The Star. FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1919. PEACE TERMS FOR AUSTRIA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVII, Issue LXVII, 16 May 1919, Page 4

The Star.

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1919. PEACE TERMS FOR AUSTRIA.

delivered every evening by G o'clocx in Hawera, Manaa, Normanby, Okinawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, EapoDga, Awatuoa, Opunake, Otakfho, Manutaai, Alton, HurJey. ville, Patea. Waverley.

Students of European history will probably find more to interest them in some ways in th c peace terms which are to be presented to the Austrian plenipotentiaries than .in those which are causing the Germans so much concern, for the liquidation, of the AustroHungarian Empire 'brings to the forefront the great question of establishing a number of small nations who for so many years have sought in vain far their freedom. The war was largely duo to the insatiable desire of Germany and Austria-Hungary to swallow up, one after the other, the smaller nations and to establish a powerful Germanic alliance to control the long strip of territory from Antwerp to the Persian Gulf. . The Prussian militarist had for years looked forward eagerly to the fulfilment of.the dream of iM>^ tel Europa; he had planned and schemed for such a development commercially and militarily, and he had found a willing assistant in the AustroHvngarian Empire and its leader, the old Emperor Francis Joseph, for the Magyars were of an aggressive nature, and expansion southward gave them visions of important outlets to the Mediterranean. Ten or eleven years ago the Austrians added considerably to their territory by annexing, without serious protest from the Great Powers, the Jugo-Slav States of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and prompted by Germany they endeavored by making extreme demands to secure a permanent grip of Serbia. The murder of the Austrian Archduke at Serajevo was, it must be admitted, a regretable event, but Serbia was will-

honorably

ishing the murderer and taking stern measures to overcome the menace of the anarchist society which he represented j but she was not prepared to bind her kingdom under the heavy yoke of Austrian militarism. Austria

was inclined to recognise that her Note of July, 1914, was. too drastic, but .Germany refused to allow her ally to withdraw from the position, and little persuasion was needed to induce her to act as she did. The Austrians expected to add Serbia to their Empire as the result of . the war, trusting that Germany's military strength would so impress Russia and Prance that the war would be confined to the Balkans. .Austria's decision brought her into sprious trouble. Her Empire, which might the better be termed a collection of States dominated by the Magyars, has crumbled; the tyrannised nationalities have been liberated from the oppressors; and what remains as Austrian territory is small compared with her possessions before the war. Serbia and the Slavs of Bosnia and Herzegovina are able to unite as one nation; the Roumanian elements can be linked up; the Czecho-Slovaks are abk to claim independence; while the Trentino returns to Italy, and the scattered Poles can look to Warsaw as their national capital. The Austrian downfall has been complete, but nevertheless the fixing of the several new boundaries is a task which requires very careful thought on the part of the Great Powers, for, though there tnay be no sign of jealousy -or distrust among the liberated nationalities, it has to be remembered that they are people of a difficult temperament. It would, indeed,, be .a terrible.thing if in the settlement arranged by the Peace •Conference there were sown- the seeds of future /Wars or the door left open for a repetition of the unrest and treachery which for so long marked the course, of events- in the Balkan States. The- League of Rations, 'is expected fco reduc3 the probability of wars in the future, hut the peoples of South-Eastern Europe are very difficult to restain. Yet with the new conditions—the abolition of conscription, the reduction of armies, and the demolition of frontier fortifications—the ambition for military conquest should weaken. Austria's internal condition is such that a large indemnity could not be met. Still she must make reparation for the damage done in Serbia, Roumania and 'Northern Italy, and the Allies' bill against her will doubtless be a large one. It seems to be unlikely that Austria will be able to offer much resistance to signing the treaty, and it is hoped that the meeting with the Austrians at St. Germain, the birthplace of Louis XIV. and three other French Kings, will be productive of speedy results. Austria's economic position is bad, and the sooner peace is signed the sooner will the menace of Bolshevism be overcome.

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