A Ministerial speech was delivered in Vienna on Tuesday by
Baron von Schonaich, the Austro-Hungarian Minister for War, in which the following passage occurs :—
" One thing is firmly established, and was taught us also by the annexation crisis,—first, that in consequence of our position, and despite our policy of alliances, the Monarchy must still reckon with a war on several fronts; and secondly, that it is no longer permissible to postpone the development of our defensive forces, a development in place of which insufficient makeshifts have been forced upon us, and which must be carried through now albeit at
the twelfth hour, if our defensive forces are to offer the Monarchy security that they will always be able to cope with the contin- gencies alluded to."
Unless " several" means two, it is impossible not to see in this statement a reference to the southernmost member of the Triple Alliance which it is difficult to reconcile with the amiable assurances of Count Aehrenthal. At the time of " the annexation crisis" it was stated that Austria-Hungary had despatched, or was ready to despatch, at a moment's notice, sixty thousand extra troops to Innsbruck to be ready to guard the Italian frontier. Baron von Schonaich's remarks certainly do not tend to discredit that statement. It is indeed a strange and dangerous situation when it is necessary to take such precautions against one's own ally.
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