Austria-Hungary

“ The obvious solution is to dissolve Austria-Hungary into its component elements. It cannot be repeated too often that the Dual Monarchy is not a national state, like France or Italy or England or Germany, but a conglomeration of nations and fragments of nations, bound together solely by common subjection to a dynasty. Dismemberment of Austria-Hungary would not be a crime; it would be a logical execution of the principle for which the Allies are fighting—the right of each adult nation, great and small, to self-determination. ”

“ Austria-Hungary is a dual kingdom, each partner to the union having its separate national organization and legislative body. While both are under the rule of one monarch, Francis Joseph being at once the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary, their union is not a very intimate one. There is large racial distinction between the two countries, and Hungary cherishes a strong feeling of animosity to Austria, the outcome of acts of tyranny and barbarity not far in the past. ”

“ Austria-Hungary, composed of nine nations, is altogether an artificial State; as a leader of the Austrian Germans (von Plenner, jr.) once expressed it, it is a State composed of fairly large and civilised nations, held in subjection by the dynasty and the German Magyar minority. If the principle that nations are entitled to self-determination is meant in earnest, Austria-Hungary is politically and morally condemned; since the latter part of the eighteenth century all Austro-Hungarian nations have been striving to attain freedom and independence. Austria is a mediæval survival. ”

“ Those who defended the usefulness, even the necessity of Austria-Hungary, and at one time the great Bohemian historian and Statesman Palacky was one of them, thought of Austria as a federal system of nations and lands with equal rights. But Austria-Hungary as a dualistic monster became the oppressor of all who were not Germans or Magyars. It is a standing threat to the peace of Europe, a mere tool of Germany seeking conquest in the East, a state having no destiny of its own, unable to construct an organic state composed of a number of equal, free, progressive races. ”

“ The question of Austria-Hungary has besides an aspect of social and universal interest, which the Liberals and Socialists of Allied or neutral countries have not yet perhaps sufficiently contemplated. The supremacy of Germany over Austria-Hungary would have, in fact, a social consequence of infinite importance: a new lease of crushing and strengthened power would be ensured to the German-Austrian aristocracy, to the Magyar aristocracy of Hungary, to the German aristocracy of the German empire, and above all to the execrable Prussian Junkers, who are principally responsible for the war. ”

“ No dominant type has arisen to master its weaker neighbors and weld them into a homogeneous nation. Indeed, as the late Professor Freeman used to insist with lofty impatience and somewhat rasping iteration, the word “nation” has no application to Austria, and very little to Hungary. To talk of either state so as to give the impression that it can act or think as a unit, is, to use his own shattering conclusion, to talk nonsense. It is this variegated contradictoriness of Austria-Hungary that makes up its fascination for the political student. ”

“ The Future of Austria-Hungary.—For many years this break-up has been foretold by political pessimists inside and outside the Habsburg dominions, and by many interested agitators both in Central and in Western Europe. The present writer, on the other hand, has always regarded Austria-Hungary as an organism full of infinite possibilities of progress and culture, a State modelled upon that diversity of type which Lord Acton held to be the surest guarantee of liberty. ”

“ The peoples of Austria-Hungary to be left free to unite together or to form autonomous states in the manner best suited to their development. As a matter of fact the treaties have taken the greatest possible number of Germans from Austria and of Magyars from Hungary in order to hand them over to Poland, to Czeko-Slovakia, to Rumania and to Jugo-Slavia, namely to populations for the most part inferior to the Germans. ”

“ Austria-Hungary contains all the elements of a new State which can be constituted on just and lasting foundations, and under such conditions that it would form for the future an insurmountable barrier to Pangermanism. ”

“ Such are the motives which Austria gives to Hungary not to make a new revolution! There is not a single interest which she has not mortally wounded. The mind, the heart, dignity, conscience, self-esteem, hatred, love, revenge, besides every material interest of every class, is engaged to the struggle.
The oppression of Hungary has ratified the oppression of all our continent. Since she has fallen, Italy has been completely crushed, the moderate freedom of Germany has been put down by Austria with the support of Russia; lastly, the usurpation of Louis Napoleon has been made possible. ”

