefore if the conflict is, sooner or later, inevitable, it had better come at once. Moreover, neither Germany nor Austria is likely to overlook the present exhaustion of Servia and Bulgaria, and may prefer to strike now, rather than wait until those States have had time to recuperate.” The present outbreak fully bears out this view of the position.