Review of Reviews, lU/lS. 



LEADING ARTICLES. 



167 



were thinking that the need for renewal 

 had largely disappeared. Italy entered 

 the Alliance to avoid conflict with /\us- 

 tria and to protect herself against 

 France. Meanwhile, not only ha\e the 

 chances of conflict with Austria almost 

 vanished, but the necessity for Italy to 

 enter into close and cordial relations 

 with the Mediterranean Powers have in- 

 creased. The conquest of Tripoli has 

 created new duties for Italy. At the 

 same time the trend in the present cir- 

 cumstances has been to take on an 

 aggressive attitude which has not 

 escaped notice in France and m Eng- 

 land. In these countries it has given 

 rise to a little ill-humour, and, by the 

 support which it has brought to x'Xiis- 

 tria, it has weighted the Balkan atmo- 

 sphere as well. 



AUSTRIA AND THE CRISIS. 



The Oesierreichiuke Rundschau give 

 us the Austrian side of the crisis. 

 Leopold Freiherr von Chlumecky, in 

 reference to Servia, sa\-s that for years 

 Austria has been trying to establish 

 possible relations with her, but the re- 

 sult has been most miserable. The 

 question now resolves itself into this: 

 Which influence in Belgrade is the 

 stronger -Russia or Austria-Hungary :^ 

 Austria's problem is to see that 

 autonomv of a kind that will guaran- 

 tee her interests and the possibility of 

 life to the new State be created in 

 Albania, to obtain the necessary guaran- 

 tees from Sers'ia, to have the safety of 

 her means of communication with Mace- 

 donia and Albania assured, and the 

 route to Salonika kept open. To yield 

 on anv one of these points would bring 

 great 'disaster to the Monarchy. The 

 world would see in it a symptom of 

 weakness, an admission that Austria 

 had lost strength to act and the vitality 

 so necessarv to a Great Power. The 

 material and moral damage would be 

 great, and it would be with difficulty 

 that the Monarchy could ever recover 

 from such a blow. 



ATTITUDE OF RUSSIA. 



In Europe, Austria Hungary is the 

 only Power which honours the nation- 

 ality principle in her policy, writes Dr. 



MiirchoJt.'] [Warsaw. 



THE AUSTRIAN MOBILISATION. 



Johann von Ankwicz in the Oeslerreiih- 

 ischc Rundschau. The recognition of 

 the free national development of each 

 individual nation is the foundation of 

 her home policy. It is, therefore, 

 curious that Austria should be in con- 

 flict with a member of the Balkan 

 League, and that behind this member 

 should be Russia, who in her own land 

 and in her foreign policy suppresses the 

 principle of national it v. But the 

 Balkan League does not represent Slav- 

 dom, the writer goes on to say. It is 

 merel)- a union of weakened heterogene- 

 ous Balkan nations who consider them- 

 selves a manifestation of independence 

 of a part of the Balkans. The posi- 

 tion of Russia with regard to the Bal- 

 kans is worse after the recent war than 

 it was l)efore. In the war it was not 

 Russian Slavdom that was victorious, 

 but the four States of the Balkan 

 League. That is why, in addition to 

 national questions, so many State ques- 

 tions have come up for settlement — 

 communications, boundaries, harbours, 

 tariffs, etc., driving natuMial considera- 

 tions into the background. Russian 

 Slavdom having nothing to do with 

 anv of these things is, in consequence. 