“ As has more than once been pointed out in The New Europe, those who persist in treating the disruption of Austria-Hungary as an altogether new item in the programme of the Allies, are shutting their eyes—whether wilfully or as the result of sloppy thinking—to the fact that we have long stood committed to such a policy, by reason of our treaties with Russia, Italy, and Roumania, and of our moral obligations to Serbia. The disruption of Austria-Hungary represents a fundamental aim and aspiration of at least four of the Allied nations, and is now part of the settled policy of the French. ”

“ As a composite State, Austria-Hungary plays a forceful part in the concert of the great European nations and wields authority which neither half could achieve alone. The very first necessity of power among modern nations is preparedness for war, and in spite of the curiously differing races and nationalities represented in the Austro-Hungarian army with its two and a half millions of soldiers, the army owns solidarity and force enough to make itself respected. ”

“ The world in general insists in thinking of Hungary as an Austrian province and in counting Austria-Hungary one country, whose name has been hyphenated with the sole purpose of inconveniencing conversation in foreign countries. As a matter of fact, Hungary and Austria are two distinct nations, inhabited by antagonistic races who speak different languages and hold different ideals. ”

“ Austria-Hungary not only always opposed the legitimate ambitions of its own peoples, but its whole foreign policy was ever dictated by a desire to smother the tendencies aiming at the liberation of various nationalities and their unity in national states. ”

“ Though he is silent on certain matters more closely connected with the interests of his Allies than with Austria-Hungary, that is only natural, because he feels compelled under the circumstances to defer to Germany and Turkey. Recognising and agreeing with the important principles in question and the necessity of converting them into action, he naturally feels that Austria-Hungary, more easily than Germany, can concur with the war aims as expressed by the United States. ”

“ Still less do the Allied diplomats and the public of their respective countries know about the real state of affairs in Austria-Hungary. In France, and above all in England, a considerable proportion of the public continue to believe that Austria-Hungary is chiefly a German country, and that its more or less formal union with the Empire is a natural and almost inevitable event. Therefore, if we are compelled to give way in the East and in the West we may still, if we are clever, have a chance of achieving the third part of our Pangerman plan. ”

“ It would have required a man of strong and manly character on the Austro-Hungarian throne to inaugurate a sound national and democratic policy such as would secure the free development of the nations composing Austria-Hungary. Austria had a function, a raison d'étre as a European vanguard against the Turks; as soon as the Turks became innocuous Austria would have acquired a fresh right to existence if she had honestly tried to be the leader of the various nations. Austria could have anticipated the future of Europe, being, indeed, with her motley nationalities. ”

“ Reference to an earlier chapter, describing conditions before 1800, will suggest that Austria-Hungary entered the nineteenth century handicapped by its economic and political conditions. It required roughly a full half of the century to remove the more serious obstacles to progress, and the latter half of the century has not given time enough to enable the people to win a place with their more advanced neighbors of the West of Europe. ”

“ It should be emphasized that the phrase "Austrian Empire," properly used, denotes Austria alone. Hungary is no part of the Empire. Throughout the following description effort has been made to avoid inaccuracy of expression by referring to Austria-Hungary as the "dual monarchy," or simply as "the monarchy." The nomenclature of the Austro-Hungarian union is cumbersome, but therein it merely reflects the character of the union itself. ”

“ That there are weak points in the Triple Alliance is obvious. If Austria-Hungary were a purely homogeneous country like France or Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary, even without Italy, could face with confidence an attack from either or both their powerful neighbours. But Austria-Hungary is not homogeneous. A large proportion of her population is anti-German, or at least non-German, and Italy is always subject to be tempted by an opportunity of obtaining some of Austria-Hungary's Adriatic possessions. ”

“ Especially is this the case in a country of such an amalgamate nature as Austria-Hungary, where at every turn something unexpected challenges2 query. How comes it, for instance, that having left behind a Parliament House in Vienna we find another in Budapest though both own allegiance to the same sovereign? Why should Hungarians be so much exasperated if their country is spoken of as part of an empire when they acknowledge an Emperor as their ruler? ”

