“EMPEROR” OTTO

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1938, Page 10

“EMPEROR” OTTO

FADED HOPES. "The day of my return will come. God grant that I shall not find the country a heap of ruins.” So wrote the Archduke Otto, present head of tho Hapsburg family and claimant to the Austrian Throne, in a letter to the Burgomaster of one of the many Austrian towns and villages that conferred upon him in the past few years the title of Honorary Citizen (writes a contributor to the “Sydney Morning' Herald.”) Since the death of his father, the ex-Emperor Karl, in Madeira, in 1922, the Archduke Otto, now a young man of twenty-five years, has awaited his destiny as heir to the Hapsburg Thrones of Austria and Hungary. For years tho Imperial uniform has been ready in the cupboard at the Chateau de Crojx, Steenockerzeel, Belgium, where the family now live in .exile, for the ray that has never ccclne.

With the German absorption of Austria, Otto’s hopes have gone. Hapsburg Archdukes residing in Austria have been arrested by the Nazis, and 1500 towns and villages that conferred honorary citizenship on Otto have been compelled to rescind the honour. Yet, the Archduke Otto and ihs Legitimist counsellors will hope on. . King Carol of Rumania and King George of Greece have regained their thrones. There is still the possibility that the ex-King Alfonso, or more probably his son, or Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, may regain the Spanish. Throne. Why not the Hapsburgs, too ?

Otto’s ,251 b birthday last November was celebrated by the Austrian Legitimists. with greater ceremony than ever before, the Archdukes Feli*>, Eugene, and Anton, and the Archduchesses Adelheid and Ileana being present. A little .earlier Dr. Schusch-' nigg, an ardent Monarchist,, himself had attended a meeting of the Legitimists in Viemia. He.is said to have expressed satisfaction that the Fatherland Front was co-operating with the Legitimists, and to, have referred to these factors as . “the, two pillars of the State.” Herr .von Weisner, the. Legitimist leader.,, in a public states ment, expressed the. opinion that the Little Entente —even Yugoslavia—.would no longer oppose restoration by force, and that hence the only enemy of. restoration was now Germany, who objected bn the double grouiid .that restoration would be a harri.e.r to her .south-easitern expansion,, anti that a “Christian Austria itn-. er it,.- Monarch would unloose . forces in the. Reich which, nray seem dangerous. t,o the present German regime.” When, however, last . December, .Archduke Otto paid a visit to the Prince of ..Liechtenstein at Vaduz, the capital of his.tiny State on the western frontier of Austria, and--was m,et fey Herr von Wiesner and other Legitimists, it was made cleawto him-that, despite. the growth, of friendly feeling 111 Austria, the attitude of-—foreign Governments, and ..especially of Geu, many,. made the. prospect of restora/ ti.on hopeless for. the present. Much water has run under the bridges, since, then, and the Nazis have now eclipsed all Otto’s hopes.

THE EMPRESS ZITA....

It is the Archduke Otto’s personal misfortune to have been Europe’s, permari.ent problem for a number of years. For his restoration’ is not of concern merely to Austria an,d. Huh.gary, but also to Germany find Italy, Rumania, Yugoslaviri, ' find C'zechdslbvakia —the last three'the. Succes- 1 sioh States which inherited much of the domains of the old Austro-Hun-garian Empire. Thus the star at

Steenockerzeel has risen or fallen according to international pressures. His father, the ex-Emperor Karl, might have accepted his fate, but Karl had an Empress. Zita, Princess of Bourbon-Parma. She. had not. a drop of Hapsburg in her veins; yet she was the best man and the best Hapsburg of them all. When all his officers and counsellors advised Karl to flee, his country. Zita, and only Zita, told him to stay where he was. When Karl died in 1922 —of a.broken heart, it is said,--the House of Hapsburg was represented by a boy of nine —the young Otto. The amazing Zita, had never for one moment given up working to put. him back on the throne of his ancestors. Absurdly poor by comparison with her previous standards. Zita during part of the exile. cooked meals for the whole, family in second-class establishments. Determined in her aim, she was quite ready for long waits in draughty coiridors in order to see indifferent diplomats. In all the annals of the House of Hapsburg there is probably nothing more remarkable than +he story of this lonely, unhappy lady, who was not a Hapsburg at. all. DREAM THAT VANISHED. In the new Austria, the people were not happy either. And so, the years passed, they came to think more kindly of Otto. They began to say that only a Hapsburg could unite Socialist and Catholic and Nazi in a common loyalty to something higher than their parties. And they said, too, that Austria would never have peace unless she was united. Europe began to understand that, until there was peace in Austria, there could be no peace in Europe. So when those who had said “no peace with the Hapsburgs” in 1918 heard that there could be no peace without the Hapsburgs in 1937, they began to look at Austria to discover if it were true. Now the Nazis have settled the matter along other lines.

In the dreams at Steenockerzeel, Austria, of course, was merely the nucleus, in the fullness of time, Hungary would be added, and Bohemia aiid Moravia and Slovakia. Catholic Croatia and Slovenia would be detached from Orthodox Serbia, and Catholic Bavaria and Wurtemburg defaulted from Lutheran Germany. The Holy Roma’n Empire would come again. In the years of exile, Otto had prepared himself .for. the great day. Fie studied history and military science. He is said .to be the first “Emperor” in history .to have obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy. Deeply religious, Otto, it is said, prays three times a clay. He has few recreations besides shooting, a little swimming, and a,, little gqlf—very indifferent golf. Every ' morning he reads many newspapers in six differeiit’ ffiffgufees. Each evening he listdn’s to the rAdio news. Thus, his life has been secluded and atisteTe. HOPES IN HUNGARY.

.There remains the .question .of the Hungarian.. Throne. The new Constitution .of Hungary .is in a form of a Monarchy, and- the head of the State. .Admiral ..Florthy,. assumes the title of Rebent. which impij.es the hope , of a future .restoration. Moreover,..the inhiibjtant.s of the ced.ed territories of Slovakia, Transylvania, aiid Croatia, while they may have no -love for. their-j former Hungarian masters, are believed fb retain a . lingering loyalty to the Hapsburg dynasty. Thus, the ‘Little Entente States have . been haiintecl by the fear that abdication of'Hf’b Ir.sl Hapsburg, Karl IV„ in November. 1918, had not destroyed the traditional devotion of the. Hungarian, people to its Monarch. The fears have not been altogether

unfounded. Twice during 1921 the impulsive and ill-advised Karl made an attempt to regain his Hungarian Throne. Each time ..he. arrived unannounced in Hungary from his home in Switzerland, apparently convince! that the whole country would rise in his favour. But the Hungarian Government was then in no state to face war with the Little Entente. Oil the first occasion, Karl was induced quietly to leave. On the second, he was arrested, handed over to the Allies, and conveyed to Madeira, where he was henceforth to live. The Hungarian Government was later compelled, under Allied piessure, to pass a. law excluding the Hapsburgs forever from the Hungarian Throne'. tSix months later. Karl died in Madeira, leaving as his heir the nine-year-old boy, Otto. Sixteen vears have passed since then, and Admiral Horthy seems in no hurry to give place to a Monarch. So Otto’s star in Hungary also can hardly be said to he in the ascendant.