Page - 853 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

New Discussions in Switzerland 853 ated peace. His Austrian colleague, Count Lajos Széchényi, had nothing to tell him, however. Thus, this initiative, too, came to an end. However, there was still one contact remaining, and at a much higher level. This was the meeting between the South Afri- can general and statesman, Jan Smuts, and the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Count Albert Mensdorff-Pouilly in Geneva on 18 and 19 December 1917. The meeting took place following a long period of preparation, and occurred rather by chance at the time following the armistice on the eastern front and the beginning of peace negotiations with Russia. The contacts had been established via the mediation of the Austro-Hungarian lega- tion councillor Baronet Ładisław von Skrzynno-Skrzyński. However, an Egyptian prince (Mohammed Djemil Tussun Pasha), and several people with contacts to the in- telligence services also played a role, as did the British envoy in Bern, Sir Horace Rum- bold, whose father had been ambassador in Vienna for many years. Despite the fact that the British documents relating to the meeting have now been released, it is still not clear what conclusions should be drawn about the contacts. At any rate, it could also be observed prior to these talks that many people had the ambition or the understandable desire to establish contacts, whether their motivation was to one day present themselves as the great hero of peace, or to fulfil a personal moral obligation. Czernin agreed to a further contact on condition that the British really would send a competent negotiator to Switzerland. The contacts that had been cultivated until then, in which frequently talks were sought and held beyond the framework of official responsibility, and did not even succeed in providing reliable information on the respective differences of opinion. For their part, the British still made no progress. At the conference of the Supreme War Council of the Allies, Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour only managed to secure the agreement of the Allies to hear what Austria-Hungary had to say about a separate peace.2024 Once again, there was a willingness to listen, but not to negotiate. Even so, a man was sent to Geneva in the form of General Smuts who was not seen as a type of postman, but who also had weight. Smuts was a member of the British War Cabinet. His aim, as he wrote in a memorandum before he left for Geneva, was to work towards a political end to the war. At the same time, he assumed that the Central Powers had proven themselves to be strong militarily, and that the entry of America into the war would do nothing to alter their military successes. Following the withdrawal of Russia and the loss of strength in Italy, a purely military victory on the part of the Entente was no longer to be expected. Everything possible had to be done in order to prevent the Germans from gaining additional strength. After Russia had fallen away as a coun- terweight, Austria-Hungary should take on this role by being removed from German dominance and being given greater independence and strength. For this purpose, the Habsburg Monarchy could be converted into a four-member confederation. Galicia and Poland would form a state, which was to be attached to Austria and Hungary via