Page - 723 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The System Eats its Own Children 723 Revolution were taking hold. Almost every local Landtag (regional diet) began to dis- cuss the events in Russia, usually when they were related to the war. In Carinthia, for example, the German Freedom and Christian Social parties, who argued against peace at any price, soon came into open conflict with the Social Democrats, who, in their own words, were no longer willing to ‘be driven on to the bayonet’ on behalf of the bourgeois parties.1648 Since the authorities exercised caution precisely towards the Social Dem- ocrats, envy and rejection on the part of the other parties were soon directed in equal measure against the Social Democrats, the ‘new darling of the government’, as well as against the authorities.1649 In reality, the accusation of being the ‘new darling of the government’ was not well- founded, but there is no doubt that, for its part, the government was keen to satisfy the requirements of the Social Democrats and for this reason acted with particular care. Also and in particular, the Foreign Minister had become aware of the sudden signifi- cance of the Social Democrat movement, and defended the wooing of the party to the Hungarian Prime Minister. His letter to Tisza from the spring of 1917 was very telling, in which he explained his position on the issue of the dispatch of Renner and Adler to Stockholm. Czernin wrote : ‘Either they will bring peace, in which case it will certainly be a “socialist” one, and the Emperor will pay a heavy price for it. Of this, dear friend, I am also aware. However, if the war cannot be brought to an end, the Emperor will pay much more  – of that you can be sure […]. You, dear friend, are making a double mistake. First, after the war, we shall be obliged to implement a social welfare policy, whether any one individual wants this or not, and it is in my view essential to enlist the Social Democrats for this purpose. Social policy is the valve that we must open in order to vent the excess steam  – otherwise, the casket will explode.’1650 Some issues were indeed treated in such a way that the impression could be created that steam was to be released. In almost three years of war, in which it had been re- peatedly argued that for reasons of ‘unity’, and in order to show no ‘weakness’, so much had been pent up that it had to come out at some time. And when it did, the tone was blunt and emotional. There were certain things that could hardly have been portrayed differently, however, even following extensive discussions, than they were, for example, in the petitions made by the Tyrolean Landtag representatives on 23 April 1917. They contained an application to inform the Emperor by telegraph of the desperate situation in Tyrol. A petition was submitted to send representatives to Munich and Berlin in order to request additional food supplies for the people of Tyrol from German areas. The representative, Michael Mayr, requested that foreigners be denied food ration cards, and public warnings already be issued against spending holidays in Tyrol. The tourists, he said, would be given nothing to eat, military hospitals and convalescence homes  – except for those used for Tyrolean troops  – should be relocated to other crown lands, all refugees who were not in regular service or employment should be expelled, maximum