At the east front of the central powers very different conditions prevail. _Austria has no desire to make the conquest of any territory_; indeed, just the contrary, would probably be willing to cede a portion of Galicia in favor of new States. _Germany has not the slightest inclination to incorporate new portions of Slav or Lettish regions._ Both Germans and Austrians wish to establish free _buffer States_ between themselves and the great Russian Empire.
Not even the Baltic provinces, where Germans hold almost the same position as the Swedes in Finland, form an object for the German desire of conquest, but her wish is to make them, as also _Finland_, an independent State. Furthermore, the Kingdom of _Poland_ and a Kingdom of _Ukraine_ would be the outcome of decisive victories for the central powers.
What Germany would demand of these new States, whose very existence was the outcome of her success at arms, would simply be an _economical organization in common with the German Empire_, an enormous central European "Zollverein" ("Customs Union") with Germany at its heart. It is only such a union, in the opinion of leading German statesmen, which could hold the United States of North America at bay, and after this present war, moreover, the world would only have to take into account _two_ first-class powers, viz., Germany and the United States of America.
A commencement of this new economical connection is being made by the negotiations entered on by representatives of _Austria-Hungary_ and _Germany_ concerning the proposed formation of a _Customs Union_. Since this union would include 120,000,000 individuals, it must be evident what an immense attraction it must exert on the surrounding smaller nations. _Switzerland_ and _Holland_ can scarcely escape this attraction, and the _Scandinavian countries_, it is said, would probably find it to their advantage, together with a liberated _Finland_, to form a _Northern Customs Union_, which later, on an independent basis, could _enter in close union with the vast "Zollverein" of Central Europe_.
This "Zollverein" would then include about 175,000,000 individuals. The adhesion of _Italy_ to the vast union would not be inconceivable, and then the combination of the United States of Europe, founded on a voluntary commercial union, would be approaching its realization.