Commonwealth and Foreign
SELF-CONSCIOUS AUSTRIA
I.—By SIR CHARLES HOBHOUSE
Al.:STRIA, and in particular its capital Vienna, is the mutilated, uneconomic, and indefensible remnant of a great Empire, but a country of high strategic importance. The forme-z Austria was always necessary to maintain the old balance of power. The present Austria, small enough to be swallowed whole, would tip the scales in favour of the absorber. There- fore neither of her great neighbours is willing to see the other make that advance which it would be impossible for Austria to resist successfully.- Until recently it was fairly certain that the attraction of language and of race was such that Austria would be a willing entrant into the circle of a reviving Germany, directed by a masterful spirit sprung from her own ranks. There was good reason for such an inclination. The older generation, mindful of but shorn of the Imperial grandeur of Vienna, had no pride in a tiny republic unable to deal on equal terms with their former dependants, the Succession States. They hated Italy for her theft of South Tyrol, and despised as much as they feared her. Tice working classes, unemployed and starving, crushed at the insistence of Mussolini by arms supplied for the purpose from Italy, and conscious of the real Socialism .and Communism smouldering beneath the surface in Germany, were not wholly unwilling to be linked with those whose fortunes if under a cloud were not of necessity permanently so, whose language they spoke, whose sentiments they understood and shared, and in whose market for - production and distribution they would have some opening. The growing youth of Austria were under educational and propagandist influences of a Nazi bias, Money to further the Anschluss was abundant. If it had depended. on Austria alone, union with Germany would have teen certain and welcome.
But a change has come about in Austria, and for that change Germany has only herself to thank. The Dollfuss plot and murder shocked many hesitating minds. The Church has been alarmed by the Nazi attitude to the Vatican and to religion, and while the Church may not have much actual power it has enormous influence. Some control over educa- tion, primary and subsequent, is being asserted, and for the first time since the War the village youth, at least in the Tyrol, are associating themselves with their elders in the national shooting-clubs and meetings. Even in the Army a national feeling and pride is evident. It is more " Austrian," and less " German."
The increasing solvency and prosperity of the country is making for national consciousness. There is an increase in genuine trade, and the tourist traffic, notably from America and England, is bringing new money in appreciable quantity into the country. Political subsidies from Italy have ceased, and from Germany have dwindled. Revenue has increased, and taxes are borne with greater ease. Immigrants from Germany have brought industries and trade with them. There is a good deal of new building going on, villages are clean, fields are well and fully cultivated. Children arc adequately fed, shod, and clothed. There is a sense of general sufficiency, though not any suggestion of abundance. ,In contrast pay and salaries are very low in both the public- service and commerce.' The strictest economy is observable, and the cost of living is everywhere restricted. Upon such foundations Chancellor Schuschnigg is building up. a real Austria. A native of Tyrol, he has surprised friends and foes by an exhibition of courage and resource of which none thought him capable. President Miklas showed during the Dollfuss crisis more decisive qualities. than were expected. If it is possible for the Government to come to terms with the Social Democrats, internal disturbance from the Nazis may be discounted. There has been some approach to an understanding, but political freedom does not exist. The Press is controlled, though not wholly muzzled. Subterranean circulation of literature, Nazi and Socialist, continues. Govern- ment appears to be despotic but not tyrannous.
In the background is the monarchy. Its direct supporters arc dying out, but so is the opposition to it. Asa national sentiment develops so does an understanding of the utility of a monarch. Its chief opponents are the ambitions of Germany, the fears of Yugoslavia, and the intransigence of the Empress Zita. The obstacles to Otto are external, not internal, and for some time he will remain in the background. Meanwhile Austria is convalescing.
II.—By E. LINDT It is sad but true that foreigners have little knowledge, and can form no proper conception, of Auttria. They like the country, talk of lovely Vienna, but have no idea of the special tasks Austria has to perform. When Englishmen today talk of Austria's future, they prophesy the 'An.rehluss, because they start with the general idea that since Austria and -Germany are inhabited by Germans it is inevitable, in a - period of triumphant nationalism, that the Germans should unite. And on the other hand, those who wish to see Austria independent are actuated above all by strategic considerations. It should therefore be strongly emphasised that Austria has a special task to perform, and that her autonomy and inde- pendence. have a more than strategic significance. ..
For centuries Austria has acted as an Ostmark, that is, an outpost, of Western European civilisation. Her- position had to be established in struggles and wars against the Huns, the .Tartars and the Turks, and, through more peaceful means, by spreading Western civilisation and culture through Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. This task was performed, until. the World War, by the German element in the.- Austro- Hungarian - monarchy, and after the War especially by the Austrian capital Vienna, whose social services, workers'- flats and, high schools, and facilities for popular recreation and education, set an example in social policy to Central and Eastern Europe. .
Austria's function was in every way more significant .because of her geographical position ; at the centre of the cross-roads from East to West and from North to South, she had economic and political, as well as cultural, opportunities. Austria is an important centre of communications for trade with. Eastern and South-Eastern Europe ; and she herself, with her many specialised industries, has every opportunity for increased commerce, if only the obstacles to the import of agricultural products could be diminished.
Austria's role as an intermediary between East and WeA„ it some cases of political significance as a bridge-head, in some,- culturalas a scientific and .artistic centre, in some economic as in the Danubian monarchy of the last century, has recently been obscured by the intensified political conflict, between the Great Powers and by the increased pressure of the ,totaliT tarian States upon her domestic policy.. Austria's foreign policy has consisted in vacillating between the two Fascist States, and her relations with Western Europe have been neglected, partly as a result of the pressure of Italy and Germany, who will allow no Other spheres of influence except their own' in Austria, and partly, because contacts were cthi- sciously avoided by the ruling classes which, at leaat to begin with, were in sympathy with totalitarian methods.
In the meanwhile totalitarian methods have created in Germany a situation which gives a new importance to the continued existence of an independent Austria. For, while German culture has long ago given tip the ghost amid the salutes and marches of National Socialism, in Austria it must and can be cultivated, fostered and further developed. There is only one piste& Austria, where everything which was valuable and sacred to the world in the German spirit, in Gernian art and culture can now prosper. This need not be. doubted on the ground that Austria is only a small country, in the vast shadow of the Third Reich'. If Austria achieves genuine independence, she will be the vehicle of German culture until a place has once again been won for it in the German Reich: If Austria is allowed to go her 'own way, un- influenced and undisturbed by developments in Germany, She can preserve for the world the treasures of German humanism, of German classicism, and German naturalism ; and in addition she can continue to interpret' Western cultUre to the Eait throUgh the German tongue. _ .
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