Seite - 370 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

370 ‘The King of Italy has declared war on Me Another person advised on a powerful presence and intimidation, but at the beginning of the year there was nothing that could intimidate Italy. The negotiators in Rome ap- peared increasingly self-confident and the Duke of Avarna informed Minister Burián that the Imperial and Royal troops would only be allowed to take on Serbia again when Italy received binding assurances regarding the cession of old Austrian territory.873 A further offensive against Serbia was in any case not even being considered at the pres- ent time, but the Italians evidently wanted to plan ahead. It was questionable, however, what would happen if the Italian wishes were satisfied. Would not Romania’s desire for Transylvania by rights also have to be fulfilled ? The proposals and deliberations con- tained everything including a separate peace with Russia at the expense of the cession of Galicia or at least part of the crown lands ; instead, there would be war over South Tyrol.874 At the same time, however, it was said that there would not be any cession of Galicia, since Galicia was the most important sales area for Austrian industry.875 One side scourged the politics of Italy, which was aimed at making profits, and the ‘sacro egoismo’, whilst the other located the roots of the problem somewhere in the past, such as Prince Franz Liechtenstein, for example, who took the view that Austria had pursued an incorrect domestic policy during the previous 30 years and had always pat- ronised Italy like some sort of ‘indecent lady’.876 The Treaty of London Following the months from January to May 1915 in the diary of Josef Redlich, one gets the impression of considerable confusion. Phrases such as ‘highly alarming’, ‘not very pleasant’, ‘quite desperate’ and, of course, ‘perfidious’ can be found in continuous succession. Austria’s ‘ruling caste’, according to Redlich, comprised ‘weaklings and am- ateurs’,877 whilst the Foreign Ministry was ‘full of useless people or plotters’. Everyone felt compelled to make comments about and pass judgement on the Emperor, the court, the ministers and pretty much all decision-makers, and one gets the impression from Redlich that  – aside from himself  – everyone was an idiot. That is, until Italy’s entry into the war appeared unalterable, so that he was now confronted with only fatalism. Yet it was a completely different situation to the July Crisis : at that time, Austria-Hun- gary had yearned for the outbreak of war above all because it was believed that there might not be one. Now, since the ‘coup de grace’ appeared to threaten, the war should be made as difficult as possible for the aggressor. The deputy of the German Catholic Centre Party Mathias Erzberger had made use of his contacts to the Vatican and succeeded in persuading the Holy See to intervene and advise Vienna to accept Italian demands. The papal deputy secretary Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, as well as the Jesuit Superior Count Wlodimir Ledóchowski and