Page - 439 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Attempt to Topple Stürgkh 439 of influencing in an exceedingly negative way the appropriate reorganisation of the Monarchy and the required powerful development of its armed forces, induce me to submit the most loyal and obedient request that Your Majesty deign to entrust with the leadership of the administration of the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Reichsrat a personality whose acknowledged ability and unshakeable energy guaran- tee a propitious solution to the questions that are decisive for the future fate of Aus- tria-Hungary.  – Archduke Friedrich.’1049 One could certainly regard this as something that belongs in the category of at- tempted interference on the part of the Army High Command. Yet it was more than that. The mass of position papers, allegations and grievances were addressed to the Austrian Prime Minister and individual ministers, but also to the Tisza government. Hardly anything was actually brought to the attention of the Monarch. Now, however, the Army High Command went all out. The stalemate emanated, after all, from the Emperor. At the head of the Monarchy there was a vacuum that assumed ever more terrifying proportions. It was down to the Monarch to act, even if this meant putting the Army High Command in its place. Alternativel, there would indeed have been a new government and a radical reform of the political system. But Franz Joseph wanted neither those people who were trusted by him and devoted to him to be replaced, nor a radical change. Everything was to be postponed until after the war. The war had to end sometime. Until then, everything was to remain as before. The intrigues blossomed and the Empire was rapidly declining. In spite of the interesting constellation, on which the presentation of the Army Su- preme Commander was based, the foray failed. The Emperor was not willing to replace the Austrian Prime Minister and did not exhibit any direct reaction to the letter from his archducal cousin. The failure of this attempt to topple Stürgkh in no way discour- aged the protagonists, however, and less than a month passed before members of the upper house of the Austrian Reichsrat had an exchange of views in three executive committees that once more boiled down to Stürgkh’s resignation. On 27 October 1915, the members of the upper house Count Gołuchowski, Baron von Czedik and Prince Fürstenberg submitted a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister in the form of a memorandum.1050 The reasons that they gave and the failings of which they accused the government were partially different to those cited by the Army High Command. At the top of the list was the rapidly deteriorating food situation. The government had not succeeded in bringing about a comprehensive organisation for the provision of foodstuffs. The memorandum claimed that the danger existed that a desperate mood might develop that ‘can assume a threatening character’. The next points were the lack of preparation for solving the questions that would arise after the war in the economic sector and in the relationship to Germany, the reorganisation of the domestic national and parliamentary affairs, and above all the relationship to Hungary. The latter was vital,