Chapter M: H. Holubowicz (4)

2. Every people knows that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy is an
instrument of German domination, and a fundamental obstacle to the
realization of its rights to free development and self-government.

3. The Congress recognizes the necessity of fighting against the
common oppressors.

The representatives of the Jugoslavs agree:

That the unity and independence of the Jugoslav Nation is
considered of vital importance by Italy.

That the deliverance of the Adriatic Sea and its defense from any
enemy is of capital interest to the two peoples.

That territorial controversies will be amicably settled on the
principle of nationality, and in such a manner as not to injure
the vital interests of the two nations; interests which will be
taken into account at the peace conferences.

The Polish delegates added their declaration that they considered Germany to be Poland's chief enemy, and that they believed the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be indispensable for the obtaining of their independence from Germany.

ITALY'S ACTIVE HELP

As a result of this important conference, a separate section was established by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look after the propaganda in favor of the Allies in the Austro-Hungarian countries and in their armies. The Austrian Premier, Dr. von Seidler, stated in his last speech before the adjourning of the Reichsrat that the Austro-Hungarian Government was fully aware of this propaganda and had taken measures to combat it. A Slovene paper, the Slovenic, commented as follows:

The German newspapers have begun at the same time to call the
attention of the Jugoslavs to Italian imperialistic aims and to
show all at once great devotion to our country, which, they say,
is menaced by the Italian peril. With a special affection for our
people, an affection never known before, they urge us to beware of
our Italian neighbors, enumerating all the points of the London
understanding with regard to our territory.

In publishing this agreement the Grazer Tagblatt, that ultra
national German organ, wished to give us a political lesson
of which they might have saved themselves the trouble. It was
superfluous, if for no other reason, because it came from German
nationalists, whose counsels we can never follow.

The Austrian Government and the German newspapers are troubling
themselves in vain as to how to circumvent the Italian propaganda.
It would be of more importance if they would take care to improve
their system of government, the oppression and injustice of which
only help the work of the propaganda. (Further thirty lines
censored.)

PROTEST IN REICHSRAT

The Czecho-Slovak Deputies in the Reichsrat introduced a motion on April which was suppressed by the Vienna censorship. In the name of the Slovak Parliamentary Union, the motion, introduced by Deputy Kalinov, demanded that the Reichsrat refuse to sanction the imperial ordinance of May 1, 1915, which extended the age of service in the Landsturm from 43 to 50 years. The arguments presented in support of this demand, as summarized by a Berne correspondent of the Paris Temps, constitute a protest of all the Czecho-Slovak nations:

1. Against the war.

2. Against the militarism which, directed by the absolute will of
the monarch, has enchained the free will of nations.

3. Against the military tyranny that has installed itself in
Bohemia, and which is militarizing every stratum of society.

4. Against the spirit and tendencies of the army leaders, who have
made of the army an instrument of Germanization and Magyarization.

5. Against absolutism, because the law has been interpreted in an
unconstitutional manner, without the consent of the Reichsrat.

6. Against the dual system and the will for annexation, against
peace based on violence, and, still more emphatically, against
the shameful exploitation of Czecho-Slovak territory through
requisitions and incessant contributions.

The Czecho-Slovak Deputies added:

An attempt is being made to starve our country, which was the
granary of the whole Hapsburg Monarchy, and whose population,
alike in villages and cities, is now suffering atrociously from
famine and misery.

Our declaration is, above all, a unanimous manifestation of the
collective will of the nation. It proves:

That the Czecho-Slovak Nation is firmly resolved to dispose
henceforth of its own life and goods and children by the sole
agency of its freely elected representatives.

That our nation and, first and foremost, our women demand a
general and just peace, which alone can bring liberty and
independence to the nation, and which alone can cause justice to
reign in the whole world.

That we wish henceforth to live our own life in a State of our
own, as a member of a society of free nations, a society that will
solve without violence the questions that arise between peoples,
depending upon a friendly understanding, and thus bringing
happiness to liberated humanity.

When the Austro-Hungarian Government under Premier von Seidler found itself confronted by a hostile Slavic majority in the Reichsrat, threatening the defeat of its war budgets, Emperor Charles empowered the Premier to "adjourn Parliament forthwith and inaugurate measures to render impossible the resumption of its activities." This was done on May 4. The Parliament had been composed of 233 Germans, 108 Czechs, 92 Poles, 33 Ruthenians, 42 Jugoslavs, and 19 Italians. The Germans had considerably less than a majority.

In another respect the suppression of Parliament was viewed as a concession to the Magyars. Those holding reign in Hungary since 1867 had been resentful at the claims of the Czechs and the Jugoslavs, fearing that the Government would be forced to make some concessions to them. If the project of unity were realized Hungary would be reduced to about half of its present size. On several occasions the Magyars had called on the Government at Vienna to suppress the Parliamentary agitation, threatening to form a separate Hungarian army and impose restrictions on the exportation of foodstuffs.

The Government, in a public statement, ascribed its action to the food crisis, which was very acute, adding: "The Government will devote its entire strength to the economic problem and will try to create conditions required to enable the population to hold out."

THE PREMIER'S ADMISSION

A Vienna dispatch stated that the Premier, addressing a conference of party leaders, had demanded that the Parliamentary sittings be postponed, and added that, unless they took this step, the Government would prevent the sessions by force. In the debate that followed he had admitted the existence of many problems which must receive consideration, especially that of the agitation for a South Slavic State, but had added:

Discussion of this problem, however, is impossible at present,
because it concerns not only Austria but also Hungary and Bosnia.
But one thing is certain--if such a State were created it could
be only under the sceptre of his Majesty, as a component part
of the monarchy. It could not include those parts of Austrian
territory which border on the Adriatic and are closely connected
with districts where the German language is spoken. But national
aspirations exist also in these districts, and it is only natural
that the national wishes of the Southern Slavs be duly considered.

