Seite - 985 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

I t seems self-evident to begin an account of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monar-chy by turning to the events that directly brought about this end. In spite of the strik- ing occurrences in Italy, and the internal and economic crises, the finger will have to point in another direction : it was the surrender of Bulgaria and the end of the conflict in the Balkans that led to the military collapse. Consequently, Hungary was threatened, which resulted in the Hungarian government ordering its formations from Italy back home. In a political system that was in the process of disintegrating, ‘every man for himself’ appeared to be the only valid maxim. The withdrawal of Hungary from Italy coincided with the last Allied offensive on the south-western front of Austria-Hun- gary. The end of the army was unavoidable. It is a very simple causality that manifests itself here. Ultimately, however, it only concerns more details in the death of the dou- ble-headed eagle. The great processes were no longer alterable. Here things could now only take their course. The dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy did not, therefore, have the aftertaste of the ‘grand finale’. It was more a silent death. It was furthermore by no means the ‘catastrophe’ that Edmund Glaise von Horstenau, for example, has attempted to describe.2414 Some aspects of the collapse actually appear petty, dumb and undignified  – on both sides. Only in retrospect did pathos accompany the events. Bulgaria’s military collapse began on 14 September 1918. In the Austro-Hungarian newspapers, however, it was concealed for almost two weeks. The people then learned of it via the customary cryptic remarks to the effect that the Entente troops were able to extend their breakthrough to the north on the Salonika front under the command of the French General Franchet d’Espèrey. The conditions of the roads, it was explained, prevented a rapid reinforcement of forces of the Central Powers. The events in Mace- donia would also have an impact on the Austro-Hungarian positions in Albania. The situation was, the reports concluded, dangerous.2415 With these very general formu- lations, the aim was to bring attention to the possibility of an imminent Bulgarian armistice. Suddenly, everyone now turned their eyes to a front that had been secondary for years. The Allies had considerable coordination difficulties before they were able to com- mence their offensive. The Serbs and French wanted to begin as soon as possible ; the British and Italians had to first of all be persuaded of this.2416 It was above all the Brit- ish who had hoped to induce Bulgaria by diplomatic means and without another armed encounter to leave the war.2417 This was not the case. However, when the attack began on 14 September, it quickly led to success. With an enormous superiority in artillery