NEW DANGERS IN EUROPE: BRITAIN’S RESPONSIBILITY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20273, 6 April 1934, Page 6

NEW DANGERS IN EUROPE: BRITAIN’S RESPONSIBILITY .

The Possibilities of Another War: Will Austria be the Battleground?

By

Sir Philip Gibbs.

VIENNA. March 6

The Czechs ace getting alarmed by Italian influence in Austria. Jugoslavia is rattled. The prospect of an Austro-Hungarian

monarchy is not fantastic. Prince Von Starhemberg and his following are monarchists and make no secret of it. What does Mussolini think about that? What is Mussolini working for in Central Europe with his active and adventurous brain? So people ask in Vienna, and, by asking, reveal the terrible game of pull devil, pull baker, in which Austria is involved. It is all very dangerous. No one in England

yet realises, I imagine, the strength of the forces gathering around this cockpit of the Powers.

J ARRIVED in Austria on the day when the German truce to Nazi violence expired and when Theodor Habicht, who had delivered the ultimatum, was expected to unleash violent forces against the Dollfuss Government. There was a renewed sense of tension in this tragic city, where the people’s nerves are on edge and no one knows what will happen next. I sat that evening in the room of a high official, who talked to me with one hand on the telephone, which kept ringing every minute. He was being asked anxious questions, as I could tell from his answers. It was not true that the German Nazis had crossed the frontier. Austrian troops were not massed on the border of Czechoslovakia. Across the telephone this Austrian'official, wh’o seemed to have all the latest reports, smiled at me .and shrugged his shoulders. Certainly Habicht had made himself ridiculous. But there is nothing else in this Austrian situation at which one can smile, and even that may not be amusing for long. One does not know what forces of violence may be waiting to explode. Germany is not going to surrender her attempt to Nazify Austria unless she gets great concessions elsewhere. The internal situation in Austria is not, to say the least, reassuring to those who wish well to these people who once were light-hearted folk I have talked with many persons and they only tell of anguish, fear and grave anxiety. After the recent events, when they shed each other’s blood only a fortnight ago, there is great agony in thousands of homes and hearts. Women are waiting to learn the fate of their men who are prisoners or still in hiding. Their own fate is tragic As the wives of Social Democrats they are without means of livelihood now that their men are not getting wages or unemployed relief, even if not under arrest. The Frau Dollfuss Fund, helped by the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, who is eager for clemency and forgiveness, if it is possible, on both sides—which seems impossible just now—does not reach out yet to the places where working folk are in very dire misery but still feel resentful. This must be said: the Government is anxious to win the confidence of the working classes by fair promises and pledges of a future system of Government in which their interests will be safeguarded and in which they will have a share. It is proposed to establish a guild system, with workers and employers consulting together for their common interests. This plan has been explained to me and is now being prepared. But plans for government and theoretical systems are not of absorbing interest at a time when there is no sense of security and when Austria is not only bleeding from internal strife but is a political battlefield on which the Great Powers are manoeuvring for position with tremendous and sinister purposes. Words are Dangerous. I have to write cautiously. Words now are almost as dangerous as sparks near .a powder magazine, and this little countfKr, cut to pieces by the very Powers whißh now are most desperate to defend its independence, is the flash point of Europe. I will leave my own conviction and apprehensions on one side in this dispatch and report only what has been told me by men

who are watching this situation with acute anxietv. , . . In the first place, what is the position of Chancellor Dollfuss and his Heimwehr supporters? Are they able to maintain their poliev of national independence against the* German influence penetrating Austria and against the hostile forces in their own country? By one of their own spokesmen I am told that there is some danger and even a certainty that groups of Social Democrats will go over to the Nazis out of bitterness for what has happened. But he does not think that the working classes as a whole will be lured into a faith which they hate instinctively. It must not be forgotten that Austria is essentially a Catholic country and that its Christian Socialists, among whom, are the peasants, detest the Nazi philosophy, with its pagan element, race arrogance and ideas of forming a national religion. Dependence on Italy. But independence from Germany means dependence on Italy. cannot do without support. Her financial state at the moment is piling up a bill of costs. Who is going to pay it and for how long? Is it possible for a Germanic people to resist the appeal and pull of a natural alliance and the economic support of Germany herself? That is a grave question which only the- future can answer. Some people to whom I have spoken answer in’ the negative. There is another question of the very greatest imporance to the peace of Europe. What policy should England and France adopt toward this Heimwehr Government and Dollfuss? My own views are not important, but from Austrians and others I have heard views which should be considered gravely and instantly by the French and English Governments. England’s Responsibility. It is believed here in Vienna by men utterly aloof from the internal strife that the peace -of Europe hangs on a thread which may snap at any time. They believe that the Dollfuss Government, with English and French support, is the only safeguard of peace If that fails, either by Nazi pressure or by other forms of insurrection, they believe Austria will ‘become a battleground between the conflicting Powers. I think it is my duty to state these views. It is suggested by my informants that in return for an equality status iq arms and for economic privileges in regard to Austria, Germany might relinquish her attack upon Austrian independence, and that France might adopt this solution in return for an absolute guarantee in regard to her security by England. When I express my belief that public opinion in England is not at all in a mood to give this guarantee, I am answered with eyes that stare straight into mine. “In that case there will be a European war which England might prevent now by a strong decision and which, when it happens, will lead to general anarchy in Europe which will not leave England untouched.'* Almost everybody with whom I talk seems convinced that only a resolute statement of policy by England in alliance with France can save Europe from an explosive disaster. The time is short, they say. The decision must be made now, not next year, or never. (N.A.N.A.—Copyright.)