In the course of discussion of the question of revising the Constitution on the basis of national autonomy, Premier von Seidler announced that in Bohemia the Government would speedily issue regulations providing for the appointment of administrators for districts inhabited by distinct nationalities. After sounding a warning against inciting nationalities against one another, he said:

Our entire military and political situation has reached a climax.
The next few months will bring a big decision. I am firmly
convinced the decision on the battlefield will be in favor of
Austria and her allies. Our economic, especially our food,
conditions are very serious, but they are not at all desperate.
To hold on now to a final happy decision is the vital question
for the State. It therefore is necessary that, unhampered by
Parliamentary confusion, the Government be left in a position to
devote all its strength to these tasks.

FOOD SHORTAGE

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was at that time facing a dozen different crises, all aggravated by the problem of food. Even the racial animosities, always threatening to overturn the unstable rule of the German and Magyar minority over the Slavic majority, was inflamed into bitterness by sectional jealousies over food distribution. These crises reached a culmination in the decision of the Government to prorogue Parliament.

What straits the empire had reached were partially revealed by the Premier's speech to the party leaders, and also by the German official statement that all food supplies from the Ukraine during the month of May would be given to Austria-Hungary, on account of its greater need. Still more significant was Dr. von Seidler's admission, made public on May 4, that Austria was unable to feed the populations of North Tyrol and Northern Bohemia, and that he had, therefore, consented that the former be attached for provisioning purposes to Bavaria, and the latter to Saxony. This concession, the dispatch added, had been wrung from him by leaders of the German parties after a conference lasting six hours. It meant that for food supply purposes these portions of Austria were being annexed to Germany. The Austrian Government yielded with the greatest reluctance, realizing that the political consequences might be far-reaching. It was pointed out that this would accentuate the feud between the German and non-German races in Austria-Hungary, since the provinces affected are German-speaking, and would strengthen the agitation for the incorporation of Austria into a German federation.

The meeting of the German and Austrian Emperors at the German Great Headquarters on May 12 did not tend to allay fears of this nature. Though the results of the meeting remained secret, the belief was expressed in many quarters that it had constituted a formal acknowledgment of the subservient relations of Austria-Hungary toward the German Empire.

MARTIAL LAW IN PRAGUE

Shortly after the beginning of the war the Hungarian authorities suppressed the Slovak press almost in its entirety. Thus the Slovaks came to depend upon the Czech newspapers of Bohemia for their political and other information. On May 5 the Hungarian Government issued an order forbidding Czech newspapers from Bohemia and Moravia to circulate in Slovakia.

The whole Czech and Slovak population, indeed, was seething with hostility to the Imperial Government and its war policies. Prague, the capital of Bohemia, had become a centre for leaders of the Czecho-Slovaks, Jugoslavs, and Poles in their agitation for independence. Demonstrations of an anti-German character became frequent, and Czechs and Jugoslavs paraded the streets shouting "Long live Wilson, Clemenceau, and Lloyd George!" The manifestations against the Austrian State began afresh on the evening of May 17, when the police made arrests, and culminated on May 20, when the Government declared Prague under martial law. All political meetings were prohibited, and the police issued a proclamation announcing that any further disorders would be met with violent measures.

One of the events that had aroused popular hostility was the suppression of the Czech newspaper Narodni Listi. The last copy of this paper contained the text of the oath taken at Prague by the Czecho-Slovak, Jugoslav, and Polish journalists, as follows:

Gathered at Prague while the world war has made necessary a new
reorganization of the world on the basis of a higher authority
given to the people, we proclaim that we shall remain in the front
line of battle for the freedom of peoples, that we shall fight
together in favor of each other's interests, that we shall repulse
together any despotic measure, and that we shall denounce together
the oppression of the Austrian State.

We want to promote together the confidence of our people in the
achievement of their aspirations, to encourage them to express
their will more positively.

We raise our right hand and solemnly swear that we shall give
all that we own, all our strength, all our possessions, for the
liberation of our people and for the achievement of the political
unity of the Czecho-Slovak people, the political unity of the
Jugoslavs, and the political unity of the Polish people.

RIOTS IN WENSEL SQUARE

The disorders leading to the declaring of martial law were described by the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger a few days later in these terms:

The chief demonstration in the new outbreak occurred in Wensel
Square in Prague on May 20. The demonstration was a big one
and reached such pitch that in the evening the police had
to interfere. The Czechs sang their patriotic hymn with its
additional anti-German verses and raised cheers for President
Wilson and Professor Masaryk, the Bohemian delegate now in the
United States. Although Wensel Square was thereafter barred to the
demonstrators by the police, the demonstrations were repeated at
10 o'clock at night, and not until midnight did the mounted and
foot police succeed in restoring order.

Another account gave other details:

At the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Czech
National Theatre speeches violently attacking Germany were
delivered, and the renewal of the alliance between Germany
and Austria-Hungary was denounced. Several deputies addressed
the crowd, urging resistance to the end and the sacrifice of
wealth and blood for Bohemia. The theatre was then closed and
rioting occurred in the streets outside. The Jugoslavs who had
participated in the Bohemian festivities were ordered to leave
the city. Crowds singing patriotic songs accompanied them to the
railway station.

In the next week about 800 Czechs were arrested at Prague and other Bohemian cities on a charge of seditious conspiracy.

