In Austria money went the same way. The Austrian kronen, unsupported
by gold or goods, became a mockery in the markets of the world and
in Vienna itself. The professional classes were dying of starvation,
the middle classes were reduced to an extreme destitution; labour,
paid false wages, had no heart to work. Several loans granted by the
British Government and others, after abandoning all immediate claims to
“reparations,” withered away in supporting crowds of needy officials
and struggling with financial chaos. Austria declared itself a bankrupt
State, appealing to the world for help, and at last her immense
distress was recognised by all other States, and the League of Nations
was entrusted with the task of administering a new loan of something
like fifteen millions sterling, with a strict control of Austrian
revenue, expenditure, taxation, and financial measures.
It was a lesson to the world of what may be done by good will and
commonsense rather than by political hatred and international
hostility. As a foster child of the League of Nations, Austria
recovered in a way which seemed beyond hope. As soon as her money was
stabilised to a fixed value, because of its gold backing, trade began
to flow back a little, capital came to the rescue, with a sense of
security. The Austrian people were able to buy food in return for their
merchandise at prices which no longer fluctuated wildly according to
the downfall of paper money. They were able to accept contracts for
future work and to fulfil them with a certainty that the money they
received would not melt in their hands like summer snow. They recovered
hope, worth more than gold, and physical strength restored their mental
and moral health. The nightmare lifted. The city of Vienna to-day, in
spite of much poverty and a disappearance of its former luxury among
the old classes who dwelt in the splendour of Imperial Courts, is as
different from Vienna in 1920 as the day from the night. The Viennese,
once the gayest people in Europe, have learnt to laugh again. There
is music in the cafés once more. The streets are lighted again. The
children are no longer weak with rickets. The bitter cup has passed
from them, except for those who remember their former state and the old
world of the Austrian Empire that has gone down with all its pride.