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554 Lutsk : The End of an Illusion (II)
should become prime minister in Austria : Archduke Eugen. He could create order in
domestic politics and, above all, tackle Hungarian chauvinism, which had been par-
ticularly fuelled by the errors of the supreme military leadership. ‘The sins of internal
Austrian politics for decades, which have made the betrayal of the Czechs possible and
as a result of which thousands of Hungarians have been sacrificed, has deeply embit-
tered Hungarian circles.’ In order to hold down the Czechs, it had been necessary to
transfer Hungarian regiments to Bohemia instead of deploying them in the defence
of their homeland. Here, also, Archduke Eugen would have to intervene. And, finally :
‘I believe that we must make the attempt to clean up local conditions. Otherwise, we
expose ourselves to the risk that the Monarchy suddenly becomes terminally ill and
drags the German Empire with it into ruin.’1303
In view of this scenario, it is not surprising that at precisely this moment the influen-
tial German Lieutenant Colonel Baron von Stoltzenberg submitted a plan to General
Ludendorff for the reorganisation of Austria-Hungary, which recommended winning
over the heir to the throne and binding him to the German Empire. And if Emperor
Franz Joseph were to oppose the new order, ‘the Emperor would have to [be forced]
under gently persuasive pressure’ to abdicate.1304
The old man in the Schönbrunn Palace, who clung so doggedly to his throne, consti-
tuted a certain obstacle, but the Germans evidently no longer ruled out the possibility
that he would completely resign himself to his fate. It would not be a very big step from
recognising German supremacy to relinquishing the throne, and ultimately the secret
supplementary protocol on the Joint Supreme War Command mentioned territories
and not the sovereign. Events on the fronts had been brought under German control.
Austria-Hungary’s room for manoeuvre in foreign affairs had been drastically restricted.
Soon, the armaments industry would also be adjusted to German norms by means of
integrating it into the Hindenburg Programme. The material dependence was evident
from the fact that Austrian and Hungarian financial institutions were in debt to Ger-
man banks to the sum of around three million kronen.1305 From now on, however –
according to German conceptions – everything would be different. Austria-Hungary
seemed ripe for a ‘hostile takeover’.
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