Seite - 104 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

104 Bloody Sundays that time the Austrian line of argument was not believed. Two events could have played a role here, namely the Friedjung trial and the ‘Prochaska Affair’. Both shattered the credibility of Austria-Hungary, since in the first case, evidence was procured that the Foreign Ministry in Vienna had gullibly used falsified Serbian documents, while in the second, the Austro-Hungarian press could be accused of boundless exaggeration when depicting incidents surrounding the Imperial and Royal consul in Prizren, Prochaska, in 1912. Here, at best, incompetence and a targeted campaign were to blame for this loss of prestige and credibility. However, reference was not only repeatedly made by other countries to the Friedjung case or the Prochaska Affair because it was felt that the background to Sarajevo could be assessed in a similar way. This was also a conscious ploy to deflect attention. Probably the most incontrovertible proof would have made no difference, since the aim was to contradict the Austrian arguments on principle. The fact that initially, no demands of any kind were made on Serbia by Vienna, was regarded as confirmation of the validity of this assessment. However, those who issued warnings knew different, particularly those who benefited from the work of the cryptographers. This was the case in St. Pe- tersburg, for example, where the Italian ambassador took it upon himself to express his concerns and on 16 July let slip the deliberate indiscretion that Austria-Hungary was planning to take steps against Serbia in the belief that Russia would limit itself to a verbal response. However, the Russians were also well-served in other ways, too. They had cracked the Austro-Hungarian diplomatic code and knew at least at the same time as the Imperial and Royal ambassador what instructions Vienna had given to its rep- resentative in St. Petersburg.225 There was therefore ample opportunity to prepare for what was to come, both in St. Petersburg and in Belgrade. In the meantime, further war games were being planned. The acting Chief of the Imperial and Royal General Staff, General von Höfer, who was representing Conrad while he was away on leave, analysed the operational plans against Serbia and feared that the Serbs could remain gathered in the southern parts of the country, ‘which would be the worst possible scenario’.226 (In fact, the Chief of the Russian General Staff did indeed recommend a strategic withdrawal of this nature, although this did not go down well with the Serbs).227 Höfer was concerned that : ‘It could perhaps be three weeks fol- lowing the call for mobilisation before decisive battles are fought’. If the Serbs were to back down, however, the dilemma would be even greater, since ‘having the mobilisation costs paid for and then making an about-turn would entail a vast amount of work.’ And so the speculations continued. The Archduke and his wife had been buried, and the succession arranged. Via the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, Count Harrach had presented the car that he had placed at the disposal of the heir to the throne and his wife to the Emperor, who had then arranged for it to be transferred to the Military Museum in Vienna. The car arrived