Page - 259 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Fortress on the San 259 The reporting and the influence of the Entente powers had already been a significant cause for concern since the beginning of the war. For this reason, the idea took root in the Foreign Ministry of sending several particularly highly regarded people abroad for the purpose of clarification. They were not to be sent to any random country, but to America. The idea is likely to have occurred to Berchtold himself, who proposed sending one representative each for the Hungarian and the Austrian halves of the Em- pire. Count Albert Apponyi was to travel on behalf of Hungary, while Austria was to be represented by Professor Josef Redlich, who is usually now known only as a diarist. They were to give presentations and to influence public opinion in America in favour of the Monarchy.619 Stürgkh strongly welcomed the idea, as did Tisza. The two individuals who were to undertake the task were cautiously enthusiastic. Redlich was concerned that the journey on a neutral ship may be too dangerous, and was afraid of the large number of sea mines. Furthermore, ships were repeatedly stopped and searched by the British. He wrote to Count Forgách at the Foreign Ministry : ‘As willing as I am to undertake any possible task held to be important and necessary by the common or Aus- trian government, I cannot forebear to say that I would greatly regret, for the perhaps long duration of the war […] to spend my days uselessly as a prisoner of war in France or England. In this regard at any rate it would therefore be necessary to safeguard the purpose connected with this mission as far as possible.’620 This letter clearly revealed a significant degree of reticence, if not fear. For a time, the suggestion of including the neutral European countries, as well as the USA, in a propaganda offensive continued to be discussed. However, the view was increasingly expressed that such open propaganda could be counter-productive. It seemed that the Entente powers were less scrupulous in this matter. They by all means made expansive use of propaganda means. Austria-Hun- gary, however, finally decided against such an offensive. In so doing, it left a field open to the enemies of the Habsburg Monarchy and the émigré circles who had joined the Entente side, the significance of which had already been recognised, but which had even so been entirely misunderstood. The success of the Austro-Hungarian weapons was clearly to serve as the only convincing indication in order to prove to neutral coun- tries abroad that the Monarchy, rather than facing extinction, was in fact unshakeable. By neglecting to use its own propaganda, however, the Monarchy gave free rein to Ger- many and, in so doing, missed the opportunity of presenting itself in a more strongly independent light. The comments made by Redlich as a justification for his reluctance to travel to America also directly brought the sea war into focus. Here also, not everything had gone as those in command in the Danube Monarchy had envisaged.