Rearmament with Habsburg

Adolf Hitler's treaty-wrecking example boomed down the Danube last week and emboldened Handsome Adolf's native land to rearm too. Little Austria's "defy" to the Powers that defeated Imperial Austria was however, a discreet and muted echo of big Germany's. Timidly Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg whose grip on congested Austrian politics is steadily growing limper, announced: "The Cabinet Council expressed the unanimous conception that the granting to Austria of full equality was a self-evident supposition." In a firmer tone he removed Austrian rearmament from the realm of supposition by adding: "The necessary procedure to increase the armed forces has been taken." In Vienna Dr Schuschnigg was soon said to have roughed out plans for increasing Austria's army from 21,000 effectives to some 65,000.

"The fact that we now ask for arms equality with a little louder voice," twittered the Chancellor nervously, "does not mean that we propose to draw the sabre and bang it on the table."

Few days later, no Great Power having protested, sap of courage rose in the Schuschnigg Cabinet. For the first time since the War, they boldly revived Kaiser Franz Josef's habit of ordering on a given day "spring parades" of all his troops in every provincial capital of Imperial Austria.

In Vienna it was like old times. Austrian troops, goose-stepping down the Ringstrasse and past the Imperial Palace saluted a towering old field marshal beside whom Chancellor Schuschnigg and President Miklas of the Austrian Republic seemed dwarfed to insignificance Der Feldmarschall was His Imperial and Royal Highness Eugen von Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and cousin of Franz Josef. Among the field pieces which clattered Eugen, many were seen to exceed the 5.5 inch calibre to which Austria is limited by the Treaty of St. Germain. The big surprise to most Austrians, who thought they possessed no treaty-banned battle planes, came when 15 big bombers oi the latest type suddenly thundered into view circled and dipped in salute to Imperial Eugen.

To most Austrians at this point it appeared that their sabre had been drawn and banged. Significantly no Viennese cheers greeted Der Feldmarschall who came & went amid dead silence.

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