The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1937. ARCHDUKE OTTO

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 58, 10 March 1937, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1937. ARCHDUKE OTTO

DY fishing in troubled waters Archduke Otto hopes lo come by the throne of Austria. He may succeed, for in Austria today anything may happen. Should he accomplish his aim, then he will occupy one of the most difficult positions in Europe, and it may in the end eost him his life; for since the murder of Dr. Dolfuss further assassinations are to be expected. Archduke Otto is the heir to the Hapsburg line. His father was the Emperor Karl. The latter suffered deposition as a result of the defeat of the Empire in the Great War. and he died a broken-hearted and kindly man. He never had a chance to succeed as an Emperor. Karl’s predecessor throughout his long reign ffor he ascended the Imperial Throne in 1848), the Emperor Francis Joseph, loaded himself with a tremendous burden, endeavouring to run an Empire of diverse nationalities by personal rule. His first task was to subdue the Hungarian revolt, and to effect the pacification of Lombardy This accomplished, an era of reaction set in. National aspirations of the various ethnic groups for a degree of autonomy were rigorously suppressed A determined effort was made to fuse these diverse elements into one State, the basis for which was the army. But this regimentation never actually accomplished anything, and it has been wittily said that the Austrians did nothing but provide their enemies with opportunities for winning victories The Emperor Francis Joseph asserted his claim to rule as an absolute monarch, and bureaucratic centralisation was resorted to in order to sustain the personal rule of the Emperor. Liberal progress could make no headway and, consequently, political experience in Ihe smaller field of local administration was not gained by the people. In 1859 Lombardy was ceded to the King of Sardinia, while after the war with Prussia in 1866 Austria was excluded altogether from the German Federation. These reverses taught the Emperor something, but not enough. He thenceforward became more conciliatory towards the nationalities, especially the Bohemians, but his realm lacked experience in government, while the nationalities remained distinct. Unhappy because his son Francis Ferdinand had contracted a morganatic marriage, he held on to the throne without allowing his successor Karl to serve an apprenticeship for his great office. The Emperor Francis Joseph died on November 21, 1916, when the fortunes of Austria were black indeed. Without experience himself in the art of government, with the nationalities ready to break from the Austrian yoke, with the capital Vienna enlarged to be the head of a widespread Empire, neither the Emperor Karl nor anyone else could have steered his ship to safe anchorage. The Empire broke up in pieces. The South Slavs hived off, Hungary declared her independence, the new-State of Czechoslovakia was successfully established: the result was that Austria lost her mining, her industrial and her grain-growing areas. Instead of functioning for a widespread Empire the City of Vienna was supported by a relatively small country, and a poor one at that. Austrias history subsequent to the Peace Treaty of St. Germain has been a chequered one. The Socialists and the Communists have been driven to extremes by the intransigeancc of the other parties, and with despair born of hope long deferred. The royalists believe that with the return of a personality around whom the nation could rally, conditions would improve, the German element desired to emulate the Nazi movement in Germany, while the nations which formerly comprised the Empire have remained unwilling to enter into any economic solverein. Central Europe therefore presents itself as a tangled skein, and it may well be doubted whether, with its ancient grievances, its political inexperience, and its absence of common economic aims, and the divergencies of the various peoples, the untutored hand of Archduke Otto could unravel it if opportunity or fate placed the problem in his hands.