660F.6331/53
The Minister in Austria (Stockton) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 11.]
Sir: With reference to the prevailing rumors concerning a possible customs union of Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, I have the honor to inform the Department that yesterday I discussed this probability with Mr. Vavrecka, the Czechoslovak Minister to Austria, Dr. Schober, and Dr. Schüller, Chief of the Economic Division of the Foreign Office.
Mr. Vavrecka expressed the opinion that it would be difficult to find a satisfactory basis upon which Czechoslovakia and Hungary might develop a closer economic relationship because of the great political animosities between them. When I suggested the advantages which might accrue to Czechoslovakia through the opening up of the Hungarian market on advantageous terms to manufactured products from Czechoslovakia, he shook his head and said there were still more important things in the world than commerce. He added that the nations of Central Europe would have to go through much more purgatory before they would be willing to drop their political differences and concentrate their attention on economic objectives. He went on to say that Czechoslovakia was in fair shape economically, and that a nation which entered into a partnership with two other nations on the verge of bankruptcy might soon be bankrupt itself.
When I questioned Dr. Schüller about these rumors of a customs union he told me that there had been no practical progress made. He went on to say that when he was in Geneva for the meeting of the League of Nations Assembly, the representatives of both Czechoslovakia and Hungary had expressed the pious hope that an economic rapprochement might be brought about between the three nations. Dr. Schüller added, however, that he did not think the Hungarian representatives really desired the inclusion of Czechoslovakia in any kind of a customs union to which Hungary might become a party. He continued that he had regarded the expressions made at Geneva in this connection as so much verbiage, and that [Page 847] there were so many practical problems requiring his attention he did not intend to give the matter any consideration until he was presented with a concrete proposal.
Dr. Schober informed me that Beneš, the Czechoslovak Minister for Foreign Affairs, had recently approached Dr. Marek, the Austrian Minister at Prague, with regard to the possibility of establishing some kind of a customs union, and that the latter had come to Vienna to discuss the matter. Dr. Marek stated Beneš had suggested that Schober take the initiative in the matter. Dr. Schober instructed Dr. Marek to reply that in its proposal for a customs union with Germany,1 Austria had expressed its readiness to enter into such a relationship with any other nation. He had also reiterated Austria’s position in the speech at Geneva in which he had renounced for Austria the proposed Austro-German customs union. Dr. Schober added, whimsically, he had also instructed Dr. Marek to say to Beneš that the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs had been sufficiently punished for one year for exercising his initiative in such matters and that similar proposals should in the future come from other quarters.
I had discussed this possibility some time ago with Count Ambrozy, the Hungarian Minister in Vienna, who told me that Hungary was open-minded towards all schemes for the alleviation of the desperate economic situation of Central Europe, but that the antagonistic feeling between Czechoslovakia and Hungary would make it difficult for them to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. Hungary, he added, also felt Austria would be a weak partner in any combination confined to the two countries.
These somewhat conflicting statements are difficult to reconcile. However, I feel that they may be of interest to the Department in connection with Beneš’ speech yesterday before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Czechoslovak Parliament, in which he referred cordially to the possibility of economic cooperation between Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, provided a thorough understanding could be reached by France, Germany, and Italy. He also explained that Czechoslovakia was sympathetically interested in the welfare of Austria and Hungary and that his country would be seriously affected if disaster should befall her neighbors to the south.
Respectfully yours,