Seite - 655 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

From Koerber to Clam-Martinic 655 towards Germany and in this way it was intended that Hungary’s policy be disabled, which was aligned with Berlin. The Emperor’s wife, Zita, was, after all, a Bourbon and determined to force back Hohenzollern influence in Austria-Hungary. However, she was just starting out and it would be ‘a long, hard path’.1487 Karl initially demonstrated skill in his selection of people. The Bohemian Count Heinrich Clam-Martinic was not a bad choice as the successor to Koerber or Spitz- müller, whilst Konrad Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst as Lord Chamberlain instead of Prince Montenuovo was a signal for a clear liberalisation of the court. The fact that Karl made a new appointment to the position of Director of the Cabinet Office, and chose Baronet Arthur von Polzer (later Count Polzer-Hoditz) instead of Baron Franz von Schießl, and that Count Leopold Berchtold became Keeper of the Privy Purse, received less attention but was interesting for the reason that  – as with Czernin, who had belonged to the circle around Archduke Franz Ferdinand  – a very particular con- tinuity became evident. Karl dismissed and appointed with incredible speed. In doing so, the intention was to dissolve the stiffness. New people came and brought with them new ideas. The brief episode with Spitzmüller, in which, aside from Czernin, Konrad Hohenlohe, Josef Maria Baernreither and others were also involved, also demonstrates that here an oligarchy had established itself in a flash, and one that contributed very decisively to the exercise of authority and had the power in its hands to interpret the wishes of the Emperor and, if necessary, to disregard them. It was then Emperor Karl himself who regarded a whole series of his own appointments as wrong or at least questionable, since in hindsight he subjected many people to painful criticism to whom he had initially given his trust. Koerber had been a ‘clown’ and Count Burián ‘ossified’. Instead of him, Czernin came, but he proved to be an ‘imposter’ : ‘He was doubtless very shrewd, but erratic and nervous. He constantly had new ideas, which came one after the other, but he never carried any of them through. He was in fact boundlessly ambitious and stopped at nothing to satisfy this ambition.’1488 As a result of the almost continuous participation of the Emperor, the Joint Council of Ministers became Privy Council sessions. As early as 12 January 1917, Karl made it clear that he found the procedure repulsive : in the case of Poland, everything was to be left open in spite of the Polish Proclamation. Instead of war aims, peace aims were to be drawn up. Karl wanted to content himself with maintaining the integrity of the Monarchy. Nothing else was needed. The next thing to do was to conclude peace with the Russians and renew the League of the Three Emperors. The usual contributions to the discussion were made. Karl was incensed about the never-ending debates. He took the view that everything could have been said much quicker,1489 and he looked for new people. It was easiest to make changes among the army leadership. Military hierarchies were in place ; orders were issued and obeyed. This did not prevent interventions being made,