Page - 622 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

622 The Death of the Old Emperor weeks, I vehemently defended myself against any aggravation that might lead to war  – in vain ! They would not be persuaded, and after three weeks of fruitless effort, I was forced to give in’1423. This sentence, which was then passed on by the Austro-Hungarian plenipotentiary in the German Grand Headquarters, Brigadier Alois Klepsch-Kloth von Roden, is a retrospective claim that has not a grain of truth. When the Emperor left Vienna on 7 July, the course had already been set towards war. In Bad Ischl, therefore, away from the daily routine and yet with an only tempo- rary link to the actual power centre in Vienna, the Emperor received reports. There he learnt of the proceedings of the Joint Council of Ministers on 7 July and received the memorandum drafted the following day by Count Tisza, in which the Hungarian Prime Minister argued in favour of not simply attacking Serbia but rather issuing ul- timatums, on the fulfilment of which the further course of action should depend. The Foreign Minister had two opportunities to inform the Emperor of developments in his summer domicile. But when the Council of Ministers next met on 19 July, the Emperor was missing once again and apparently did not have any part in the decision regarding the actual issuing of the démarche containing the ultimatum. He was only informed in retrospect of the consultation process by Finance Minister Biliński. And when it was a question of signing the declaration of war and thus unleashing the war that was regarded by Franz Joseph as inescapable, this took place without further consultations, without one last, dramatic conference and, naturally, without direct contact with the German Kaiser, as the monarchs never telephoned each other. Thus, the declaration of war against Serbia was reduced to a simple administrative act. Franz Joseph then remained in Bad Ischl for a further two days, and did not return to Vienna until 30 July. From then onwards, he never left his imperial capital and seat of royal residence again. The Geriatric Circle When Franz Joseph returned to Vienna, the war against Serbia was not even two days old. Everything had in fact already been decided by the ‘administrative act’ of 28 July. Now, it was only a matter of the consequences. And now, for the first time since the assassination in Sarajevo, something akin to nervousness could be sensed in the old Emperor. Shortly after his arrival at Schönbrunn Palace, Archduke Friedrich, who had been designated Commander of the Balkan Forces, presented a report. Then, Count Berchtold came and informed the Emperor that he had deleted the passage relating to the skirmish at Temes-Kubin from the declaration of war. Finally, the Chief of the Mil- itary Chancellery came, General Bolfras, who at that time was 76 years old. He stayed for one-and-a-half hours with his Emperor, and in so doing marked the beginning of