Page:The New Europe - Volume 3.djvu/105

 immense importance in the last stage of the war. We have always doubted the wisdom of making it appear that an Allied victory meant the destruction of Austria-Hungary, and we doubt it even more now. In the meantime, the experience of the Mittel-Europa scheme is a warning to ourselves. All these premature exploitings of future commercial plans threaten trouble between Allies and partners”

Recent history shows clearly that Pangermanism in Austria is not the policy of “a few fanatics,” but that of the whole German people and of the dynasty. Austrian Pangermanism dictated the policy against Serbia and the Slavs in general; the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was accomplished under the direct protection of Germany and the Kaiser’s “shining armour”; the same burgomaster of Vienna, whose audience with the new Emperor is now reported, spoke to William in the name of the population of Vienna and of the Germans in Austria, accepting Bismarck’s policy of making Austria the German vanguard in the Balkans. It was this very policy that provoked the war; Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia knowing quite well that her action meant war against Russia and the Entente. But this very provocation of the world conflagration—with England neutral—was the aim of Vienna and Berlin. In Austria-Hungary and in Germany the merest child in politics was aware of the fact that “this war is in all its Mid-Europe and Eastern Europe aspects a war of Germanism against Slavdom, in which a victory would be a German triumph”; that was the reason given by William and the Chancellor for waging this war. The Westminster Gazette is greatly mistaken in fancying that this meaning of the war is only now revealed to the Austrian-Germans. The author of the renowned pamphlet “Berlin-Bagdad” is an Austrian-German; and all German parties in Austria, even the Catholic Christlich-Soziale, have accepted the Pangerman programme which assigns to the Germans and Magyars the immediate leadership of the Balkans.

This war is the war of the Germans and Magyars; the Poles and Ruthenians in Galicia were divided, but all other nations of Austria-Hungary have been on principle against the war. The Czechs, with the Slovaks, the Southern Slavs, the Italians, and Roumanians were against the war. Bohemian regiments have surrendered to Russia to facilitate the victory of the Allies; and others have been punished by “decima-