REVOLT IN AUSTRIAN ARMY

Riots and disorders in Bohemia continued to increase during the following weeks. Crowds at Chozen, exasperated by police brutality, set fire to barracks and to the City Hall, where the mounted police were lodged. Eight of the officers were burned to death. At Kolin the people pulled down the Austrian and raised the Bohemian flag. Public buildings were burned at Tabor and in other Bohemian towns, also at Olmutz, Moravia. At Prague the offices of two German newspapers were sacked. The Neue Freie Presse of Vienna declared: "Only the tenacity and union of those who desire the preservation of the State can make the monarchy survive this great crisis."

Mutinies among the Slavic troops in the Austrian Army also assumed serious proportions. A Vienna dispatch to the Berliner Tageblatt on May 3 gave the following details:

The troubles began in the Slovene Battalion of the 9th Infantry
Regiment at Judenbourg. The German officers were killed, after
which the troops gave themselves up to acts of anarchy. In time
they were driven into the mountains, where they finally were
disarmed after a combat.

The Czechs of Pilsen, stationed at Fumberg, also revolted. The
rising was put down by the sword. Part of the rebels, having
succeeded in passing the frontier, took refuge in the mountains of
Saxony, where they were made prisoner by the Germans.

A third case of serious revolt took place at Funkirchen, where a
Serbian regiment from Austria revolted and massacred the officers.
The exact details of these revolts are difficult to obtain. It
appears, however, the instigators were Austrian soldiers returned
from the prisoners' camps in Russia.

GERRYMANDERING BOHEMIA

On May 22 the Austro-Hungarian Government issued a decree dividing Bohemia into twelve districts, under a system giving new administrative and electoral advantages to the Germanic population. The German minority in the Imperial Parliament had been about to be completely isolated by a union of the Czechs, Slovaks, Jugoslavs, Ruthenians, and Poles. The electoral redistribution sought to avoid this by reducing the Czech strength in the Reichsrat at Vienna as well as in the Bohemian Diet. An official French bulletin dated May 22 said:

The law bulletin of the Austrian Empire publishes a decree
according to which the district Governments which were so long
demanded by the Germans are established in Bohemia. The twelve
district Captains who are nominated will represent the Statthalter
of Prague in each district and will have the same powers.

The boundaries of the districts are fixed, so far as possible,
according to the national grouping. In the words of the decree,
"the aim is to take the first steps toward the re-establishment
of order in Bohemia." This decree foreruns undoubtedly a policy
of repression, the first act of which tends to dismember Bohemia
by granting to the German elements the guarantees or, better, the
privileges which they demand.

Up to the present, Bohemia comprised thirteen districts, only
two of which had a majority of German population, according
to statistics from Vienna. In four of the districts there are
hardly any Germans. The new plan aims at creating in each of
the twelve new districts a German minority and to grant to this
minority, however small it may be, considerable advantages in the
administrative and electoral domains.

This method is meant to bring about as a first result a
considerable increase in the number of German deputies in the
Diet to the prejudice of the Czechs, who until now have held the
majority of the seats. It is clear that this device of the Pan
Germans is bound to arouse the most violent opposition on the part
of the Czechs.

A dispatch printed in all the Wagram papers calls attention to the
fact that martial law has been proclaimed in several districts of
Bohemia because in certain regions serious riots have occurred.
More than 150 persons have been put in prison. The estate of
Prince Furstenberg was ransacked. Riots occurred at Marsch,
Ostrau, Pilsen, and Nachod. The Czech press expresses itself very
violently. The Vetcher writes:

"The Government is trying in vain to present its reform under
bright colors, but it is evident at first sight, in fact,
that nothing but the dismembering of Bohemia is under way.
The Ministerial decree is preparing the parceling out of our
fatherland and the foundation of a German province made of our own
flesh."

The Narodni Listi, which was suppressed by the censorship as
guilty of "criminal dealings," has written:

"It is in vain that threats are hurled at us to divert us from the
line of conduct which we have decided to follow according to our
proclamation. It is in vain that the sessions of Parliament are
adjourned. Our indignation will not be less in June (the Austrian
Chamber is to resume its sittings on June 19) and our opponents
will have the opportunity of realizing it. The chart which,
according to von Seidler, is to be granted to us will not change
our resolution: 'We shall fight on without any consideration, with
compromise, for the defense of the Czech State.'

"This evidently shows the attitude of all the nationalities
crushed by the Germans and the Magyars in the Dual Monarchy. The
movement was not entirely unexpected, but it is possible that the
fact of threatening them with a pitiless repression has advanced
it and made it more formidable.

"Emperor Charles is away from Vienna, and on his return he will
find political conditions which the food situation will make even
more distressing. Once more the frightfulness of German methods,
so dear to the Germans, will bear its fruit by arousing rebellion
of the people oppressed."

AUSTRIAN OFFICIAL VIEW

An official Austrian note, referring to the decree, said:

Certain events, which were a danger to the safety of the State and
presented even a character of high treason, took place during the
first days of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the founding
of the National Bohemian Theatre, and led the authorities to take
repressive measures.

Swiss commentators explain that this alludes to a note from the police posted in Prague, which declared that mob gatherings and processions would be dispersed by force if necessary. Jugoslav guests, who had come to Prague to participate in the celebration, were obliged leave the city, and the newspaper Narodni Listi was suspended because the Austrian authorities declared: "The manner in which this paper is worded tends to arouse sympathy in favor of the Entente States."

