Page - 615 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Death of the Old Emperor 615 was regarded as a political one, and in the dual sense of the word, since it was both more dependent on the parties and sought to implement the positions represented by the parties in its policies.1420 This raised the question of how far this influence could go, since Koerber was not least involving himself in ‘prerogatives of the crown’ and in foreign policy. This was reflected particularly clearly with regard to the Polish issue. Ko- erber was obliged to put into practice what had already been negotiated. Nonetheless, at the last minute, he attempted to scupper the solution to the Poland question, which had already been agreed.1421 He did not succeed. The Two Emperors’ Manifesto, with which the creation of a Kingdom of Poland after victory by the Central Powers was announced, was issued on 5 November 1916. One of the motives for the act was that in both the German Empire and in Aus- tria-Hungary, it was hoped that in Poland, replacements could be drummed up for the troop bodies, which were by now almost impossible to replenish. Troops from a new, still somewhat imaginary Kingdom of Poland could at least be used against the Russians, or so it was hoped. Naturally, Russia would still not allow itself to be subdued as a result of such a measure, but perhaps it would be brought closer to utterly exhausting its means. Koerber had indeed only just begun to restructure the political arena when an event occurred that had far more wide-reaching consequences than the death of Count Stürgkh : on 21 November 1916, Emperor Franz Joseph died. The death of the old Em- peror had been long anticipated, and he was mourned more as the demise of a unique symbol, as an integrative personality who had still radiated authority, than that the death was regarded as the catalyst for a sudden power vacuum. Since the old Emperor had in fact created and embodied this vacuum, it could not be otherwise. However, nothing of the relief was expressed that had been present after the death of Stürgkh. The time of obituaries began, in which their authors, as well as those who soon began work on Franz Joseph’s biography, battled against a strange blank spot that extended over the final years of this Emperor’s life. Almost immediately, it became a place where nostalgia took root. The staging of the final act in the story of the old Emperor also demanded this outright. Obituary for the Father Figure In Schönbrunn Palace, when you enter the office or bedroom of Emperor Franz Joseph or the room where he died, you are given the impression at first glance of being in a middle-class home at best. During guided tours, the modest lifestyle of the Monarch is mentioned, who clearly eschewed all comfort and occasionally is also seen as embod- ying the old Austria : other-worldly, out of keeping with the times, symbol and father figure combined.