Army of Francis Joseph

10: The Conrad Era from His Appointment to the Annexation Crisis: 1906-1909

10 The Conrad Era from His Appointment to the Annexation Crisis: 1906-1909 In the Dual Monarchy the closing decades of the nineteenth century were marked by political and social turbulence arising from the escalation of national conflicts and the stresses of the accelerating industrial revolution. In Austria the conflict between Germans and Czechs had wrecked the constitutional processes of government, while in Hungary a military collision between Vienna and Budapest over the question of the army had only been avoided by the reluctance ofthe aged monarch to sanction such a radical move. In both halves of the monarchy there was mounting unrest among the industrial and agricultural proletariat, arousing great apprehension among the propertied classes. At the same time, however, since the 1890s the foreign relations ofthe Dual Monarchy had been in a period of stabilization, reflecting the equilibrium among the major European powers and Russian preoccupation in the Far East. To be sure, Vienna retained deep suspicions of Italian intentions, and relations with Serbia had deteriorated rapidly, but neither of these potential antagonists by themselves represented a major threat to the security of the empire. Therefore Count Goluchowski, Austria-Hungary's foreign minister, with the approval of the emperor, had pursued an essentially passive policy. The combination of internal conflicts and the absence of a serious menace from abroad combined to hold down the military posture of the Habsburg Empire. Most politicians assumed that no major war was expected in the near future and that therefore military expenditures could be kept down. In the Vienna Reichsrat, various national groups brought parliamentary business to a virtual standstill and the government, appointed from senior civil servants, increasingly ruled by decree . Meanwhile in Budapest, parliament dominated by Magyar chauvinist politicians used obstruction in military matters, specifically in that ofraising the annual recruit quota, as a means to press for autonomy in military affairs. Actually, as the soldiers pointed out, calculations that there was no need to improve the army were nearsighted. Except for Austria-Hungary, and despite the relaxation in international tensions, European powers continued to increase their armament and neither the new mass armies nor their required equipment could be quickly improvised in the event of war. But to break the deadlock in political affairs would have required strong and perhaps even bloody surgery, and Francis Joseph would not 139 140 Chapter 10 countenance such action. Therefore, in military affairs too, the empire followed a static policy. By 1906, however, the belief was growing in influential circles that the Dual Monarchy was gradually disintegrating and that desperate efforts should be made to infuse fresh life and vigor into the political structure and to check tendencies towards dissolution arising from internal and foreign pressures. The nationality question and, above all, the position of Hungary within the common framework of the monarchy had to be resolved. In foreign affairs it was evident that Russia, repulsed in the Far East by Japan, would soon revert to her traditional forward policy on the Balkans. Clearly, for both internal and external contingencies, the army would need to be strengthened. In 1906 important changes took place in the highest political and military positions of the Dual Monarchy. In April a bargain designed to end the deadlocked army issue was struck between the crown and Hungary. The Magyars promised to drop their opposition to the German language of command in the joint army and promised to support the long-stalled bill increasing the size of the annual recruit contingent. In return, the emperor relieved General Fejervary, his personal appointee , as prime minister of Hungary and appointed Alexander Wekerle, an old-line Liberal, to head a new cabinet of nationalist politicians. And while this obscure transaction (which led to the resignation of the joint war minister, Feldzeugmeister Heinrich Baron Pitreich, who felt that too much had been conceded in return for empty promises) soon became unstuck, and the Budapest parliament did not pass an army bill until 1912 as Pitreich had predicted, the appointment of Wekerle ended, for the time being at least, an acute stage in the confrontation.1 Of course, the deal with Hungary in many ways was merely a continuation of previous arrangements, but the other major appointments constituted real changes. On June 3, Max Wladimir Baron Beck, for some years chief civilian advisor to Francis Ferdinand, became prime minister of Austria. On October 24, Count Goluchowski was replaced by Alois Lexa Count Aehrenthal in the Foreign Ministry,2 and General der Infantrie Franz Baron...