Page - 397 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

On the Isonzo and in the Sette Comuni 397 ‘Now, everyone wants to go down to Italy’, Conrad wrote to Bolfras on 7 June. ‘I can understand why, and I would also prefer to go there myself since I am overcome by a boundless rage when I think of how these villains plan to invade our beautiful Alpine lands  – and yet, privately, I am glad that we shall not let them in without a fight ; even so, they wouldn’t have enjoyed their booty for long, even if it had been granted them, since a thorough war of vengeance would have broken out over the rogues’ heads. What we must do now is face the further course of events with a cool composure.’938 Repeated requests were made of the German Empire to intervene against Italy with a higher number of forces after all. However, the German High Command was pre- pared only to send a reinforced brigade  – which then became known as the ‘German Alpine Corps’  – to protect Bavaria, which was to fulfil purely defensive tasks. For their part, the Germans did not consider declaring war on Italy, and a stronger intervention on behalf of Austria-Hungary was, therefore, not regarded as being an option. The fiction that was upheld until the autumn of 1916, that the German Empire and Italy were not at war with each other, therefore led to a peculiar situation. For Germany, the war against Italy was, as the campaign against Serbia had been in its day, Aus- tria-Hungary’s own separate war. The German Empire left open the option of further talks, even the possibility of collaboration with Italy, and in so doing, created a situation which was certainly not beneficial to the mutual understanding between Germans and Austrians. The disappointment over this German stance finally even culminated in the demand made by the command of the Imperial and Royal south-western front that the Germans should withdraw the Alpine Corps.939 Tellingly, the German Supreme Army Command decided against sending forces to the Isonzo from the start, where it could clearly be anticipated that the Italians would focus their efforts and might perhaps al- ready advance deep into Austrian territory within a short period of time. The Germans appeared to be interested only in protecting Bavaria. Conrad had expected active intervention from the Germans, and on 11 June still wrote to Falkenhayn that from the statements made by the German Imperial Chan- cellor, Bethmann Hollweg, it could be anticipated that words would be followed by deeds. Falkenhayn’s reply, which was forwarded on the same day, sputtered with fury. He vehemently disagreed with Conrad’s views, and claimed that Austria was only in a position to defend its borders with Italy in the first place since the German Empire had helped out in Galicia. ‘The Tyroleans have every reason to be heartily thankful instead of making snide remarks about the Bavarians […].’940 Conrad was deeply hurt, since Falkenhayn had seen fit to do nothing less than reprimand him beyond the actual sub- ject in question. Already on the following day, Conrad again wrote to Falkenhayn, using his reply as a means of settling a fundamental score : Austria-Hungary, he claimed, had held its head high in 1914 when the challenge had been to keep the Russians at bay. The Tyrolean troops had been decimated in Galicia, thousands of kilometres away from