Pygmy v. Giant

Soviet High Commissioner Ivan I. Ilyichev, ordinarily a phlegmatic and silent man, last week summoned Austrian Chancellor Julius Raab and Vice Chancellor Adolf Scharf to his headquarters for a dressing down. Ilyichev accused the government, the two major parties, and particularly the Austrian police force (which operates under Austrian control, technically independent of the four-power Allied Control Council), of "hostile and subversive activities against the Soviet authorities and Soviet occupation forces." If the Austrians didn't do something about it, Ilyichev threatened, Russia would.

Chancellor Raab spunkily rebuffed the charges. He denied, for example, that veterans' leagues were getting out of hand and agitating for Anschluss (reunion with Germany); he admitted that anti-Soviet literature and posters might be circulating in the Soviet zone, but disavowed it on behalf of the government and police. He was backed up by his Cabinet and by nearly every member of the Parliament.

In taking this stand, small, occupied Austria looked rather like a pygmy standing up to a giant; but the pygmy had two powerful big friends. In Washington, Secretary Dulles sent off a sharp cable to the U.S. member on the Allied Council, characterizing Russian outburst as attempted intimidation. London backed Washington up.

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