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RV 81

of the United States. Among the most important of this latter class of questions, if indeed not the most important of all, is that of the disposition to be made of the Slavic inhabitants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

When the terms of peace, by which the war can be ended, are considered from the standpoint of the security which they will furnish for the future peace of the world, there is no more important question than that of the disposition to be made of the Slavic subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The success of the German plan for “Mitteleuropa” depends upon the continuance of the present alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary; and the continuance of this alliance depends, in turn, upon the continuance of the control of the policies of the latter empire by the Austrian (German) and Magyar minority in the population thereof. The granting of full political rights to the Slavic majority in the empire would forever destroy the German control over Austria-Hungary. The various Slavic races of central and southeastern Europe have suffered the most, and have the most to fear from the German ambitions, and are the strongest natural enemies of all Germanic plans of aggrandisement. The Slavs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire should, and would if they were able, constitute the first line of defense against any German aggression towards the east and south; but under the present system of government in the Austro-Hungarian Empire these peoples have been compelled to assist in the carrying out of the designs from which they are the chief sufferers.