THE " BRIBE " TO AUSTRIA. T HAT the War party
in this country should just now be very angry with Austria is not at all unnatural. They often mistake Hungarian expressions of feeling for Austrian expressions, and have recently tried to convince themselves, in the teeth of an immense mass of evidence, that the Magyars had won the day, and that the Hapsburgs were about to risk the Monarchy rather than allow a free Bulgaria to be made too strong. Great Britain, therefore, would have an ally, and could go to war with a feeling that she had, at all events, men enough for her necessities. They were in error, as we have always argued they would be, and in their wrath they are now stating in every direction that Austria has " betrayed " Great Britain, that Russia has offered her Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, and Macedonia down to the /Egean, and that the "bribe " has proved too much for the virtue of the rapacious Hapsburgs. The Government has deserted the common cause, and has expressed its readiness to acquiesce in an " iniquitous scheme of partition," without a previous Russian war. No words can express the disgust of the War party at the "selfishness" of Austria, or their horror at so unprincipled a devotion to her own especial interests, and one paper almost in terms threatens her with war.
We do not believe very much of the story, for we do not believe that Russia would assist in so serious an aggrandise- ment of a rival and unfriendly State, or that vast provinces can be given away without European consent, or taken away from a Power in possession without a war ; but we want to know why any cool-headed Tory, or any Liberal who under- stands the situation in the East, should object to Austrian aggrandisement in the Balkan Peninsula. Suppose she did receive all these fine Provinces, not at the hands of Russia, but at the hands of Europe, who would be the sufferers. The Turks ? Even admitting their rights—and we cannot admit them as against the rights of the populations, the " Turkey " of diplomacy meaning only a dominant warrior caste—they cannot hope to retain these provinces after Bulgaria has been liberated, and could secure from Austria a pecuniary compensation much safer and more liberal than they will ever receive from anybody else. Austrian Treaties are fairly well kept, and Austrian security, though not perfect by any means, is much better than that of Greece, or of any autonomous State likely to grow up yet awhile in South-Eastern Europe. The Greeks ? Their claims, no doubt, are valid, and if they can enforce them, there is nothing to be said; but if they cannot, where could they find a better depositary for the provinces than a Power which will govern them fairly well without destroying their nationality, which is in its very nature a Federal Power, and which has neither dread nor dislike for the specialities of the Greek people, whom German and Magyar would alike pet and protect, as a counterpoise to the Slav ? Whatever was crushed in South Austria, it would not be the Greek. There would be perfect external order, Salonica would become one of the greatest ports in the world ; and the Greeks, after their method, would grow rich and fat, without ceasing to be Greek at heart. The ultimate arrangement would only be postponed, and postponed in a way which would allow every Greek to develop in civilisation and in strength. Or is it, perchance, an English interest which would be menaced ? God knows what "English interests " mean in the mouths of modern Tories, but we should have thought that even they would have allowed that the aggrandisement of Austria was one of them. Could they have a better counter- poise to the Russia they profess to dread than a great military Empire, with a part German, part Greek, and part Slav population, seated firmly on the Adriatic and the IEgean, restless under the idea of a Russian advance westward, and holding such a position that Russia could not move without risking an attack in flank ? What could be better for English interests than that, or do the Tories believe that Austria, whose motto used to be the five vowels, signifying, " Austria Erit Imperatrix Orbis Universi "—quite as clear a threat to the world as Peter the Great's Will—is plotting to seize Egypt or our Indian Empire ? If they think so, they may have reason, for Austria has a very good Fleet, as she showed at Lissa ; it is already in the Mediterranean, and she maybe designing to make a rush at the mouth of the Suez Canal ; but we suppose they will acknowledge that this is not their fear,—and if not, why do they object to Austria ? Her aggrandisement is clearly an English interest, and to English interests every other idea must, as they assert, be steadily postponed. The other day they were all rabid for an Austrian alliance,—why not secure one, by assisting Austria to her share of the Balkan Peninsula ? Or was it their idea, perhaps, to use the Austrian Army for English purposes, and then give Austria nothing ? But there are the general interests of mankind ? That is odd language, in the mouths of a party which pro- fesses to know nothing but English interests ; but we are not concerned to press that dialectic advantage, and will concede at once that they have a right to put forward this plea. And the interest of the world is that Austria, if needful, should have part of the Balkan Peninsula. Our argument throughout has been the same,—that the con- dition of European Turkey is intolerable ; that Ottoman rule must cease ; and that some other arrangement must be dis- covered, under which the Christians can live in peace and security. The best arrangement would be a group of autono- mous States, governed by their own Princes or Presidents, and recognising a Federal Head in some Christian Prince or elected Diet in Constantinople,—the organisation, in fact, of Germany till it became united. Each race would then be able to develop itself in its own way without too much pressure from any neighbouring military monarchy, without making too many sacrifices of its own individuality, and without living under perpetual fear of invasion or attack. Such a State would be very nearly incompetent for aggres- sion, while it might with the greatest ease produce half-a-million of good soldiers, trained on the Swiss system for defence. Events, however, have forbidden this arrangement, Russia having been compelled to fight the Ottomans alone, and England having gone wild with panic because she has fought and won, and the only solution now possible is partition. The Provinces shut off from Constan- tinople by Bulgaria will not, we may be sure, bear Turkish rule, which will mean nothing but taxation, for any length of time, and must either set up for themselves, or join themselves to other Powers. They are not ready to set up for them- selves. In Bosnia the two creeds are too equal, Herzegovina is too small ; in Thessaly and Epirus the wish is not for autonomy, but for annexation to Greece ; and Albania and Macedonia require twenty years of strong and steady rule before their civilisation begins. It would be better that Greece should provide that rule, better still that England, which alone seems able either to govern such races kindly, or to surrender them when they are ready for independence ; but failing either, what better Power than Austria could be sug- gested ? She is not Russian. Her rulers govern now and have governed since 1860 in a fairly tolerant spirit, bearing a large measure of provocation from small Parliaments, and not too much irritated by a tolerably free Press. They keep the Roman peace, they do not harass their cities, and they are solicitous to encourage every rising industry and enterprise. The manufacturer who settles there with capital is welcomed, and though addicted to heavy tariffs, the whole monarchy is not Protectionist. If Austria is to survive, it must be as a free and almost Federal State ; and if she goes to pieces, her new provinces will have had years of progress and comparative freedom to fit them for the change. It seems to us, looking at the matter not with Liberal eyes, but with those of reason- able Tories, that considering the Conservative character of Austria, considering the size of her Army, considering her jealousy of Russia, considering her method of government, and considering, above all, her geographical position, one of the many policies with which the Ministry might have entered the Congress, might have been that of steadily promoting the aggrandisement of Austria, a Power which wants nothing on the Atlantic, in Asia, or in the Valley of the Nile. The Government seems incapable, however, of making a friend, and offers as a reward for an alliance in a dangerous enterprise, that her ally, if the two are victorious, shall not be worse off than she was before.
Previous page