Accounts of the great gathering at Prague, which caused the Austrian Government to declare martial law, stated that the city was adorned with the Czech colors and the Slav tricolor flag. The Czech press expressed regret at the absence of Russians and great satisfaction at the presence of Poles. It was reported that the Ruthenians of Eastern Galicia were prevented by the authorities from attending.

The festival was organized by the recently formed Independence Party of Dr. Kramarcz, and the ceremonies consisted generally of a glorification of the union of the Slavic peoples.

WEAKENING NATIONALISM

It is stated by American sympathizers of the Czechs that the new decree is intended also to weaken the Bohemian national movement by decentralizing the forces of the nation and partly to prepare for the possible establishment of a province of "German Bohemia," such as has been talked of in case the national movement is so strong as to force the Austrian Government to try to compromise on some sort of federalization.

The Czecho-Slovak Nation, which has declared its demands for unity and complete independence, includes the Slovaks in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Czechs, now divided among Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, three of the seventeen crown lands of Austria.

There has been much reference in German-Austrian papers recently to the possible establishment of a German Bohemia, to include the districts with the largest German population. Any rearrangement on this basis would be beset with obstacles, for the Czecho-Slovaks refuse to consent to any partition and the Germans demand not only the border districts for their German Bohemia, but the City of Prague itself.

It was recently reported that in April the Pope, acting through the Papal Nuncio at the request of the Vienna Government, had caused the arrest of Dr. Yeglitch, Prince Archbishop of Laibach, on account of his activities in behalf of the Jugoslav movement. Dr. Yeglitch was the head of the Slovene Catholic party in Parliament, and his arrest produced an outburst of indignation in Croatia and Slovenia. A Vatican dispatch later declared the report of the Pope's connection with the matter to be entirely without foundation.

BOHEMIANS IN ITALY'S ARMY

Troops from Bohemia began joining the Italian Army in April to fight against Austria. The first detachments of this Czecho-Slovak army, which is being formed in many centres out of the one-time subjects of Emperor Karl, have taken up their positions in various parts of the Italian line. They wear the Italian uniform, with certain distinctive signs. The effect upon their fellow-Slavs who are still fighting under the Austrian colors is a subject of considerable interest on both sides. The new position of affairs is being assiduously explained to them by airplane propaganda, and committees of their own race are accredited to and working with the Italian high command. G. Ward Price, a British correspondent, telegraphed from Italian headquarters on May 1:

One night recently some of the Czechs fighting with the
Italians were in the front line at a place where the Austrian
battalion holding the trenches opposite consisted largely of
their fellow-countrymen. After some preliminary conversation by
megaphone one of the allied Czechs crawled out to the other lines
and urged his compatriots to come over to our side, where they
would be treated not as prisoners or deserters but as friends. The
Austrian Czechs replied that they would willingly do so, but that
the line behind their own was held by Hungarians, who would almost
certainly see them moving out of the trench and open fire on them
with machine guns.

The allied Czech brought this message in to his friends, whereupon
the Italian guns were asked to put down a barrage between the
Austrian front trenches and their support line, driving the
Hungarians to cover and isolating them from the Czechs, of whom
some were thus able to cross over in safety to our side.

RACIAL DIVISIONS IN HUNGARY

Hungary in no less degree than Bohemia presents a problem of racial antipathies which has been a cause of serious unrest for centuries; aggravated by the present worldwide aspiration for independent nationalism it has thrown the country into turmoil and given a strong impetus to a revolutionary movement by the non-Magyar inhabitants. In a recent issue of The New Europe, D. Draghicescu, in discussing the situation in Hungary, gives the following facts regarding its racial divisions:

Hungary is a country of 22,000,000 souls, of whom approximately
9,000,000 are Magyars and 13,000,000 non-Magyars, belonging to
four or five different races. The Magyars have always insisted
upon the fact that in Hungary they form by themselves a block
of 9,000,000, while the other nationalities, taken altogether,
are but 13,000,000, and that each of these, taken separately,
constitute beside the Magyars a negligible minority. Naturally,
if the 9,000,000 Magyars lived dispersed in all the provinces of
Hungary, mingled with other nationalities in the proportion of
9 to 13, or 41 per cent., or if in each or in the majority of
these provinces they formed a majority over the non-Magyars, or
even an overwhelming majority over the most important of these
nationalities, nothing could be done; the racial question in
Hungary should not and would not arise. In that case, no doubt,
the Hungarian State would properly bear the impress of the most
numerous race, and would be, in fact, a national Magyar State,
and the minority races would necessarily be sacrificed, even
although their blood-brothers across the frontier might form
powerful and prosperous States, (Rumania, Serbia, &c.) However
objectionable might be the measures taken by the Magyars against
these nationalities, they would, in such conditions, be up to a
certain point excusable. It is impossible to create a strong and
workable State and to insure peace and prosperity in a country so
heterogeneous and containing an _imbroglio_ of peoples each facing
in its own direction and gravitating toward other neighboring
States.

EACH RACE ISOLATED

He states that the Magyars, however, have never allowed it to be understood how the various races have been distributed in the kingdom, and he elucidates this as follows:

Hungary consists of several provinces, each of which is inhabited
by a separate nationality, homogeneous and compact. Of these
provinces one of the most important beyond question is the
Hungarian Pousta, situated on the banks of the Theiss and the
middle Danube, and inhabited by 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 Magyars.
The remaining 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 Magyars are scattered over
the other provinces, forming the ruling caste and providing
officials, magistrates, and police. Their business is to dominate
the nationalities of these provinces and bend them under the yoke
of the Magyars.

