Page - 705 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

Workers of the world, unite! 705 we cannot avoid observing that neither in the German Empire nor in Austria-Hungary was there a population at the time that was already receptive to the revolution. There was poverty and war weariness, but they had evidently not flourished so much that a danger of an assumption of revolutionary objectives really existed. And the speculation especially becomes hindered where it must be asked whether there would have been a majority in the Reichstag in Hungary and a majority in the Reichsrat (Imperial As- sembly) in Austria that would not only have accepted a peace without annexations and contributions but also have forced this through. The special nature of the effects of the February Revolution, however, could certainly also be found where the discussion revolved for the first time not only around the question of the continued existence of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, war aims and staying power, but also around whether a peace without annexations and contributions was even possible. If the Habsburg Monarchy crumbled during the simultaneous ap- plication of the right of nations to self-determination, then every single part was en- dangered wherever it had– on its own  – to face the war aims of the enemy powers. The World War could be followed up by a sheer endless European war. It thus suddenly be- came clear that the parallel of the Russian Revolution and formulas found by the USA in the case of Austria-Hungary were almost identical and could have unforeseeable consequences. In the event of a consistent application of the right to self-determination, practically every nationality in the Dual Monarchy ran the risk of sinking into war and civil war. This affected Hungary in Transylvania, Slovakia and Croatia, Austria in South Tyrol and the Adriatic, the Czechs were affected in the Sudeten territories and in Sile- sia, the Poles in Ukraine, and so on. Was it not better to remain in an imperial federa- tion that offered protection ? For the time being, it could not yet be foreseen whether the American and the Russian formulas would mutually force themselves through or only one of the two. This was all the more reason for caution to be exercised ; in fact, it should have been cause for alarm. Workers of the world, unite! If there was cluelessness in the beginning and above all the question of influencing the events in Russia was considered a central military policy problem, after a few weeks the moment came in which the repercussions of the revolution for the Central Powers and especially Austria-Hungary dramatically increased and forced a completely differ- ent assessment of the revolution. This was no longer the case, however, where it had perhaps initially been expected and also feared, namely at the front, but instead in the hinterland. The famous proclamation of the Petrograd Workers’ and Soldiers’ Council from 27 March ‘To the People of the Whole World’ with the closing appeal ‘Workers