THE HAPSBURGS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12351, 22 June 1918, Page 2

THE HAPSBURGS.

AUSTRIA’S HOUSE DOOMED. Emperor Charles Dominated by the Kaiser. (B.y F. CU N LIF FE - 0 WEN in the Now York "Sun.”) Emperor Charles, by hia abject eurrcmlor to the most relentless foes of bis naco and of his people, tho llolicn•zollerns, has forfeited every remaining vestige of goodwill and of affection of his fellow countrymen. It is not only tho affection of his subjects that Emperor diaries has lost, but also their respect. They accorded this to even poor old Emperor Ferdinand,, who was wont to describe himself ns an old fool (Trottl) and who finally became so convinced of the deficiency of his mental equipment that ho insisted upon abdicating in 1848 in favour of his then oighteen-ycar-old nephew, the late Emperor Francis Joseph. EMPEROR LOSES RESPECT OF SUBJECTS. ■ But how- can tho people of the Dual Empire retain the slightest vestige of respect for a ruler who permitted himself to bo driven hy abject fear of the Kaiser to perjure himself publicly in the eyes of the entire world by solemnly denying the contents of tho letter which lie had dispatched last year to his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon, now fighting against Germany as an officer of Belgian artillery, although the missive was in his own handwriting, and thereafter endeavouring to insinuate that it was a forgery, which he laid, first, to his wife’s mother, the widowed Du oh ess of Parma, and then at that of his wife’s father confessorP Tlio people of the Dual Empire have never been noted for Puritanical principles with regard to tho truth. They are too near the Orient not to hare acquired the taste and skill of the Oriental for tho artistic embroidery of facts. But for their sovereign to brawl himself guilty of so gross, flagrant and unconvincing a piece of perjury and his subsequent attempts to screen himself, first, behind petticoats and then behind the cassock, are more than they can swallow and, are humiliations they will never bo able to forget or forgive. KAISER ELATED BY HIS WORK. Nothing could have given the Kaiser a greater amount of satisfaction than to place his unhappy ally at Vienna in so sorry a predicament. Anything that can serve to lower the Hapsburgs in the estimation of the world is to him a source of tho keenest gratification. He knows full well that from the time when they first acquired by means of a discreditable financial deal the rank of petty sovereigns the Hohenzollerns have always been regarded as vulgar upstarts by the court of Vienna and by the great bouses of the Austrian and south German aristocracy. Down to the middle of the nineteenth century they were, treated more or less as vassals hy the Hapsburgs. Jbcy were never permitted to forget that their greatest claim to distinction at the Austrian court was that they had been elevated to the hereditary position of cupbearers to the Hapsburg blouse. By thus haying managed to place Lmnoror Charles in so humiliating a position, the Kaiser feels that ho has now in a measure avenged the many shghts which he and his predecessors as Kings of Prussia and as Electors of Brandenburg have been subjected to by the Court of Vienna. At last he Has got.even with the Hapsburgs. and undoubtedly relishes the notion that lie has contributed to their downfall. Indeed it may he questioned whether that has not been his aim over since be succeeded tp the throne- -and porbaps the aim and hope of several of I til( - Hohenzollerns before him. At any rate, there is no denying that l an-Gcrmnnn writers, sonic of thorn in I U ’° sem( * of the Prussian Crown, j othor f enjoying Hohenzollern patnon- | ago, have for years past been publishj nig without any restraint bv the Berlin Government hooks, pamphlets and | articles in the daily and serial , and even maps, in which tho Dual Empire, as such, has disappeared, and the Hapsburgs reduced to the status of petty sovereign archdukes of upper and lower Austria, those territories beii# vassals to the Hohenzollern Crown. REVOLT MUCH MORE LIKELY HERE. . have been hearing so much dnrmg the last two or three years of tho probability of an internal revolution in Germany that sight has boon lost of tho possibility of a revolution in the Dual Empire. People have been under tho impression that although there might be discontent and even local risings among the Italian speaking inhabitants of the southern provinces, yet that as a. whole the hulk of tho population of the twin monarchies was too strongly bound I to the Hapsburgs by loyalty and long standing affection to dream of revolution. But this is no longer the case. Revolution in Austria-Hungary is far more imminent to-day than in Germany. There it may bo delayed until the conclusion of the war, when the German people, their national pride bumbled bv complete defeat, will be confronted with the realisation of the appalling cost of the present war and with the repudiation of tho national debt, owing to the impossibility of obtaining through taxation the colossal sums required for interest and amortisation. In Austria-Hungary revolution is much nearer. The Twin Monarchies have been brought k) the very brink thereof by Emperor Charles’s surrender of all that was left of his authority to tho Kaiser. The people of Austria and Hungary, starving, mined and bereaved of those . near and 1 dear to them, have been brought to desperation. Peace is the subject of their daily prayers, of public prayers, in which all “classes have openly joined. It was in deference to these national aspirations, strong already at tho time of his accession, that Emperor Charles then dismissed tlio pro-German Ministers of his predecessor on the throne. In this Emperor Charles was supported by his Bourbon consort, by her clever mother and by most of his relatives. EXECUTED A CHANGE OF FRONT. At first he presented a. bold front to the Kaiser and manifested not only independence but absolute coolness toward Berlin. But unfortunately this did not last. By tho middle of last summer he had permitted the Kaiser to recover a sufficient amount of influence at Vienna to precipitate a condition of war between Austria-Hungary and the United States. Yet, in spite of this, whch led to tlio disappearance of r ny possible reluctance which may have been entertained by Franco and Great Britain to the full, satisfaction of tho territorial aspirations ,of Italy and of Serbia, at the expense uf course of tho Dual Monarchy, Emperor Charles sought to continue in Switzerland secret negotiations for a separate, peace through some ( of his most capable diplomats, such as Iho Counts Rcvortera and Monsdorff. Owing to tlio uncompromising attitude of the French and English agents, who had no authority to speak but merely to listen and report, these efforts were of no avail. In spite of tho secrecy with which they were environed, something about the negotiations leaked out. Both the French and English Governments then explained the facts, whereupon the Vienna Government insisted that whatever negotiations had been attempted had been inaugurated by flic two Rowers. London and Paris found no difficulty in proving tlio Austrian Government guilty of mendacity, and by way of matter .Wiem M : M