In these other provinces each race is at home, and is as compact
and homogeneous as the Magyars in the Pousta. Transylvania, for
example, with the neighboring plains of the Banat, of Chrishana
and Mamaramuresh is peopled by 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 Rumanians,
among whom there are to be found here and there small bodies
of Magyars. The Southern Slavs in their turn dwell in compact
masses of between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 in the southern part of
Hungary; and there are at least 2,000,000 Slovaks in the north,
who also form a compact group. The Magyars are determined that
the 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 of the Hungarian Pousta shall rule
the 13,000,000 of non-Magyars in Transylvania, Jugoslavia, and
Slovakia, and that these nationalities shall disappear, losing
their language and individuality and adopting those of the
Magyar people. It is nothing less than national suicide which
the Magyars demand from these races, and, since this is refused,
the jingoes of Budapest, enjoying carte blanche from the Emperor
and the European powers, have for sixty years been carrying out
a veritable campaign of murder against the non-Magyar races of
Hungary.

TRANSYLVANIA'S CASE

The problem is intensified by the fact that the Serbs and Rumanians of Hungary see 5,000,000 of their brother Serbs and 7,500,000 of their brother Rumanians across their frontiers in Serbia and in Rumania under separate sovereignties of their own people. Mr. Draghicescu continues as follows:

Doubtless, if Transylvania and Jugoslavia were merely isolated
provinces without affinity or resemblance to neighboring States,
as is, for example, the case of Ireland in the United Kingdom,
we should admit that, however great might be the majority of
these races over the Magyars, the racial question would not and
could not arise. It would in that case be merely a question
of domestic politics and administration without international
interest. But this is far from being the case in Transylvania,
for instance, where the Rumanian population touches upon three
sides the Rumanians of the kingdom, and where it has no contact
with the Magyars, except on one-third of its racial frontier.
Moreover, assuming the Magyars to have a certain superficial claim
to ascendency in Hungary, where they are 41 per cent. of the
whole population, this claim cannot be admitted in Transylvania,
where they are but 15 per cent. to 18 per cent. In Jugoslavia
the proportion of Magyars is even smaller. Now, if we imagine
the reunion of Transylvania to Rumania to be an accomplished
fact, the proportion of races in Greater Rumania would be 92 per
cent. Rumanians to 8 per cent. Magyars; for if to the 7,500,000
Rumanians of the kingdom there are added 4,500,000 Rumanians of
Hungary among whom there live scattered bodies of Magyars to
the number approximately of 1,000,000, we shall have 12,000,000
Rumanians to 1,000,000 Magyars.

In this case, in place of the crying injustice of a 15 per cent.
Magyar population seeking to dominate and exterminate a Rumanian
population of 60 per cent., we should have a liberal State in
which the Rumanians would constitute 93 per cent. and the Magyars
between 6 and 7 per cent. In Jugoslavia the same process would
give similar results. It is impossible for Serbs and Rumanians
to be indifferent to the fate of their kinsmen threatened with
Magyarization. If they desire to save their captive brethren,
if they desire to liberate them and unite with them, it is not
because they are themselves impelled by a spirit of conquest and
inspired by a reprehensible imperialism. In them such aims would
be absurd. They are roused against the Magyars by legitimate fears
for their own fate and liberty in the future. If the Rumanians
and Serbs of Hungary were finally Magyarized it would be a proof
that the Serb and Rumanian Nations were ephemeral and might easily
disappear without harm to any one. Once the resistance of the
Serbs and Rumanians of Hungary was broken, the fate of the Serbian
and Rumanian Kingdoms would be sealed. The Magyars, with the help
of their German allies and masters, would soon overcome the Serbs
and Rumanians in the free kingdoms, exposed as these would be to
the treacherous onslaughts of Bulgaria.

Therefore, the true terms and proportions of this question may be
stated as follows: It is a war of life or death between 9,000,000
Magyars and some 25,000,000 Slavs and Latins. The former are
vigorously upheld by the Germans and the Bulgars. And the others?
Surely they should have for allies all who desire that Germany and
her vassals should not destroy the liberties of the world.

Supreme War Council Favors Free Poland and Jugoslavia

The session of the Supreme War Council of the allied Governments, held at Versailles on June 4, 1918, was attended by the Premiers of Great Britain, France, and Italy. At the close of its deliberations it issued the following statement:

The Supreme War Council held its sixth session under circumstances
of great gravity for the alliance of free peoples. The German
Government, relieved of all pressure on the eastern front by the
collapse of the Russian armies and people, has concentrated all
its effort in the west. It is now seeking to gain a decision in
Europe by a series of desperate and costly assaults upon the
allied armies before the United States can bring its full strength
effectively to bear.

The advantage it possesses in its strategic position and superior
railway facilities has enabled the enemy command to gain some
initial successes. It will undoubtedly renew its attacks and the
allied nations still may be exposed to critical days.

After a review of the whole position, the Supreme War Council is
convinced that the Allies, bearing the trials of the forthcoming
campaign with the same fortitude as they have ever exhibited in
defense of the right, will baffle the enemy's purpose and in due
course bring him to defeat. Everything possible is being done to
sustain and support the armies in the field. The arrangements for
unity of command have greatly improved the position of the allied
armies and are working smoothly and with success. The Supreme War
Council has complete confidence in General Foch. It regards with
pride and admiration the valor of the allied troops.

Thanks to the prompt and cordial co-operation of the President of
the United States, the arrangements which were set on foot more
than two months ago for the transporting and brigading of American
troops will make it impossible for the enemy to gain victory by
wearing out the allied reserve before he has exhausted his own.

