Page - 379 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Final Offer 379 was not so sure ; in fact, he described such thoughts, which also incorporated Greece, as plain ‘childish’906 and wanted every available man to be sent to the future Italian front. This seemed much more important to him than a potential campaign against Serbia, all the more so because the determination to act collectively seemed after all to make an impression on Italy at the last moment. All of a sudden, there was indeed a small chance. On 8 May, a discussion took place in Cieszyn at the request of Germany,907 in which the German Kaiser, Imperial Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, Falkenhayn, Burián, Tisza, Stürgkh, Conrad and others took part.908 The main topic was naturally Italy. Emperor Franz Joseph and Kaiser Wilhelm had written to King Vittorio Emanuele and appealed to his honour and in the name of morality. It was pointed out during the discussion that in the press of the Central Powers the question of Italy had so far not been addressed very thoroughly and, above all, not with hostility. The military situation was also discussed, as well as final offers and interventions. The possibility was also de- bated of not only triggering a crisis in the Italian government but also of toppling the government and, with the help of Giovanni Giolitti, helping the neutralist wing of Ital- ian politics to achieve a breakthrough. The decision to go to war had not, after all, been unanimous in Italy. The south of the country and the rural regions were against the war ; the north and the cities were in favour of it. Piedmont and Lombardy broke ranks to the extent that they were also predominantly against the war. Brescia had evidently not forgotten the oppressive measures of 1849 on the part of the Austrian General of Artillery Julius von Haynau and voted in favour of the war. The bulk of Veneto, on the other hand, was in favour of retaining neutrality. Italy was facing the acid test. The royal house was cursed and the king subjected to death threats. A resident of Milan wrote to the King that dying for Triente was ‘not worthwhile’.909 Giolitti’s faction indeed did not yet want to climb down, and had it in their power to bring about a dramatic reversal. Giolitti dressed it in harsh words as follows : ‘To violate the treaty now and move from neutrality on to the attack is a betrayal like no other in history.’910 In order to avoid a confrontation with Giolitti, Prime Minister Salandra postponed the meeting of the Chamber of Deputies until 20 May. On this day, according to the Chief of the Italian General Staff, the army would be ready for war. Salandra came un- der pressure, however, from another side. The Ballhausplatz had placed all its hopes on influencing Pope Benedict XV via the Austro-Hungarian ambassador. It indeed proved possible to bring about an intervention on the part of the Holy See in favour of the neutralists in Italy. The greater number of deputies in the Chamber and in the Senate appeared to support Giolitti. Salandra expected to be defeated in a vote. Austria-Hun- gary made last-minute concessions and abandoned the path of secret negotiations. The whole world should know how far the Habsburg Monarchy had gone with its conces- sions : the whole of Tyrol, as long as it was Italian, as well as Gradisca ; complete mu-