Clemenceau published the letter addressed to Prince Sixtus of Bourbon by Emperor Oliarlos. If Emporor Charles had stuck to his letter and adhered to its views he would hnvo retained tho goodwill and respect of his people. But in the face j of_threats fiom Berlin ho disavowed tho missive, and to show that ho was comSlotely dominated hy tho Kaiser ho emamlcd the resignation of tho statesmen and court dignitaries who had identified themselves with his aspirations for peace and who had shown any inclination to resist Emperor William's insolent usurpations of sovereignty in Anstria-Hmigaiy. Count Czcniiu was obliged to abandon the portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs and the do facto Chancellorship of Ihe Dual Alomv.rehy te Baron Stephen Buriant; Alexander Welter! c had to give up the. Premiership of Hungary io Count Stephen Tisza, while Prince Conrad Hoiieulobc, farmer Premier of Austria, ivas divested of his office of Grand Marshal. ALL' IN WILHELM’S BAD GRACES. Be.rohlold, Wckcrle, Conrad Hohenloho and Czernin are all in the black books of the Kaiser, espeeialy the three first named. For William considers them as responsible for whatever independence and stiffness their young sovereign showed with regard to Berlin. I'isza and Durian, on the othar baud, arc the recognised creatures of Emperor William, ami as such are execrated hy their countrymen. Tisza in Hungary and Burian in tho remainder of the empire stand for reactionary despotism and tyranny of the Hohenzollern brand. Tisza, is a masterful man of the most harsh and cruel character, who has relentlessly crushed every effort to introduce universal suffrage in Hungary, and who has treated tho Slavs subject to the crown of St Stephen like helots, while he, ns well as Burian, are the sworn foes of the nationalist aspirations of the Czechs. Of the two men Burian is the most entirely submissive to the Kaiser. Of plebeian Magyar birth, with a mushroom Magyar title of baron, he is despised and detested quite as much in Hungary as in Austria. He is ns graceless in appearance «s he is in manner and speech, is defective in vision, except ns regards distant objects, and is extremely deaf, a disadvantage compensated hy his extraordinary skill in lip reading. He is a man of no initiative or constructive ability, and his only advantage in the eyes of the Kai. ser is that ho can rely upon him to carry out his orders without question. DISAFFECTION IN THE ARMY. In ( Germany the Kaiser can still rely upon a certain portion of his army to lopross rebellion. But in Austria and Hungary soldiers and officers, even those of the higher grades, are completely disaffected and stung beyond all endurance by the harshness, the brutality 'and the contempt to which they have been subjected by tlio German officers put in authority over them. Moreover, the troops of the Dual Monarchy cannot forget that while they have been fighting, not for the cause of the Hapsburgs, but for that of the Kaiser and of the always abhorred Prussians, their families have been left to starve, even the very foodstuffs produced in Austria-Hungary being confiscated te feed the Germans. Had Emperor Oliarlos remained true to his people they would have remained true to hia house as in centuries past. Not through affection, hut through craven, abject fear, he has sacrificed them and their families and belongings to the Kaiser. And that is why they now consider themselves as relieved of any further obligation of allegiance to the house of Hapsburg of such tragic and yet illustrious memories, but now on the brink of its doom