Page - 665 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Writing on the Wall 665 from the transportation of civilian supplies. As a result, the transport of coal in particular had also become almost impossible. However, if nothing else, Hungary was keen to re- ceive compensation from Austria for its deliveries of foodstuffs in the form of fuel. It was therefore for many reasons that Karl  – Emperor Karl I in Austria and King Karl IV in Hungary  – took the carefully considered step of having himself crowned in Budapest as soon as possible. This was anything but an act of simple conformance to convention. The decision by Karl to be crowned in Hungary had been suggested by Tisza, and went hand in hand with an assurance given by the Monarch that he did not intend to interfere in constitutional structures. Karl did not even attempt to win con- cessions from Hungary to change the constitution and have himself crowned only later. Clam-Martinic, Czernin and others had urgently advised him to consider the matter, and had repeatedly attempted to use as an argument the man who was a role model for Karl : Franz Ferdinand. And he had vehemently rejected the prospect of having himself crowned in Hungary before dualism had been abolished. With this in mind, however, the question also arose as to whether Karl should not also have himself crowned in Prague. While he had not yet made any comment in relation to the matter, the possibility could at any rate not be rejected out of hand, and would have been seen as sending a clear signal to the Czechs. In Prague, hopes were at least held. For their part, the Czechs wanted to participate in the ceremonies in Buda- pest as a type of advance preparatory measure.1515 However, the Emperor was initially motivated solely by his wish to see Hungary pacified. He needed Hungary, since in the light of the entirely unclear situation in the Austrian half of the Empire, he could no longer count on the undivided support of the Cisleithanian crown lands. Hungary had it in its power to contribute to a greater or lesser degree to the supply of goods to the Monarchy. Indeed, Hungary was in a strong position, with stable conditions. If, there- fore, anything was wanted of Hungary, and the goal was to ensure its participation in measures designed to retain the Monarchy and to continue the war, then the ‘atavistic’ constitution would have to be treated with respect. This also applied to the Monarch. During the war, there had been a shift in the degree of importance in the two halves of the Empire, and the decision to have himself crowned in Budapest at the earliest pos- sible opportunity was merely an expression of this state of affairs. The final step would however have been to make Budapest the imperial capital and city of royal residence, an option that was certainly considered in Hungary. The Empire would then perhaps have been renamed ‘Hungary-Austria’, or perhaps simply ‘Greater Hungary’. The day arrived on 30 December : Karl was crowned in the Matthias Church in Bu- dapest. The scene was certainly unprecedented : the Emperor and King, who following his coronation made an appearance on the coronation mound in front of the church, which had been created from earth from all the counties of Hungary, the Empress and Queen, Crown Prince Otto, the magnates and their wives in sumptuous robes and the