Paris Peace Conf. 184.01102/388
Professor A. C.
Coolidge to the Commission to
Negotiate Peace
No. 238
Vienna, April 22, 1919.
[Received
April 25.]
Sirs: I have the honor to enclose herewith
two reports29a by Mr. Walter E. Bundy which
contain interesting information on the present situation. Personally
I am inclined to take a less pessimistic view of the immediate
situation than does Mr. Bundy. As long as the Volkswehr are ready to
support the government I believe order may be maintained, and that
danger from the Volkswehr itself lies rather in the future than at
the present moment. There is no doubt that the Hungarians are
pushing their propaganda here desperately, all the more so on
account of the insecurity of their own position. One hears
disquieting rumors from Prague. Thus it looks on every side as if
the last half of this week is likely to be marked by critical
events.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
Mr. Walter E.
Bundy to Professor A. C.
Coolidge
Subject: The suspicious character of the Vienna
“Volkswehr”.
That the character of the Vienna “Volkswehr” is very suspicious
in the present crisis in Vienna is indicated by the following
considerations.
- 1.
- The “Volkswehr” was organized last fall just before the
demobilization of the German-Austrian Army by the present
Secretary of War Deutsch. Deutsch is radically socialistic
in his views but opposed to the ends of socialism being
gained by revolution, especially opposed to Communistic and
Bolshevik methods. He has educated the “Volkswehr” in the
radical socialistic direction, and now it is feared by many
that the majority of the “Volkswehr” have become, under
Communistic influence, not only radical in their ideas but
in their methods, and that the “Volkswehr” had gone farther
to the left than Deutsch planned and are not so surely under
his control as formerly.
- 2.
- The “Volkswehr” is composed of soldiers from the rank and
file of the former Austrian Army, very few non-commissioned
officers and practically no commissioned officers. The
members of the “Volkswehr” are of the class most susceptible
to Communistic ideas.
- 3.
- The political coloring of the “Volkswehr” is threefold:
- (a)
- Many, some say the majority, are reliable in the
interest of maintaining order.
- (b)
- Some are neutral and liable to support in either
direction.
- (c)
- Many are most radically Communistic, as was seen
in the first firing affair of the 17th, when
hundreds of the “Volkswehr” unarmed took part in the
demonstration and one-half of the most radical
speakers and agitators were members of the
“Volkswehr”. In the move to present the demands of
the unemployed at the Parliament Building it was not
the unemployed who formed the delegation to present
the demands but the Communistic leaders and
“Volkswehr” members.
- 4.
- The first fight took place between the crowd and the hated
Imperial police. The fight began about 4:45 on the afternoon
of the 17th and lasted until about 9:00 o’clock at night;
the losses, dead and died of wounds 4 police, and about 40
wounded, chiefly police. Then the “Volkswehr” came, and took
the rifles of the police stationed in the Parliament
Building and dispersed the crowd.
- 5.
- The intervention of the “Volkswehr” was that of an act of
a “neutral” force. But this “neutrality” can become
dangerous to the present government and favorable to the
Communistic movement. The “Volkswehr” would certainly fire
on any demonstration that attacked it, but it is practically
certain that the Communists will not attack it and the
Communists seem to feel sure that the “Volkswehr” would not
fire on them and is really with them. That many of the
Volkswehr are with the Communists was clearly evident on the
afternoon of the 17th.
- 6.
- After taking over the Parliament Building members of the
“Volkswehr” Battalion, about 1,000 men with 50–60 machine
guns, broke open the safe stealing some thousands of kronen
belonging to the officials, stole the civil clothing of the
employees from the lockers, broke open the safe of the
archives, and took souvenirs available from the halls of the
Parliament Building. This fact does not speak well for the
conduct of a body supposed to maintain order.
- 7.
- The Vienna foreign office is by no means certain and
confident of the support of the “Volkswehr”.
- 8.
- The “Volkswehr” holds the arsenal and is, so far as I can
learn, the only military force in Vienna that has a real
supply of machine guns. If the issue of the present crisis
is to be decided by arms it will come in favor of the party
with the machine guns. The neutrality of the “Volkswehr” is
dangerous because of the large Communistic following of the
“Volkswehr” and the conduct of the “Volkswehr” in the
Parliament Building. The fact that the Communists have
plenty of money, once the “Volkswehr” as a supposed
“neutral” force has taken over the Vienna government
buildings, may lead to the “Volkswehr” being bought off by
the Communists and the easy expulsion of the present
government. More such incidents as occurred Friday are
expected, and now before the State Chancellory Building and
the Foreign Office. It is possible that the “neutral”
intervention of the [Page 307] “Volkswehr” is a definite part of the Communistic plan to
take over the Government buildings. Once the “Volkswehr” has
taken over these buildings there is no Vienna military force
to expel them and if the “Volkswehr” chooses it can tell the
present government to go and the government can do nothing
else.