“ Had the government of Austria known how to win the hearts of the Hungarians for their sovereign—had they but preserved the good faith and the sanctity of the monarchy in Hungary, how secure and imposing might the position of the Emperor have now been, in the midst of all the troubles in Germany! Hungary desired no revolution ”

“ Look at the map on the next page. It shows you the two countries which had fallen out—Austria and Servia. You see at a glance that the Austrian Empire, which consists of Austria and Hungary, is by far the larger country; in fact, Austria-Hungary is seven times as large as Servia, and has eleven times as many people. There is no country on earth which contains so many different races as Austria-Hungary. Within its bounds we find Germans, Italians, Magyars, [5] Jews, Armenians, [6] and Gypsies, as well as eight distinct Slav races. ”

“ The disastrous situation of our affairs has moved us to lay before our dear and faithful States of Hungary, the recent invasion of Austria, the danger now impending over this kingdom, and a proposal for the consideration of a remedy. The very existence of the kingdom of Hungary, of our own person, of our children and our crown, is now at stake. Forsaken by all, we place our sole resource in the fidelity, arms and long tried valor of the Hungarians ”

“ If Austria exists to-day, she owes it to Hungary—and no Hapsburg since Maria Theresia has ever acknowledged the debt. And again—when Napoleon bribed and my great-grandfather appealed, how they spurned the one and poured out their blood for the other—who was neither picturesque nor grateful. Throughout their history the Hungarian character has been astonishingly consistent, their nationalism has been as unwavering, in spite of conquests and immigrations, as that of your own countrymen. They are as independent as republicans and as loyal as the British. ”

“ In a contest between the Russians and the Hungarians, the sympathy of all Germany, of all western Europe, would be with the Majjars. Half the Emperor of Austria's own heart would be on the side of the loyal nation to which his house owes so large a debt of gratitude; who, he must be aware, have been alienated only by the errors and the injustice of his advisers, and who, if they are sacrificed, will not, and cannot be sacrificed to his interests. Hungary was perfectly satisfied with her constitution and her government, as established by the laws of April 1848. ”

“ Austria-Hungary, as has already been said, is a jumble of languages and nationalities. This empire includes nearly a million Italians in its southwestern corner, and three million Roumanians in Transylvania. It has as its subjects in Bosnia and Herzegovina several million Serbians. In Slavonia (slȧ vō′nĭ ȧ) , Croatia (crō a′tia) , and Dalmatia (dăl mā tia) , it has two or three million Slavs, who are closely related to the Serbians. In the north, its government rules over several million Czechs (chĕcks) (Bohemians and Moravians) who strongly desire to have a country of their own. ”

“ It was Austria-Hungary who always opposed this. If she had allowed the Serbs to send their agricultural products to other parts of Europe beyond the Austro-Hungarian frontier all would have been well. There was a shortage of meat in Germany and Italy, as well as in Austria itself. But Austria, to please the Hungarian agrarians, interfered with all export trade into Austria or Germany, and thus made the Slavs on the Balkans determined to find an outlet to the sea. ”

“ Austria-Hungary. An official communication was given to the press at Vienna summarizing the Government's criticism of the Serbian reply to the Austro-Hungarian note.
"Inasmuch as the Austro-Hungarian demands constitute the minimum regarded as necessary for the reestablishment of a permanent peace in the southeast of the [Dual] Monarchy, the Serbian reply is considered to be insufficient. ”

“ Austria-Hungary, it was contended, could not lead a normal life so long as this state of affairs was allowed to endure. It must, therefore, be transformed radically. But no transformation could be effected until Servia was brought to her knees by the Habsburgs and forced into the groove of chronic quiescence which had been destined for her by the murdered Archduke. In other words, she must become a satellite of her powerful neighbour, and subordinate her policy, military, commercial, and foreign, to that of the Ballplatz. ”