y. Of course, the desire for
expansion, which is one of the chief characteristics of the
historical development of the various nations during the twentieth
century, made itself felt in Austria-Hungary as well as everywhere
else. Not having any colonies and not having either the financial or
military means of acquiring any, the Dual Monarchy has for many
years been deeply interested in the Near East. There vast stretches
of undeveloped territory, much of which was immediately adjoining
its own territory, created a strong desire for possession, or at
least for a preponderating influence. This desire was intensified by
the peculiar racial conditions which existed in the Dual Monarchy.

Austria-Hungary in this respect also differed from all the other
European nations. In each one of the other countries of Europe there
was _one_ race that was more numerous and more influential than any
of the other races that might inhabit the same country. In
Austria-Hungary, however, there were living side by side a number of
widely different races. Germans, Bohemians, Poles, Hungarians,
Serbians, and others. Of most of these races additional numbers were
living in one or another of the adjoining countries, and this
condition brought about a continuous desire on the part of these
different nations to unite. For instance, the Poles living in
Austrian Galicia never gave up their hope of once more becoming
united with their fellow Poles in Prussian and in Russian Poland. In
the same way the Rumanians in the Austrian province of Bukowina cast
longing eyes toward Rumania and Russian Bessarabia; the Austrian
Serbs did the same in respect to Serbia and so on.

All attempts of the Government to change this condition appeared to
be futile, whether these attempts were of a friendly or of a hostile
and oppressive nature. Legislature of any kind, as long as it
affected racial questions, was not only unsuccessful in
accomplishing its ends, but often resulted in bitter parliamentary
discussions and hostilities. The resentment of the various racial
units of the Dual Monarchy against such legislation was only
deepened by the fact that for many years the actual power of
government lay in the hands of the Germanic part of the empire in
spite of the fact that the Germans, though in many ways the most
advanced, were the least numerous.

In view of all these conditions it is rather remarkable that the
Dual Monarchy should have held together as long as it d