Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 42. (1992)
NAUTZ, Jürgen: Österreichische Überlegungen zur wirtschaftlichen Integration Europas und zum europäischen Machtgleichgewicht. Die wirtschaftspolitischen Arbeiten Richard Schüllers im amerikanischen Exil 1943–1950
EDITION criminals. But the restoration of pre-war positions of the German mammoth concerns would suffice as basis for economic hegemony and for use and abuse of power in all Hemispheres. Moreover these German trusts threaten peace by their aggressive spirit and by their aspirations. It is an important thought a hard task to make an end to the game and to neutralize these trusts. Experts might work on the following or similar lines: The Silesian coal basin stretches from Germany to Poland and to Czechoslovakia. International (not governmental) ownership and administration would be a solution favorable to the interests of the coal basin and of the countries where it is situated. The same is true concerning the coal — and steel — industry in the Ruhr, based on French and Swedish iron ore. The chemical industry with its innumerable international relations is obviously apt to be administrated internationally. The other economic problem of the small countries is their insufficient home market. The agricultural countries have to export at low prices; the standard of living of their peasants is very low. Their industrial development is hindered by narrow rangs of home consumption. The small industrial countries protect their peasants, but their industries suffer from the lack of export possibilities. It is often assumed that the Germans have now united the European continent economically and that it would not be difficult to maintain this “union”. But that is not so. Trade between the conquered countries is controlled from Berlin. No import or export is possible without licenses. “Unity” exists only in the production of armaments for Germany and in the delivery of food and raw materials to Germany. The procedures produce hate against the “New Order” but they contribute to the future economic setup only by causing destruction and disorder. The European countries will be forced to rebuild their economy. The reconstruction can take account of new conceptions, if they are supported by strong forces. One of the conceptions are customs-unions between groups of small nations or between such groups and big powers, finally a European customs-union. Governments in exile discuss such plans insisting that economic unit of the small nations should be achieved first; political unity would follow later. These plans are the consequence of the embarrassment of these governments which are not able to achieve common defense. But a customs-union cannot be established between independent sovereign states. Countries not able to federate cannot construct and manipulate the complicated machinery of a customs-union. The only case in which the customs-union preceded the political union was the German Zollverein, based on the national movement and on Prussia’s hegemony. There is no parallelism between the creation of the German Reich and the federation of several different small nations. 361