The Supreme War Council is confident of the ultimate result, and
the allied peoples are resolute not to sacrifice a single one of
the free nations of the world to the despotism of Berlin. Their
armies are displaying the same steadfast courage which has enabled
them on many previous occasions to defeat a German onset. They
have only to endure with faith and patience to the end to make
victory for freedom secure. The free peoples and their magnificent
soldiers will save civilization.

(_Photo Audigier_)]

(_British Official Photo from Underwood_)]

A supplemental official statement announced that the following declarations had been unanimously agreed to by the Premiers of the three nations:

The creation of a united, independent Polish State, with free
access to the sea, constitutes one of the conditions of a solid
and just peace and the rule of right in Europe.

The Allies have noted with satisfaction the declaration of the
American Secretary of State, to which they adhere, expressing the
greatest sympathy with the national aspirations of the Czechs and
Jugoslavs for freedom.

AMERICA AND JUGOSLAVS

The American declaration referred to above was made public by Secretary Lansing on May 29 in these words:

The Secretary of State desires to announce that the proceedings
of the Congress of Oppressed Races of Austria-Hungary, which was
held in Rome in April, have been followed with great interest by
the Government of the United States, and that the nationalistic
aspirations of the Czecho-Slovacs and the Jugoslavs for freedom
have the earnest sympathy of this Government.

Secretary Lansing's declaration was greeted with enthusiasm by Jugoslavs in both Europe and America. Premier Pashitch of Serbia a few days later communicated to the American Chargé d'Affaires at Corfu his profound appreciation of the action of the United States. Another result was a formal offer of military service by Jugoslavs residing in this country. The offer was made to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on June 5 by Don Niko Grskovich and John J. Grgurevich, acting as spokesmen for their fellow-Slavs. They explained that the Slovenians, Croats, and other South Slavs in the United States were intensely hostile to the German-Austrian cause, and were eager to cast their lot with the Allies, but because they were technically subjects of the Austrian Crown they occupied the status of enemy aliens and were unable to join the army.

"If Congress will enact a law taking this stigma from our people 50,000 enlistments in the American Army will be the immediate result," Mr. Grskovich told the committee. "Ultimately, nearly 500,000 of our people will be found fighting under the American flag."

Rumania's Thralldom

Subjection of the Nation to German Tyranny Under a
Supplementary Economic Treaty

CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE for June contained the text of the main treaty imposed on Rumania by Germany, known as the Peace of Bucharest. On May 10 it was announced that a "legal and political supplementary agreement" had been exacted, which completed the economic subjection of the country. The main clauses of this treaty follow:

CLAUSE I.--This provides for the resumption of Consular relations
and the admission of Consuls. The treaty demands that a further
Consular treaty shall be concluded as soon as possible, and
stipulates for the indemnification of all damage suffered during
the war by Consular officials or done to Consular buildings.

CLAUSE II.--This clause says that Rumania renounces
indemnifications and damages caused on Rumanian territory as the
result of German military measures, including all requisitions and
contributions. Amounts which Germany has already paid for damages
of the nature just described will be refunded by Rumania in so far
as these have not been refunded from the country's means, or paid
in the newly issued notes of the Banca Generale of Rumania, (note
issue department.)

Within six months after the ratification of

Until redemption, the notes of the Banca Generate shall be
recognized as legal tender. After the ratification of the peace
treaty such notes shall no longer be issued.

Another article, under the same clause, provides that Rumania
shall indemnify the Germans for all damages suffered by them on
Rumanian territory as the result of the military measures of
one of the belligerent powers. This stipulation also applies to
the losses which the Germans have suffered as participants, and
especially as shareholders, of undertakings situated in Rumanian
territory. Immediately after the ratification of the treaty a
commission shall meet in Bucharest to fix the amount of such
losses. The contracting parties will each appoint a third of the
members, and the President of the Swiss Federal Council will be
asked to designate neutral personages to make up the other third,
which is to include the Chairman.

Rumania will also indemnify neutral nations for damage which has
been caused them on Rumanian territory as a result of German
military measures, and which must be made good according to the
principles of international law.

CLAUSE III.--This clause stipulates for the restoration of
treaties and agreements between the contracting parties which were
in force before the war, except for those cases in which the peace
treaty provides otherwise, and in cases where such instruments are
undenouncable for a certain period. This period is prolonged by
the period of the duration of the war.

The contracting parties reserve until after the conclusion of a
general peace the fixing of their attitude toward separate and
collective treaties of a political character.

CLAUSE IV.--This contains prescriptions governing the restoration
of ordinary relations between debtor and creditor. It says,
too, that each contracting party will, immediately after the
ratification of the treaty, resume the payment of its obligations,
particularly the public debt service, to subjects of the other
party.

Restoration and compensation for concessions and privileges in
land and other rights are also dealt with.

CLAUSE V.--This deals with compensation for damage suffered during
or immediately before the outbreak of war by civilian subjects of
the respective parties in life, health, liberties, or property
through acts contrary to international law.

Germans who were in the Rumanian public service before the war,
and who were dismissed as enemy foreigners, shall, on their
request, be restored to equal rank and equal salary, or, if this
is impracticable, they shall be given fair compensation.

CLAUSE VI.--This clause says that the respective prisoners of war
shall be sent home in so far as they, with the assent of the State
concerned, do not desire to remain in its territory or to proceed
to another country. The exchange of prisoners is to follow as soon
as possible, at definite times to be further agreed upon.

