Page - 376 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

376 ‘The King of Italy has declared war on Me that were even somewhat less than those on which agreement had almost been reached in London parallel to this. Burián, however, could not and would not concede anywhere near as much as de- manded in the fulfilment of Italian wishes. He was bound by the decision of the Em- peror and what was repeatedly invoked as public opinion. Heavy protests were reported in Tyrol against any sort of concession to Italy. Burián described the immediate cession of territories as unfeasible. The Chief of the Imperial Military Chancellery, Bolfras, submitted the proposal that the territories granted to Italy should be militarily evacu- ated and in this way Austria-Hungary’s peaceableness particularly underlined. Only if Italian troops were to advance further should military resistance be offered. Bolfras was contradicted immediately and vehemently.891 But the Emperor, who received Conrad on 21 April, also made the case for not continuing to haggle over the cession of terri- tories, but instead to allow the Italians to march in, if necessary.892 Conrad recognised what these thoughts amounted to : if a territory was conceded more or less willingly in negotiations, then this was different to being compelled to give it up by force of arms. If Austria were to win back what had been conquered, the situation would be a com- pletely different one to that which would arise from a straightforward relinquishment. The resolution not to concede anything voluntarily, necessitated almost automatically that resistance be offered. Now negotiations were taken up again with the Chief of the German General Staff. Falkenhayn was doubtless more moderate in his views and his manner of expression than the Prussian War Minister Wild von Hohenborn, who wrote to his wife on 14 April : ‘In itself, it could be irrelevant for us whether or not Italy hacks off once piece more from the tail of the dying camel that is Austria, but the military situation inten- sifies dangerously as a result of the intervention of Italy.’893 Falkenhayn met Conrad on 24 April in Cieszyn.894 He informed him that he had told the Italian military attaché in Berlin that the German Empire would immediately lend its support to Austria-Hun- gary with 20 divisions in the event of war with Italy. Whether the Italian had believed this, however, was very questionable ; the reality, in any case, looked different. Germany did not have anything with which it could come to the aid of its ally. Moreover, Ger- many did not want to come to its aid. How long, asked Falkenhayn, would it take the Italians to reach Vienna ? Conrad answered : five weeks. Including the deployment time, there remained not even seven weeks from the expected declaration of war to the fall of Vienna. This was a horrible scenario. Falkenhayn did not know what to advise, and merely said that they would have to wait for the outcome of the offensive in Galicia, and only then they would see. There was furthermore hope of a new, effective ‘smoking substance’, which was currently being tested and should be deployed in the west. He of course meant chlorine gas. Perhaps this ‘miracle weapon’ would also help against the Italians.