Page - 980 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

980 The Twilight Empire October 1918 that the high commands wished to apply further pressure for the rations given to officers and troops to be brought more into line with each other, in other words, that officers and soldiers should be given the same food to eat ?2395 Wherever this was not already the case, it was in fact a scandal ; however, where it had already been put into practice long ago, all that could be ascertained was that everyone was receiving too little across the board. Hardly anyone had the capacity left to share the humour of feeble jokes that had also begun to circulate, such as : ‘Two civilians meet in the hinterland. One asks : “What do you think, how long will the war last ?” The other replies : “It’s hard to say. The real heroes fell long ago, the clever types have already copped out long since or have had themselves released from military service  – and God knows how long the idiots that are still lying around out there can continue to fight”.2396 In order to main- tain discipline, a series of newspapers that contained ‘tendencies that present a risk to the state’ were stopped from being delivered by post to the army in the field.2397 Since the majority of the press had begun a vehement campaign in favour of peace, and had pointed to the Army as the main obstacle to achieving it, though without there being any reaction from the censors, some titles increased their agitation, in some cases even expressing unbridled hostility towards the Army.2398 Press cutting collections made oc- casionally by the War Press Bureau were dominated by articles with statements hostile towards the Army, and those in which the alliance with Germany was attacked.2399 In May, the Army High Command had already begun to compile press cuttings, which were intended to prove ‘that it is first and foremost our newspapers that are undermin- ing morale in the Army and the state interest, and which are contributing to serving our enemies and prolonging the war’.2400 The stab-in-the-back myth, which had already been latent, now received its final polish, and aversions that had long been fostered now erupted into hatred. Under these circumstances, it is almost incredible that finally, in September and October 1918, the battalions and squadrons of the XLIII and XLIV March Formations could still be mustered. However, these were the last replacement troops who would leave for the front. Many of those who were deployed in the ranks here were former prisoners of war who had returned from Russia. And even though they would have had every reason to talk of hopelessness and futile sacrifices, they said hardly anything at all. The things that they had seen were beyond comparison, however. After perhaps years in prisoner of war captivity, they had witnessed the Revolution, had been brought back home, inspected, sent on leave and then re-enlisted. And while they were arriving in the barracks, they endured roll calls, repeated a little fighting and formal service and com- pleted their equipment, outside the barracks, the reality was quite different. Therefore, when for example in Prague, the XLIII March Battalion of Infantry Regiment No. 68 was formed, the number of incidents increased. The soldiers left the barracks, refused to repeat the oath, fired shots into the air en route to the railway station and demonstrated