The expenditure of each party for prisoners of war belonging to
the other party up to April 1, 1918, will be calculated on the
basis of an average rate of 2,000 marks (£100) for each officer
in Germany, and 1,000 for all other prisoners in Germany, and
2,500 (£100) and 1,250 lei respectively for prisoners in Rumania.
Immediately on the ratification of the treaty a commission
composed of three members of each party is to meet in Bucharest to
arrange details and to supervise the carrying out of the agreement.

Interned civilians will also be gratuitously sent home as soon as
possible, in so far as they do not wish to remain in the country
of their internment or go elsewhere.

CLAUSE VII.--This relates to the right of subjects of the
contracting parties to return to the country of their origin
without suffering prejudice.

CLAUSE VIII.--This stipulates an amnesty for offenses committed
by prisoners of war, interned men, and certain others. It
incidentally stipulates that Rumania shall grant an amnesty to its
subjects for their political conduct or military conduct based
upon political grounds during the war.

CLAUSE IX.--This provides that captured river craft, merchant
ships, and cargoes shall be returned, or, if no longer in
existence, be paid for, and compensation shall also be paid for
the period they were in the captor's possession. Here, too, a
commission will be appointed.

CLAUSE X.--This stipulates that various rights shall be accorded
to German churches and schools in Rumania.

CLAUSE XI.--This says: "Rumania, after having obtained the assent
of the Rumanian National Bank, agrees that the balances and
deposits of the National Bank now at the German Reichsbank shall
remain in the Reichsbank's charge for five years (and if Rumania
falls behind with an installment, for ten years) as a security for
Rumania's Public Debt Service, as regards the subjects of Germany;
and may also, if necessary, be drawn on to pay interest and redeem
drawn bonds."

The representatives of the contracting parties will meet in
Berlin within four weeks after the signature of the treaty to
make further arrangements regarding the fulfillment and further
guaranteeing of Rumania's financial obligations.

CLAUSE XII.--This provides that the respective representatives
shall meet in Berlin within four months after the ratification of
this treaty, further to supplement it.

CONTROL OF OIL FIELDS

Under the petroleum agreement between the Central Powers and Rumania, the Central Powers' controlling company, the Oil Lands Leasing Company, is endowed with exclusive rights of the most far-reaching character for thirty years, with the right of prolongation for two subsequent periods of thirty years, making ninety in all.

Up to one-quarter of the foundation shares will be offered to the Rumanian Government with the right of transfer to private interests, but Germany and Austria-Hungary insure their control by the creation of preference shares with a fifty-fold voting right, and these shares are exclusively at their disposal.

A State trading monopoly in oil in Rumania is also provided for, the exercise of the monopoly to be intrusted to a company that is to be formed by a financial group designated by the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments.

All kinds of privileges are stipulated for the Oil Lands Leasing Company, the position of which is most carefully hedged around.

The parties are agreed by the terms of Article IV. of the foregoing agreement that immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty the Rumanian Government will enter into negotiations with the Governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary regarding the manner in which Rumania's surplus oil and oil products can be placed at the disposal of Germany and Austria-Hungary without endangering the vital interests of Rumania in respect of the country's industries and its own needs. The provisions of Article IV., therefore, only enter into force should no other understanding have been arrived at before Dec. 1, 1918.

COST OF RUMANIA'S PEACE

A correspondent who was at Jassy for years and left there only a few days before the peace treaty was signed thus writes of Rumania's hard fate:

"What is the balance sheet of Rumania after eighteen months' hard struggle? Before August, 1916, she had absolute economic freedom and could sell her harvests to any one she pleased at any price she wanted. In 1915 and 1916 the Rumanian exporters sold wheat to Germany and Austria at from 10s. to 12s. a bushel. The Austro-German importers had to pay, besides, a heavy export tax in gold to the Rumanian Government. Now Germany has secured for herself and her allies practically the whole Rumanian harvest for years to come, at a price which she is going to fix, and in such conditions that 'no diplomatic intervention should be necessary in the future for securing the grain necessary for the allied Central Powers.'

"Rumania had in Europe, after Russia, the richest oil fields and the greatest production of oil. The fields were in American, German, and English hands, but the Rumanian Government had full control of the production and drew very large benefits. When the war broke out in 1914 the Rumanian Government at once prohibited the export of petrol and heavy oils to Germany. The German companies tried hard to send the much-needed petrol to their countries, but succeeded in smuggling only a small quantity through at enormous cost. After a year the production of petrol increased so much that the Government was compelled to allow the export of a small quantity, asking Germany in exchange to agree that Rumania should receive a certain quantity of goods the export of which was prohibited in Germany. The Germans will not forget that they had to pay for the petrol at the rate of about $200 a ton."

GERMAN OIL MONOPOLY

"Since November, 1916, the Rumanian oil industry has been destroyed. In the last ten days before the Germans penetrated into the rich Prahova Valley the British mission under Lieut. Col. Norton Griffiths destroyed everything--wells, tanks, refineries were burned, smashed to pieces, or blown up, so that even now, after a year and a half, the Germans have not been able to reconstruct them. According to statements made by German prisoners in November last, none of obstructed wells had been put in order again. The German engineers have worked hard, boring new wells, but have not succeeded in getting more than 10 to 15 per cent. of the normal production. However, although the refineries and wells have been destroyed, the oil fields exist, and I think that not even 50 per cent. of them have yet been worked in Rumania. The Germans know this, and the clause in the peace treaty that they should have the control and monopoly of the oil fields for ninety-nine years will make them the real owners and entirely independent of the American market. These two assets--the corn and the oil--on which the whole wealth of the Rumanian Kingdom was based, are thus under direct German control."

