Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/29
country has to rely upon the import of raw materials from abroad. In particular it will be a long time before Czechoslovak industry will obtain sufficient supplies of wool and cotton, which are imported by means of expensive maritime routes, to keep its factories fully occupied. There is also an inadequate supply of iron ore within the Czechoslovak Republic, and the foundries of Vítkovice have to rely on ore from Sweden.
In many directions a better organization of industry would produce huge profits, especially in the manufacture of furniture, where advantage could be taken of the enormous forest wealth in Czechoslovakia. Of course advance of industry must be supported by means of mineral wealth. In this respect it must be emphasised that if Czechoslovakia retains possession of the Teschen coalfields, its supply of coal is assured, while the loss of this district would be a serious blow to the state.
Until fresh sources of mineral oil are discovered in the Czechoslovak Republic (there is good hope that they will be found in Slovakia), it will depend for this commodity upon foreign countries, especially upon Poland and Roumania. Again, it has to rely for salt upon Austria and Poland. Of gold there is but little, and production of copper is also very insufficient. On the other hand there is a fair supply of silver together with lead and antimony. Mercury is completely lacking.
Much wealth is contained in the mineral water springs of Czechoslovakia and many of these have a world-wide reputation.
If we sum up the economic conditions of the Czechoslovak Republic, we can say that it is one of the richest States in Europe. But its population is too great for its area and it therefore has to depend upon industrial activities. These in their turn are dependent upon the thorough organisation of transport, the zeal of the workers, the foresight of the manufacturer and the skill of the trader. Only a few years of peace are necessary to see that prosperity can flourish in the Czechoslovak territories in a way that few States can rival.
The Czechoslovak Republic is a racially homogeneous State, if we count the Czechs and Slovaks as one nation, as they really are. The Czechoslovaks form more than three-quarters of the whole population. The national minorities composed of Germans and Magyars and numbering about three millions will be granted full linguistic and civil rights. The Rusins living in the North-Eastern part of Slovakia who at their own wish were assigned by the Paris Peace Conference to the Czechoslovak State will enjoy local autonomy.
Whatever may be thought of the Peace Treaties of Versailles and Saint Germain, as far as the Czechoslovak Republic is concerned, they are on the whole just and fully compatible with President Wilson’s fourteen points and with the principles of self-determination. There are, of course, sceptics and pessimists who viewed with alarm the breaking up of the Habsburg Monarchy and who cannot believe that the new condition of affairs in Central Europe can endure. Moreover there are those who regard the present structure of Central Europe as being, “Balkanised”, by the use of which term they imply a permanent danger to European peace. Their reasoning may be summed up as follows: In the place of Austria-Hungary which, despite all its faults, represented a coherent economic activity, a number of small antagonistic States have been created whose jealousy will endanger the future stability of the Continent. Therefore, it is argued, some political organism resembling the former Dual Monarchy must be set up.
First of all, it is out of the question to restore anything resembling former Austria-Hungary, for neither the Czechoslovaks nor the Jugoslavs have the slightest sympathy with such a proceeding. No less an authority than President Masaryk expressed himself against the idea of a Danubian Federation in an interview with a representative of the “Tribune de Geneve” in the following terms:
“People who today still believe that we would create a federative union with Austrians and Magyars merely show that they cannot deduce the logical consequences of the war. No,” he said, “we cannot bind ourselves towards our neighbours. The Danubian Confederation, a political Alliance of States, established on the territory of Austria-Hungary, would be nothing else than a renewal of the late dualistic Empire. We are well satisfied with the freedom we have at length obtained to think of resuming our chains. We shall never indulge in such a policy. It is, of course, necessary