Page - 630 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

630 The Death of the Old Emperor tiorek was to blame. Franz Joseph, who on 2 December had still received the report of the taking of Belgrade with tears in his eyes, acknowledged Marterer’s report on the 19th regarding the failure of leaderships with the simple comment that Potiorek ‘must go’. Marterer then only had to make the General of Artillery understand that he would have to prepare his request for dismissal as quickly as possible. Day after day, Bolfras remained longer with the Emperor than anyone else, read telegrams, as well as perhaps extracts from Conrad’s letters, provided reassurance and caused him to be agitated. However, it is unlikely that Bolfras of all people spread a sense of optimism, since towards the end of 1914, he began to consider what might happen if Italy were to enter the war, and what consequences a siege of Vienna could have. The court, Bolfras claimed, would move to Salzburg. But what would happen then ?1445 Could his fears be allayed by the fact that War Minister Krobatin reported to the Emperor that the Monarch was in a position to continue the war until November 1915, and that 170,000 soldiers could be sent to the front every month as reinforcement troops ? Even so, by the end of the year, the war had already cost six billion kronen. Those closest to the Emperor also talked of peace. Here, the ‘Norns’ of the Military Chancellery were joined by the First Adjutant General of the Emperor, Count Paar, and his adjutant, Baron Albert von Margutti. As though they were sitting at a tavern table, the gentlemen discussed whether Germany might not conclude a peace with France, or  – if this proved impossible  – whether Austria should not terminate the war with Russia. Count Paar attempted to explain these considerations to the Emperor on 9 January, but was told in response that a peace with France would only be possible once a decisive victory had been gained over Russia. However, on this occasion, the Emperor also said that for Austria’s part, two decisive errors had been made in this war. Franz Joseph admitted his own guilt for the first error, that until an outcome had been secured in the Serbian theatre of war, a defensive position should have been maintained against Russia. The second error, he said, was closely connected to the first. Conrad’s first offen- sive in the north, in other words, the initial campaign, had been a mistake.1446 This was now a surprising admission, since Franz Joseph was acknowledging in retrospect that the offensive against Serbia had been given his full support, and that he had not been of the opinion that in the light of the war against Russia, the campaign against Serbia should have been halted. The matter had in the interim become obsolete, but the state- ments revealed not only an appropriate degree of self-criticism, but also reflected at least doubts in the correctness of the decisions taken by the Chief of the General Staff. Subsequently, the Military Chancellery was also a hub, or at least an information ex- change with a special degree of importance. The heir to the throne used it in particular in order to intervene repeatedly in events and to rid himself of his ‘observer role’ in the Army High Command. Karl saw Bolfras especially as an ally when, from January 1915, a mood of aversion towards the Germans observed in Franz Joseph could be made to