[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

No. 379.-AUSTRIAN MANIFESTO of War with Prussia and Italy. Vienna, 17th June, 1866.

(Translation.)

WHILE engaged in a work of Peace, which was undertaken for the purpose of laying the foundation for a Constitution which should augment the unity and Power of the Empire, and at the same time secure to my several Countries and Peoples free internal development, my duties as a Sovereign have obliged me to place my whole Army under arms.

On the Frontiers of my Empire, in the south and in the north, stand the Armies of two enemies who have allied with the intention of breaking the power of Austria as a great European State.

To neither of those enemies have I given cause for War. I call on an Omniscient God to bear witness that I have always considered it my first, my most sacred duty, to do all in my power to secure for my Peoples the blessings of Peace.

One of the Hostile Powers requires no excuse. Having a longing to deprive me of parts of my Empire, a favourable opportunity is for him a sufficient cause for going to War, which nothing justifies.

As for the Prussian Arms, which now threaten to invade our Northern Frontier, hardly two years have elapsed since a part of my faithful and heroic Army undertook with them, as Allies, a campaign on the borders of the Black Sea.

I had accepted that union of Arms with Prussia in order to preserve Rights founded on Treaties, to protect a threatened German Population, and to limit within the narrowest bounds the evils of an inevitable War.

By that Alliance of the Two Great Powers of Central Europe, to whom the task of preserving Peace had devolved, I intended to obtain Guarantees of a lasting Peace to the great advantage of my Empire, of Germany, and of Europe.

Conquests I never sought, and I have never allowed the

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

slightest doubts of my intentions to be held, either by my brothers

in Arms, or by Europe.

Disinterested on the conclusion of the Alliance with Prussia, I have remained faithful to that feeling.

When shortly after the conquest of the Elbe Duchies new preparations for War were made, even when it was no longer a secret to any one that an understanding had been come to amongst my enemies, the object of which could only be an attack on my Empire, I did not then abandon the hope of preserving Peace, and faithful to my duties as a Sovereign, I showed myself ready to make every Concession compatible with honour and the happiness of my Peoples.

I did not, however, fail to perceive that prolonged hesitation would make it difficult efficiently to repel an attack from without and would endanger the security of the Empire.

Then only did I resign myself to the cruel Sacrifices inseparable upon putting an Army on the War footing.

To the specific assurances given by my Government to the reiterated Declarations that I was ready to proceed with Prussia to a reciprocal and simultaneous Disarmament, what did the Cabinet of Berlin answer?

It made counter-propositions which, if they had been accepted, were tantamount to a total forgetfulness of the duties imposed upon me, and to the honour and safety of my Empire.

Prussia demanded a previous and complete Disarmament, not only in so far as concerned herself, but also towards Italy, whose armed forces threatened my States in the South, and for whose Pacific Intentions no Guarantee was or could be offered.

The negotiations with Prussia in respect to the Elbe Duchies clearly proved that a settlement of the question in a way compatible with the dignity of Austria, and with the rights and interests of Germany and the Duchies, could not be brought about, as Prussia was violent and intent on conquest. The negotiations were therefore broken off, the whole affair was referred to the Bund, and at the same time the Legal Representatives of Holstein were convoked.

The danger of War induced the 3 Powers-France, England, and Russia-to invite my Government to participate in General Conferences, the object of which was to be the maintenance of Peace (No. 377). My Government, in accordance with my views, and, if possible, to secure the blessing of Peace for my peoples, did

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

not refuse to share in the Conferences, but made their acceptance dependent on the confirmation of the supposition that the Public Law of Europe and the existing Treaties were to form the basis of the attempt at Mediation, and that the Powers represented would not seek to uphold special interests which could be prejudicial to the Balance of Power in Europe and to the rights of Austria. The fact that the attempt to mediate failed because these natural suppositions were made, is a proof that the Conferences could not have led to the maintenance of Peace.

The recent events clearly prove that Prussia substitutes open violence for right and justice.

The rights and the honour of Austria, the rights and the honour of the whole German Nation, are no longer a barrier against the inordinate ambition of Prussia. Prussian Troops have entered Holstein, the Estates convoked by the Imperial Stadtholder have been violently dissolved, the Government of Holstein, which the Treaty of Vienna (No. 367) gives to Austria and Prussia in common, has been claimed for Prussia alone, and the Austrian Garrison has been obliged to give way to a force ten times as strong as itself.

When the German Bund, which saw in the measure no infraction of the Federal Laws, accepted the Austrian proposition to "mobilize" the Federal Troops, Prussia, who prides herself on being the defender of the interests of Germany, resolved to complete the work she had begun. Violently severing the tie which unites the German races, Prussia announced her Secession from the Bund (No. 376), required from the German Governments the acceptance of a so-called project of Reform, which in reality is a division of Germany, and now she employs Military Force against those Sovereigns who have faithfully discharged their Federal Duties.

The most pernicious of Wars, a War of Germans against Germans, has become inevitable, and I now summon before the tribunal of History-before the tribunal of an Eternal and all-powerful God, those persons who have brought it about, and make them responsible for the misfortunes which may fall on individuals, families, districts, and countries.

I decide upon fighting, confident in the goodness of my cause and upheld by the feeling of the inherent power of a great Empire, and in which the Prince and the People are united in one

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

and the same idea, in one and the same hope, those of defending the Rights of Austria.

At the sight of my valiant Armies, so ready for the fight, which form the bulwark, the rampart against which the forces of the enemy will dash themselves to pieces, I feel my courage and my confidence redoubled, and I can but feel a good hope when I meet the gaze of my faithful Peoples, united and determined, and their ready devotion for every sacrifice.

The pure flame of patriotic enthusiasm strives with the same intensity throughout my Empire. At the first call, the soldiers on furlough immediately joined their standards; volunteers enrol themselves in special Regiments; the whole population able to bear Arms in the threatened Provinces fly to arms, and with the noblest self-denial they all strive to lessen the evils of War, and to provide for the wants of the Army.

But one feeling animates the Inhabitants of my Kingdoms and Provinces: they feel the ties which unite them, the strength which comes from Union.

At this serious, but at the same time such an edifying moment, I doubly regret that the understanding on the constitutional questions are not sufficiently advanced to admit of my assembling the Representatives of all my Kingdoms around my Throne ; actually deprived of that prop, my duty as a Sovereign is only the clearer, and my resolution to secure for ever the Constitutional Rights of my Empire can but be strengthened.

We shall not be alone in the struggle which is about to take place. The Princes and Peoples of Germany know that their Liberty and Independence are menaced by a Power which listens but to the dictates of egotism and is under the influence of an ungovernable craving after aggrandizement; and they also know that in Austria they have an upholder of the Freedom, Power, and Integrity of the whole of the German Fatherland. We and our German brethren have taken up Arms in defence of the most precious Rights of Nations. We have been forced so to do, and we neither can nor will disarm until the internal development of my Empire and of the German States which are allied with it has been secured, and also their power and influence in Europe.

My hopes are not based on unity of purpose or power alone. I confide in an Almighty and just God, whom my House from its

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

very foundation has faithfully served, a God who never forsakes those who righteously put their trust in Him. To Him I pray for assistance and success, and I call on my Peoples to join me in that prayer.

Given at my Residence of Vienna, the Capital of my Empire, 17th June, 1866.

[Great Britain proclaimed its Neutrality in this War on the 27th June, 1866.]