Page - 674 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

674 The Writing on the Wall an oath of allegiance by arranging for a coronation in Prague. Czernin was unable to accept any of the criticisms, and finally forwarded to the Czech Union a text that the Association itself had written, in which it was stated in rather convoluted terms that the ‘Presidium of the Czech Union [rejects] the insinuation [of the Entente] that is founded on entirely false assumptions […] and declares that the Czech people, now as always in the past and in the future, regards their future and the foundation for their development as being solely under the Habsburg sceptre’. The Czech Union accepted the text without demur, although clearly, a coronation of Karl in Prague was no longer under consideration. Even so, for Masaryk and the Czech émigrés, the reaction of the Czech Union was a severe blow.1534 Emperor Karl responded to the note from the Allies with an order to the army and fleet that spoke of the four empires that had been conquered by the Austro-Hungarian soldiers and their allies, with reference to Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and Belgium. ‘In spite of all this, the enemy powers time and again pretend to their peoples and ar- mies that there is hope that their fortunes will still change. Take courage ; it lies in your power to continue with the iron reckoning. Filled with proud confidence in my armed forces, I stand here as your leader. Forwards with God !’ Now, the task was to calculate once again how the war could continue to be waged, how the losses among the armies could be compensated, and whether it would be pos- sible to muster additional contingents. Conrad characterised the situation of the Mon- archy at the beginning of 1917 by saying that : ‘If the decision in the spring is not made in our favour, with the forces still available to us, we shall hardly be able to reckon any longer that a change will come about to our advantage.’1535 Based on the figures from 1916, around 1.5 million men would have to be replaced. While Tisza claimed that this estimate was too high, since it was highly unlikely that a catastrophe such as the one at Olyka and Lutsk as a result of the Brusilov Offensive would occur again. However, for better or worse, it would have to be assumed for the time being that between 1.3 and 1.5 million men would be needed. Every feasible possibility for mustering soldiers was considered. In Hungary, attention had long since been drawn to the Roma and Sinti in this regard. It was claimed that they were becoming increasingly violent, and that they were above all exploiting the fact that the men were disappearing from the villages. The Hungarian Minister of the Interior, János von Sándor, therefore submitted an appli- cation ‘for the Gypsies throughout the entire country to be made eligible’, that those suitable for war service should be called up and the others left to work. Furthermore, in line with the stipulations of the Law on War Contributions, their draught animals and carts should be taken away from them. There were two goals that lay behind the measure. The Roma and Sinti were to be forced into becoming sedentary, and as such, would also be available as additional soldiers and manpower. The Hungarian Council of Ministers agreed to the proposal.1536 Since more was required than simply offsetting