Seite - 646 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

646 Emperor Karl tion was now required, and had also become possible. Josef Redlich was thus certainly mistaken when he stated that under Koerber nothing had changed concerning the rule of the army, and that the new government, which was led by party politicians and comprised in large part members of the House of Representatives and the upper house of the Reichsrat (Imperial Assembly), was also no different to the government of civil servants led by Stürgkh, only that now the course was determined by politicians and that this altered the effect it had on the mood of the people.1467 The big difference was that now it was no longer an already remote ruler who delegated political and military responsibility from a room at Schönbrunn Palace, but instead a young Emperor who very evidently assumed responsibility himself, attempted to exert political influence on the governments of the two halves of the Empire and was in this way much more closely identified with their actions than Emperor Franz Joseph had been. Koerber, like Tisza, had to acknowledge that he could not rely even remotely so unconditionally on the support and backing of the Emperor as had been the case until November 1916. The prime ministers of both halves of the Empire felt themselves called into question by the Emperor both personally and in terms of their policies. It was not just the youth of the Emperor, however, that took effect but also a peculiar backlog. The new ruler constituted for everyone, therefore, an enormous adjustment, since the years in which a monarch in Austria had continually and strongly intervened in the business of govern- ment  – and not just by way of personnel decisions  – dated back a long time. Therefore, no-one was prepared for this unaccustomed interplay. Karl acted quickly and purposefully  – and also too quickly and without due fore- thought. One of his first measures was to establish himself in relation to the army as its ‘Supreme Commander’ and to secure the loyalty of the soldiers. This was nothing exceptional in itself and was implemented with a minor alteration to the form of the oath. On 24 November, all soldiers of the Imperial and Royal Army and Fleet were to swear an oath to the new Monarch. At the front and in the hinterland, whole battalions or regiments stepped up. Wherever possible, the entire garrison was gathered and alle- giance was pledged to the Emperor ; every individual said : ‘So help me God.’ In Prague, for example, it was the station commander Major General Zanantoni who had to make provisions for the troops to swear an oath to the new Emperor. On Invalidenplatz in Karlín (Karolinenthal), the members of the Prague garrison were gathered and swore, as before, to be ‘faithful and obedient’ ; only the sick and wounded renewed the oath in the infirmaries in the presence of the hospital commander.1468 On the same 24 November, Conrad received the directive to draft an order for the army and fleet, with which the Emperor announced his personal assumption of su- preme command. Conrad did what was requested of him, and on 2 December, the same day that had been celebrated since 1849 as the anniversary of the accession to the throne of Emperor Franz Joseph and thus had a special significance, the order was