Page - 254 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

254 Adjusting to a Longer War with the German 9th Army operating under the command of Hindenburg. This would have led to uniformity of command in the theatre of war, but Conrad would almost immediately have been left without any real influence over the operational leadership, since he would have been placed between the supreme command and the four armies. It would have meant a loss of power for Conrad and the Army High Command that he dominated, since it was likely that with Ludendorff, a large number of other Ger- man officers would also have been drawn in who would have had Archduke Friedrich, who was only nominally the Supreme Commander, in the palm of their hand. The fact that this recommendation was forwarded from the Military Chancellery of Emperor Franz Joseph to the Army High Command, naturally with the full agreement of the Monarch, spoke for itself. It is likely that there were several key reasons for this. First, there was dissatisfaction and concern with regard to the leadership style of the Chief of the Imperial and Royal General Staff, and second, the Austrians were willing to forego any considerations and sensibilities in order to guarantee success. The dynastic interests were to be preserved in particular, and Archduke Friedrich was to be protected from being completely humiliated. However, the response of the Army High Command remained negative. Already on 5 November, the replies of both Conrad and the Archduke were presented in Vienna. Friedrich agreed to the creation of a uniform high command, while fully rejecting the prospect of being assigned a German Chief of the General Staff. He could possibly conceive of the addition of a German and an Austro-Hungarian Chief of the General Staff with the associated staff appointments, naming Major General Alfred Krauß as a potential Imperial and Royal chief. However, Conrad telegraphed that he considered the insertion of a high command between the Army High Command and the armies as inexpedient. He furthermore regarded the proposal for making Ludendorff Chief of the General Staff as an indication that he had lost the trust of His Majesty, and, not wishing to be insulted, tendered his full resignation. For a short time, Emperor Franz Joseph may indeed have considered dismissing Conrad. Finally, he made Conrad’s continuance in office dependent on Archduke Frie- drich’s opinion. The heir to the throne, Archduke Karl, was used as a messenger and sent to Nowy Sącz. However, Friedrich let it be known immediately that he wished to retain Conrad.610 In his book War, Politics and Diplomacy, Gordon A. Craig claims that the refusal by Conrad to agree to a joint high command and, if need be, to also free up his own post, was primarily motivated by the fact that he had taken into account the low degree of sensibility among the Germans towards the non-German troops from the Monarchy. The Germans, in his view, had never appreciated the particular nature of the Austro-Hungarian military system, and were therefore not in a position to com- mand the Slav troops with intelligence and understanding, let alone with a friendly attitude and the necessary tact.611 This is certainly an argument worth taking into con-