Page - 906 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

906 The June Battle in Veneto present a long bill of payment that listed the political, military, material and financial aid given to the Danube Monarchy by the German Empire. On 12 May, Karl left for Spa to eat humble pie, and did everything that the Ger- mans had long been asking of him. While Kaiser Wilhelm was also en route to Spa from Berlin, news reached him of an alleged further letter written by Emperor Karl to Prince Sixtus, the publication of which was designed to estrange the Germans and Austrians even more. However, Wilhelm immediately dismissed this publication as a forgery.2174 Nonetheless, the incident caused the Austrian Monarch to approach the meeting with particular nervousness. Discussions were held for a day before the ex- tension of the alliance, particularly in the economic area, was agreed and a military convention, which was in fact the most important document, was signed. With this, Karl made himself fully dependent on the German Empire. The Supreme Joint War Command now became a ‘Supreme War Command’. There was no more talk of any joint commonality. The American Foreign Secretary, Lansing, claimed that Karl had forfeited his right of primogeniture, and was no longer held in any esteem.2175 This appeared to bring the Sixtus Affair to a close. The reactions of the enemy powers left nothing to be desired in terms of clarity. The disclosures led to the immediate destruction of any opportunity for any further peace talks. Within just a few weeks, the Entente powers again examined their position towards Austria-Hungary and came to the conclusion that the right to self-determi- nation by the peoples living in the Habsburg Monarchy should be recognised in full. For the Americans, also, the decision to recognise the goal of the Czechs and southern Slavs of attaining independence resulted directly from the Sixtus Affair.2176 The death sentence on the Monarchy had been passed. The Collapse of the Armaments Industry Two days after Czernin’s resignation, Emperor Karl named his predecessor, Count Ist- van Burián, as his successor. The ‘somewhat ossified’ Burián may have primarily felt satisfaction on his appointment, and talked of the necessary trust that the Emperor must place in him, and of the ‘further attempt to save the Monarchy through political means’.2177 To Burián, it was quite clear that the prospects for attempts to conclude a peace were extremely poor. The Germans were putting their trust solely in the victory of their weapons, and had just begun an offensive in Flanders with the aim of separating the British and French forces. Austria-Hungary was discredited and had forfeited such a great deal of negotiating capability and credibility that, for this reason alone, talks could no longer be continued. Nearly all the threads had been severed. In the wake of the Sixtus Affair, there was for the time being no possibility of the contacts being con-