Page - 910 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

910 The June Battle in Veneto possible. For this reason, following the severe humiliation as a result of the Sixtus Affair, the very thought took hold in Austria-Hungary that must of necessity contribute  – as indeed it did  – to also destroying the last bastion, the Army. However, this was some- thing that no-one was willing to accept, even if it was precisely among the military that sharp criticism of a new offensive was voiced. What was more important was the desire to again take the initiative with such an offensive, to give the troops something to do and perhaps to counteract the slow decline. It was also hoped that this would provide a distraction from other problems. In January 1918, for example, Hungary had made it blatantly clear that it wished to create its own national army. It certainly had plausible reasons for doing so. The issue had not been raised entirely unexpectedly, since in the summer of 1917, General Seeckt had already reported that suggestions of this nature were being made. For this reason, an offensive appeared to be a tried and tested meas- ure in order to prevent the successive disintegration of the Army. This argument was also used by the Emperor.2189 The Idea for a Final Offensive It was naturally tempting to begin another offensive against Italy, since the experience of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo spoke for itself : a major success had been achieved and the troops had been caught up in the enthusiasm, for weeks the most pressing sup- ply problems had been resolved, while Italy had been brought to the edge of collapse. If this achievement could be repeated, and Italy perhaps be forced to capitulate, it would be the equivalent of a triumph. However, on closer inspection, it had to be admitted that certain basic preconditions were not in place. The Orlando government again had the situation firmly in hand following several difficult weeks during November and December 1917. The suppression of pacifist and socialist tendencies, an even more rigorous censorship policy than that which had been implemented until 1917 and the enforcement of military order in the hinterland had nipped the unrest in the bud. The Italian military leadership, which in the autumn of 1917 had shown inclinations to re- volt and take over power, was again firmly under the control of the political authorities. The Germans and citizens of Austria-Hungary still living in Italy had been interned in the southern Italian cities of L’Aquila, Avellino, Benevento and Cosenza.2190 In the in- terim, Italy had also become a British, French and American theatre of war. The arrival of the British and French divisions had almost immediate positive effects on troops in the hinterland.2191 The Italian Army had been reorganised and had regained confidence through smaller offensive thrusts. British and French troops had been inserted into the fronts on the plateaus of Asiago and Arsiero, in the Monte Grappa region and on the Piave River. In January 1918, British aerial forces had already succeeded in bringing the