Page - 614 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

614 The Death of the Old Emperor as described by Conrad in his final letter to Stürgkh regarding the food situation : the poor, in some cases already catastrophic, food situation had not only led to food riots and the need on several occasions to call in the army, it was also like no other issue a point of concern in the Joint Council of Ministers. And again, as was so often the case, the only course left open was to appeal for German assistance. However, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin replied that the situation in Germany was similarly difficult, and announced that the Danube Monarchy would have to rely on its own harvests, which would present no problem if they were accompanied by appropriate rationing. And if the Austrians were unable to cope on their own, then the Germans would have to show them how. ‘The imperial government’, ran the response note from the Foreign Ministry, would be happy ‘to support the Imperial and Royal government in taking all necessary measures’. In Berlin, it was felt that only dictatorial measures would lead to success, and this was precisely what Koerber shunned. A Food Agency was then created, but since it remained without any authority, it lacked real penetrating power. For this reason, people such as the former prime minister, Baron Max Wladimir von Beck, also refused to head the agency. Beck demanded that Koerber take into account the German and Hungarian relations in solving the Austrian problem, a suggestion that was a truism at best, and which Koerber politely declared as unacceptable for constitutional reasons.1418 However, it was not only a question of the constitution ; of even greater significance to Koerber was the fact that almost all suggestions relating to the regulation of the food provision system demanded that it be organised by the military. A representative of the upper house of the Reichsrat, Count Max Egon zu Fürstenberg, who in October had discussed the provision of food with German officials, addressed this aspect : if antagonism were to arise between Austria and Hungary, civilian authorities would be powerless. Since the Imperial and Royal Army was subordinate to the Emperor any- way, however, opportunities to intervene would present themselves.1419 This also corre- sponded exactly to the line taken by Ambassador von Tschirschky, which is why the German Empire agreed to this approach, as did the Army High Command, since here, it had the opportunity to regain something of its dwindling power. However, a food agency with dictatorial power for both halves of the Empire no longer fell within the remit of the Austrian Prime Minister. In this way, the listing of the problems and ob- stacles, and at the same time the lack of options available to the new Austrian head of government to do anything about them, already essentially meant that any hopes that had been placed in him soon had to be drastically reduced. Since, however, Koerber did not turn out to be the pliant tool of those who had hoped so much from his entering office, either, it was only a matter of time before he fell. Despite the fact that Koerber’s government was only short-lived, it marked a clearly recognisable transition. The government under Count Stürgkh had behaved apolitically in the sense that it had been independent of the political parties. Koerber’s government