Page - 627 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Geriatric Circle 627 everything had been forgiven, and Koerber became the successor to the murdered Count Stürgkh. One fixed item in the afternoon programme was the daily review of the newspapers. Usually, the day ended at 7 p.m. The Emperor soon became tired, and increasingly so. However, he did not consider forfeiting even part of his power. Archduke Ferdinand had been placed at ‘the disposal of the Supreme Commander’, and had been given authority over most military issues. He also had his own military chancellery. In terms of political and administrative matters, he was only occasionally given authority over more minor issues. However, he had not only a task to perform, but also responsibility. The fact that it was precisely in military matters that Hungary set strict limits, and that in Budapest, it was argued that the Hungarian constitution did not envisage a representation of the Monarch, had led to a sense of aversion on both sides. For the heir to the throne, Archduke Karl Franz Josef, the issue of representation and authority never even arose, since the Emperor shunted him off to Galicia and accorded him ‘the disposal of the Supreme Commander’. The new heir to the throne  – naturally  – had no military chancellery of his own, and would by no means be granted similar powers to those of Archduke Franz Ferdinand before him. Nobody  – and least of all the old Em- peror  – thought of possibly transferring the Army High Command to him, quite apart from the foreign and domestic policy issues. However, this did also have its benefits : in this way, Archduke Karl did not run the risk of having to adopt a position when it came to the unavoidable conflicts, and in so doing, nolens volens to use up his strength prematurely. However, with the best will in the world, Franz Joseph was unable to fill the gaps that were becoming increasingly evident, both in the political and military spheres, and which of course did not remain without consequences. The vacuum at the top therefore provided fertile ground for all kinds of uncontrolled growth, and in particular gave the high commands a degree of power that not only permitted them to consider possible imperial reform and to write studies on the issue, but also, with regional variations, to exercise forms of nothing less than military dictatorship. Franz Joseph represented no obstacle to this type of future planning. However, certainly his mere existence created a barrier that was indeed respected both at home and abroad. As long as he lived, the separatist tendencies among the northern and southern Slavs were of no particular importance. Even within the Entente, as yet, no serious thought at all was being given to the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire. And perhaps much more importantly : even the highest representatives of the German Empire refrained from behaving in a coarse manner and only dared to wait until three months after the Monarch’s death before making a clear leadership claim and drawing the Habsburg Monarchy into the lethal embrace from which it would never again be able to release itself.