Stripped of their Habsburg empire after World War I, neutralized by the belated World War II peace treaty of 1955, the Austrians have become a country without a cause. They cannot align their armies with East or West, are forbidden to reunite with Germany. But they cannot be stopped from having patriotic ambitions.
Last week Austrian newspapers were filled with black crisis headlinesbut not the crisis most of Europe was worrying about. The headlines said: BRENNER PASS
CLOSED, AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR INSULTED, DEMONSTRATIONS IN INNSBRUCK.
The cause that meant so much to the Austrians last week was that of the "oppressed" majority in...