Seite - 21 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
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The Powder
Keg 21
Prague found it necessary to announce martial law in order to bring an end to rioting
and to reinstate order.
At the end of the annexation crisis, it was evident that several patterns for action had
evolved in 1908/1909 that would serve as a model time and again in later years. The
Habsburg Monarchy had been given rear support by the German Empire. The Chan-
cellor of the German Empire, Bernhard von Bülow, had clearly stated to Austria-Hun-
gary on 30 October 1908 that the German Empire would share responsibility for any
decision taken and would also offer military assistance if necessary.17 However, this was
only one experience which was to be gained. France and England had come to terms
with the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their interests lay elsewhere, and as
imperial powers, they would hardly have failed to recognise a colonial impulse. The
reaction from Italy was no cause for concern. Still, what did make a significant impact
was the untold harm done by Austria to its relations with Russia. This matter would
never be forgotten. In international relations, certain events do not assume a decisive
importance merely because they have an immediate impact. Rather, humiliations or
severe damage provoke a rise in hostile attitudes and a desire for revenge in support
of the national interest, which while having no place in politics cannot be extrapolated
from the background against which political decisions are made. In a similar way, the
potential for conflict is also increased. Izvolsky was relieved of his post as minister and
was sent to Paris as Russian ambassador. He subsequently played a role in the July Cri-
sis of 1914, and was indeed least of all in favour of Russia and Serbia taking a moderate
view in their assessment of the impact of the murder in Sarajevo. He did, after all, have
an old score to settle.
The Powder Keg
Ultimately, Aehrenthal’s policy was a success. Emperor Franz Joseph expressed his ap-
proval by awarding his Foreign Minister an earldom in 1909. There was nothing ma-
licious about Aehrenthal’s strategy, which had already been agreed with the Austrian
decision-makers and indeed with other countries. However, this does not mean that
his policy was not also controversial. Neither the German parties in the Habsburg
Monarchy nor the national Hungarians welcomed the expansion of the Slav territories.
In spite of this, both halves of the Empire made efforts to have the new acquisitions
allocated to their complex of territories. No agreement could be reached, and as a result,
the annexed provinces remained the state no-man’s-land that they had been since the
start of the occupation in 1878. The finance ministers of Austria and Hungary, one of
the three joint ministries of the Danube Monarchy, were responsible for administering
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and not the government of either of the two halves of the
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Titel
- THE FIRST WORLD WAR
- Untertitel
- and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Autor
- Manfried Rauchensteiner
- Verlag
- Böhlau Verlag
- Ort
- Wien
- Datum
- 2014
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-79588-9
- Abmessungen
- 17.0 x 24.0 cm
- Seiten
- 1192
- Kategorien
- Geschichte Vor 1918
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 1 On the Eve 11
- 2 Two Million Men for the War 49
- 3 Bloody Sundays 81
- 4 Unleashing the War 117
- 5 ‘Thank God, this is the Great War!’ 157
- 6 Adjusting to a Longer War 197
- 7 The End of the Euphoria 239
- 8 The First Winter of the War 283
- 9 Under Surveillance 317
- 10 ‘The King of Italy has declared war on Me’ 355
- 11 The Third Front 383
- 12 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915 413
- 13 Summer Battle and ‘Autumn Swine’ 441
- 14 War Aims and Central Europe 469
- 15 South Tyrol : The End of an Illusion (I) 497
- 16 Lutsk :The End of an Illusion (II) 521
- 17 How is a War Financed ? 555
- 18 The Nameless 583
- 19 The Death of the Old Emperor 607
- 20 Emperor Karl 641
- 21 The Writing on the Wall 657
- 22 The Consequences of the Russian February Revolution 691
- 23 Summer 1917 713
- 24 Kerensky Offensive and Peace Efforts 743
- 25 The Pyrrhic Victory : The Breakthrough Battle of Flitsch-Tolmein 769
- 26 Camps 803
- 27 Peace Feelers in the Shadow of Brest-Litovsk 845
- 28 The Inner Front 869
- 29 The June Battle in Veneto 895
- 30 An Empire Resigns 927
- 31 The Twilight Empire 955
- 32 The War becomes History 983
- Epilogue 1011
- Afterword 1013
- Acknowledgements and Dedication 1019
- Notes 1023
- Selected Printed Sources and Literature 1115
- Index of People and Places 1155