Seite - 88 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

88 Bloody Sundays sequently, noted the oft quoted words : ‘In the city [Vienna], there is no atmosphere of mourning ; in the Prater and out here where we are in Grinzing, there has been music playing everywhere on both days [i.e. 28 and 29 June].’179 Joy was also reported in Hungary. And why should individuals here or there not have experienced a pleas- ant shock on hearing the news ? The heir to the throne had certainly not only made friends. Quite the opposite ! Hans Schlitter, the Director of the State Archives, who had been very close to the Archduke, noted in his diary : ‘When one looks back at the catastrophe with a philosophical calm, one could conclude that as a result of the sa- tanic act, Austria has been saved from greater catastrophes and that a difficult problem has been resolved at a stroke. But this can never be proven.’180 The diplomat Emerich Csáky, who at that time was posted in Bucharest, made a simple assessment : Franz Ferdinand may have had ‘supporters, although they were very limited in number, but friends he had none. Instead, his enemies were all the greater in number ; in Hungary, he was literally hated.’181 For this reason, no attempt was made in Hungary to hide the fact that the murder triggered a sense of relief. The aristocracy went one step further, arranging the requiem for Franz Ferdinand on the very same day as the grand wed- ding celebrations by members of the Szápáry and Esterházy families. No member of the upper aristocracy and top echelons of society wanted to miss the opportunity to attend the wedding, unless there was an express reason for staying away.182 Ultimately, the tables were turned, and the Viennese court was subjected to a barrage of criticism for rendering it impossible for the Hungarian nobility to pay its last respects to Franz Ferdinand. A lengthier interpellation on the matter was even made by Count Gyula Andrassy in the Hungarian Reichstag (Imperial Diet), demanding clarification from Prime Minister Tisza regarding the events leading to the assassination and its imme- diate consequences.183 Crocodile tears were shed. Rumours began to spread, soon catching up with verified information : the assas- sin was the son of Crown Prince Rudolf, who had killed Franz Ferdinand because he believed he had murdered his father ; the Freemasons were mentioned, as well as the German ‘secret service’, the Hungarian prime minister Count Tisza, who was in league with ‘Apis’, the Russian General Staff, etc.184 However, the predominant reaction was shock and a desire for revenge. The fact that the Archduke was a symbol, and that a hope had been destroyed, which was by all means intact, that the Habsburg Monarchy would have the opportunity to shake off the rigidity of the late Franz Joseph years, provoked a sense of outrage and gave cause for hatred. For those in authority, it became clear almost straight away that the trail led to Belgrade, and that accountability and atonement must be demanded from Serbia. Con- rad von Hötzendorf, who until 27 June had accompanied the heir to the throne before departing for Sremski Karlovci, where he received news of the murder, expressed a view that was widely held : ‘The murder in Sarajevo was the last link in a long chain. It was