Page - 438 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

438 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915 steered by others. The trail led to the vicinity of the Emperor. Conrad namely seized upon an initiative from the Deputy Chief of the Military Chancellery of the Emperor, Major General Marterer, and demanded in a ‘Most Humble Presentation’ to the Em- peror that Stürgkh be dismissed. The whole affair began as a court intrigue, which orig- inated with Marterer and the Lord Chamberlain of the Emperor, Prince Montenuovo. He regarded the time as ripe following the months-long, unmistakeable criticism of the Austrian government, which could not be missed, but he did not want to expose himself. It would be better if the Army High Command were to do this. Marterer shared the Prince’s view and could be certain that Conrad would promptly set to work on drafting a corresponding presentation, which of course not he but rather Archduke Friedrich would sign. In early autumn 1915, the Chief of the General Staff was at the summit of his prestige ; it was, therefore, logical to harness him for the overthrow of Stürgkh, especially since Marterer knew from his correspondence with Conrad that the latter had repeatedly called for the dismissal of Stürgkh and his replacement with a more energetic prime minister. It was ultimately Marterer who suggested to Conrad the name of a successor : Prince Konrad Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. The Chief of the General Staff replied immediately on 20 September to the effect that he also regarded ‘Konrad Hohenlohe as a personality who would doubtlessly achieve more at the head of the government than the current [head]’.1048 The formulation reveals that Conrad was not convinced that Prince Hohenlohe was the best man for the job. He was merely described as more suitable than Stürgkh. Conrad furthermore stated that he would ex- ceed his authority if he were to ask the Emperor for Stürgkh’s removal. Such a request should be submitted by the Foreign Minister. Nonetheless, five days later Conrad and the Army High Command did what Marterer and others had requested of them. On 25 September, in a presentation to the Emperor with regard to conditions in Bohemia, Galicia and Bukovina, the unreliability of the Czech body of troops, Serbian national agitation by teachers and the clergy in the southern Slav provinces, Italian irredentism and subversive agitation, i.e. with regard to the sum of allegations and grievances over the course of a year, Archduke Friedrich concluded that ‘the attempts of the govern- ment so far, despite the war legislation, were for the most part in vain’. As if that were not enough, further great tasks would face the Monarchy : an appropriate adjustment in the organisation of the Monarchy, radical reforms in domestic administration, the education of all nationalities in the interests of Austria, economic reforms, the altera- tion of administrative structures, legislation on schools and defence, and many others. ‘The government, which was not in a position to appreciate the numerous signs of ger- mination and the powerful development of subversive tendencies in almost all crown lands with Slav or Italian inhabitants, and was unable, even in the decisive hour, to successfully combat the destructive consequences, will hardly be able to cope with the approaching, incomparably greater challenges. These circumstances, which are capable