"Furthermore, Rumania has suffered much during the war. Towns and villages have been destroyed, and nearly the entire stock of railway carriages, vans, and locomotives has been lost. The productive capacity of the country has been enormously diminished. About 60 per cent. of the horned cattle and more than 70 per cent. of the horses have gone. Famine and disease have made ravages among the rural population, nobody having paid any attention to them. I have seen villages of 300 to 500 inhabitants reduced to 40. All the rest died from spotted typhus or other scourges. This shows how reduced are the means of national recovery after peace is signed. The financial situation is probably worse than the economic. At the outbreak of the war the budget amounted to 500,000,000 lei, ($100,000,000,) while the national debt was about 1,500,000,000 lei, ($300,000,000.) A few weeks before I left Jassy the Minister of Finance told me that the debt had increased to about $1,250,000,000. In the period from August, 1916, to February, 1918, the revenue had been very greatly reduced. As the military situation was always critical and the Government had decided twice, before the Russian disaster, to move to Russia, everybody who had a little money kept it at home and did not invest it in Government securities. Therefore only a small amount had been raised in Rumania by loans; the greatest part of the money had to be obtained from abroad, mainly from England, but also from France and the United States, at a rate of 4 to 5 per cent. Thus the interest which Rumania had to pay on her national debt represented about $62,500,000, or more than three-quarters of her budget in the pre-war days."

VON KUEHLMANN'S EXPLANATION

Dr. von Kühlmann, the German Foreign Secretary, who forced the treaty, in an address before the Berlin Chamber of Commerce May 24, explained the advantages which the peace of Bucharest had brought to Germany. He said:

Two points must be taken into consideration: First, guaranteeing
Rumanian agricultural and petroleum production as urgently
necessary for the carrying on of the war by the Central Powers
and for the transition period; and, secondly, the important rôle
which Rumania has to fill in providing a thoroughfare to the East,
especially as she dominates the lower course of the Danube.

It is here that there comes into effect the International Danube
Delta Committee, upon which only States on the banks of the
Danube can be represented. Only if the States agree to it will
the countries lying on the Black Sea be able to come into it.
Therefore, it is especially important for the German seaboard
traffic that we have been able to secure sites for dockyards.

Along with the Danube, the importance of the Rumanian railways
must be considered, especially the Bucharest-Czernavoda-Constanza
line, over which Germany must have control. It has been agreed
with Bulgaria that this railway to Constanza, which is to be made
a free port with grain silos and petroleum tanks, is to be leased
to a German company for ninety-nine years.

The cable between Constantinople and Constanza played an important
rôle before the war. This cable is to be developed to the utmost
and secured from enemy control.

Alluding to the agreement by which Germany had secured the Rumanian harvest of 1918-19, and the far-reaching option upon the entire Rumanian harvest for the next seven years, Dr. von Kühlmann said:

One can look forward to the whole food question with a certain
amount of confidence. * * * Formal war indemnities were not
demanded by Germany, but the numerous privileges we secured
are equivalent, in the opinion of experts, to anything which
would have been yielded by indemnities. When, some day, the
damage caused by the U-boat warfare shall have been made good by
newly-built ships, the sea route from Constanza will regain its
importance. Whether traffic on the Danube will be able to compete
with it is a question of the distant future. For the present we
shall have to rely on the Danube.

MODEL PEACE TERMS

Discussing this treaty on June 1, the Nachrichten of Munich declared:

The peace concluded with Rumania should serve as a model for
the general peace terms to be concluded by the Central Powers.
Germany has found a method of making conquered countries share her
enormous war burdens without actually inflicting a crushing war
indemnity. This method consists in enforcing on them a stipulation
for preferential treatment to be accorded to Germany over a long
period, so that Germany may be fully supplied with goods she
needs. In this way Rumania will furnish the Central Powers with
wheat and petroleum on advantageous terms for ninety years. A
similar happy solution must also be adopted in all peace treaties
to be conducted in the future.

ARMENIA'S SUFFERINGS IN A NEW PHASE

Turkish Invasion of the Caucasus Under the
Brest Treaty--Struggle of the Georgians

By the terms of the Brest-Litovsk treaty the Bolshevist Government of Russia gave up to Turkey the districts of Batum, Kars, and Erivan, comprising the southwestern portion of the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. This region includes the Russian part of the former Kingdom of Armenia, with Turkish Armenia adjoining it on the south. It is inhabited largely by Armenians and by that other ancient people, the Georgians, between whom and the Turks there has been an age-long and deadly feud. Hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees from Turkish persecution in Asia Minor had taken refuge here under the Russian flag in the last three years, especially after the first Petrograd revolution gave promise of liberty under a republic. Now Georgians and Armenians alike find themselves betrayed into the hands of their Turkish enemies.

Soon after the signing of the treaty on March 3, 1918, the Turks sent armed forces to take possession of the three districts named. They met with resistance both from the Armenians and from the Georgians, but neither of the betrayed nationalities had an army competent to cope with the enemy. The result was a new reign of terror, similar to that of the massacres in Turkish Armenia, and the world was horrified anew by the atrocities that ensued.

PROTEST OF ARMENIANS

The Armenian National Council on April 14 addressed the following protest to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the President of the Reichstag:

The Armenian National Council, as the supreme body for the
expression of the will of the Armenian people, is addressing you
in connection with the tragic state of things in Armenia. Armenia
is flooded with blood and, only recently saved from centuries of
slavery, is again condemned to fresh sufferings. Following upon
the withdrawal of the Russian troops, Turkish troops have already
invaded the undefended country and are not only killing every
Turkish Armenian but also every Russian in Armenia.