Page - 440 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

440 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915 since in Austria ‘there is a strong feeling that the prestige of Austria towards Hungary threatens to recede into the background’. These points did not aim at an exhaustive ac- count of the failings and weaknesses of the government. They were sufficient, however, and the representatives of the upper house of the Reichsrat closed with the declaration ‘that the government is not capable of meeting these demands’. They had, therefore, come to Stürgkh in order to explain this to him ‘with complete openness’. This action did not lead to the overthrow of the government either, or to the resig- nation of the Prime Minister. Just two ministers, including Interior Minister Baron Heinold, were replaced. The Prime Minister remained, however, and seemed unim- pressed. His backing was the Emperor, and he therefore thrust aside all allegations and complaints, as well as hidden threats that he would have to give an account of his actions at some point in the future. He did not respond to the attacks of the Christian Socialists, who opposed him and reproached him by saying that the worst parliamen- tarianism was still better than none at all.1051 He also failed to react to the accusations of politicians from other parties, and could even derive a certain confirmation of his own opinion from the enormously varying perceptions of the nationalist politicians. The German National League had demanded that German be the official language as early as 1914. In the same year, the trade and economic alliance with Germany had also been proclaimed as indispensable. The Viennese Professor for Eastern European His- tory, Hans Uebersberger, who had contributed to the indictment against Karel Kramař, advocated a military dictatorship. Naturally, the representatives of Slav nationalities vehemently resisted the demands of the German nationalists. Could very much really be expected of the reconvening of parliament ? The result of all this for the Vienna government was not the knowledge of being replaceable but instead a feeling of isola- tion and competition towards the other power centres. Since the Emperor had become almost invisible and so obviously refused to change anything of note, politicians and the military were both inclined to see only their own individual realities from now on. And this special problem of selective perception strengthened each and every one of the actors in the belief that they were doing the right thing and, if this was not complied with, to paint a picture of impending disaster. The war had reached the stage of dismal prophecies.