Page - 717 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

Clam-Martinic Faces Defeat 717 involved in the negotiations. After that, the Polish problem demanded attention. The Polish Club had developed a draft plan for the status of Galicia, which was designed to correspond roughly to the Hungarian Compromise. During the negotiations, which were conducted between the individual national groups of Galicia and the member of the Polish Government, the Minister without Portfolio, Michael Bobrzyński, however, there was a hardening of positions on both sides following the Russian Revolution. The formula of the right to self-determination for the peoples and the prospect of a Greater Polish Empire caused the willingness to make concessions on the Polish side to evap- orate. The talks ran into the sand. For a while, it had been considered by Imperial-Royal prime ministers whether an octroi should not be used to at least push through the use of German as the language of communication and a division into language areas for Bohemia. However, Emperor Karl let it be known to the Prime Minister that an octroi was out of the question. Even if the Emperor had also not confirmed the constitution, he said, he also regarded unconfirmed obligations with too much respect than to override them to the benefit of a national group.1635 This rejection came when everything had already been worked through and prepared. Count Czernin had in all likelihood also influenced the deliber- ations of the Emperor. In light of the rejection by the Social Democrats of all matters related to an octroi and because, on the other hand, he needed ‘those on the left’ for talks with the Russian Social Democrats, the Foreign Minister had advised against compulsory decrees. Now, Clam-Martinic had no further options left available. He also no longer knew where he should take action at the same time, and since he was unable to delegate and took on too many routines tasks, there were not enough days left. On 15 April 1917, Clam-Martinic tendered his resignation. The Emperor refused the demission, and is said to have claimed that the resignation would be of no benefit, since he would immediately nominate Clam-Martinic again as prime minister.1636 On the following day, Czernin also participated in the Council of Ministers, and attempted to justify the rejection of the octroi by presenting the already familiar arguments : first, the effects of the Russian Revolution were spreading. For this reason, nothing must be done now to contradict the democratic trends that were currently prevailing. Second, he wanted to send several prominent Social Democrats to a conference in Stockholm, where they were to make contact with Russian Socialists and attempt to pave the way for peace negotiations. Therefore, nothing should be undertaken in the domestic arena that might be unacceptable to the Social Democratic Workers’ Party. Also, if an octroi were to be implemented, it would be difficult to prove to the Russians that the Slavs in Austria were not being suppressed. Finally, Czernin claimed, everything must be done to avoid creating the impression that Austria was dependent on the German Empire in all matters, since the Great War had become a crusade by the world against Ger- many. The implementation of an octroi would namely be regarded as being done at the